Chapter 1
Fury fueled my every thought and movement as I continued forward. It didn’t matter that I had been knocked on my ass. I had a singular goal, and nothing would distract me from what needed to be done. Not even the wounds covering my body.
I might have been broken, but I wasn’t giving up.
The further I flew from Finn’s farm, the more my emotions came back to me, but not in the way I’d felt them before. I was once again the monster the king had created. Except this time, Zephyr was my target. My intent was ruthless. My care was gone. Nothing mattered beyond killing him.
He’d shown up moments after I’d blown Edgar to bits, hopefully to never be put back together. Perfect timing on the king’s part, likely thanks to Dain, the son nobody knew the king had and whose death I had zero remorse about. He’d been a traitorous fae who ended up being more devious than I’d thought possible.
With a destination clear in my mind, I teleported myself mid-flight and landed on the pristine beaches of West Island. I knew King Zephyr wouldn’t have gone anywhere but his fortress. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn’t remain a fortress for long.
My feet pounded against the sand as I drew on my power, willing the magic within me to heal the wounds I’d suffered. Between the fight with Edgar and the hits the king had gotten in before disappearing, I knew the damage to my body was extensive, especially to my left wing. I could still use it for the basics, though, and I wouldn’t let a bit of pain stop me.
Nothing can stop us, my inner voice hissed as magic began to trickle from my fingers and wrap around my arms and wings.
With every step, my bones began to heal and muscles regained their strength. I wasn’t at my best, but it didn’t matter. My drive to see this through would be enough. I had to stay on task. I would find and end King Zephyr, no matter the consequences.
By the time I arrived at the gate, my wings were extended and turned back into hardened weapons while magic swirled around me like the rage I carried deep within me.
At some point, either during the previous fight or on my flight over, my braid had come halfway undone. Instead of trying to fix the tangled mess, I untied the rest and let my iridescent strands fly behind me as my steps brought me closer to the one thing I wanted most.
One of the fae guards caught sight of me and began yelling, but I didn’t let him get more than two words out. With a dozen lethal feathers already in hand, I sent one sailing toward his throat.
He didn’t react quickly enough, and blood gushed from the wound as his fingers helplessly tried to cover the gash. By the time I reached him, the guard was on his knees, gurgling incoherent words. I paid him no attention as I continued forward.
A line of nearly a dozen guards waited by the water well, and another smaller row beyond that. The good thing about seeing what waited for me was that it proved King Zephyr was indeed afraid of me and somewhere within his castle.
“If you stop now, the king just might show you some mercy, Lucinda,” Gabriel shouted from the castle gates, hiding behind the rows of fae like a coward.
He’d been even more ruthless than King Zephyr when I lived here. I hadn’t forgotten the times he’d nearly drowned me, whipped my back until there wasn’t an inch of skin untouched, or when he’d made me wear the blood of those I’d killed when I was only thirteen.
If it was possible, Gabriel might have been even more vile than the king. He didn’t deserve a verbal response.
A wave of magic surged from my hands and into the first line of guards, followed closely by several more of my feathers. My power burned the skin of my opponents, and the feathers sunk deep into their chests. Only half of the guards were left, and I was just getting started.
Five fae came charging toward me at once, but I wasn’t going to give up, no matter how dire things might seem. Power blasted into me, and my wings acted as a shield, absorbing the impact. Waiting until the king’s pawns were within physical striking distance, I flung my wings out and sliced three of their heads off in one strike.
Another guard snuck around behind me at some point and tackled me, wrapping his arms around my waist while another guard stepped on my wings, standing over my head. Ignoring the searing pain from the magic of the one restraining me, I jerked my arm up and grabbed on to the junk of the one above me.
With one pull, he came down, freeing my wings and nearly sitting on my face, knocking the other guard away. We rolled around on the ground, and I used my feet to kick him backward. Before I could get up, the previous guard moved back in and sliced a blade across my stomach, leaving a gash that wouldn’t heal anytime soon.
Damn it!
I groaned, soaking in the agony and turning it to rage, then swiveled around and cut my attacker’s chest open with my wings, enjoying the gasp of surprise coming from the fae who thought he had bested me. Not today, asshole.
Even with five down in a matter of minutes, I was nowhere close to getting inside the castle. I called my power forth once more, drawing on the darkness and begging it to give me the strength I needed to get within the king’s walls.
Magic exploded from me, going in all directions and demolishing whatever it touched. The well crumbled before me, the tables nearest to me from the market caught fire, and the mortar between the bricks began to crumble.
Using that much power hadn’t been my intention, but it was effective. Several of the guards that had been headed for me stopped, glancing at each other until one of them yelled, “Keep fighting!”
Gabriel still stood back, leaning against the wall with a smirk on his round face. Gods, I couldn’t wait to kill him. Spilling his blood would be almost as satisfying as the king’s.
Before I could worry about him, I had to contend with those still stupid enough to fight me. The larger group took almost every ounce of energy I had left within me. I took out fae after fae, ignoring every hit they managed to get in when more than two came at me.
By the time I was done with them, I hadn’t wavered from my goal. My focus was still on removing whatever obstacles lay in my way of getting inside that castle.
After the last fae went down from the second group, I took stock of my newest injuries. My right wing was back to hanging lower than the left. Blood oozed down my forehead and across my stomach, and I walked with a limp.
Now, there was no one else between me and Gabriel. Even in my tattered state, glee filled me at how close I was to getting my hands on the king.
We will succeed. No matter the cost. We must get to the king, my inner voice encouraged.
“I’m disappointed to say I’m mildly impressed with your fighting skills, Lucinda. It’s such a pity I have to kill you now,” Gabriel taunted, not at all afraid it was finally just me and him.
“I said not to kill her. She will suffer for taking part in my son’s death, and her punishment will be by my hand,” King’s Zephyr’s voice sounded, but he was nowhere to be seen from where I stood.
Find Zephyr. Don’t let him hide from us, the voice urged.
As I stepped closer to Gabriel, unafraid of what he might be able to do to me in my weakened state, I glanced through the open gate and caught sight of a struggling blonde behind another dozen guards just inside the king’s walls. We weren’t so alone after all.
Ivy’s fiery gaze met mine, not a single tear in her eye as she nodded. A part of me really wished she didn’t have to die, but Neva wasn’t back with a witch to save her. If I could get close enough, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to kill the king. Not even for Ivy.