Page 115 of The Witch Queen

“I tell you repeatedly that I have secrets, witch, and you continue to underestimate me,” Krantz says coolly while he keeps a hand on Thorne’s nape. “If I take you out, let’s just say I have a plan for keeping Thayaria together. It willthrivewithout you.” Krantz smiles from across the yard, raising his sword and slicing Thorne on the thigh, right where the iron arrow hit him. Thorne winces in pain, and I scream my rage, but mine is not the only scream I hear. Fionn has arrived, and he’s all lethal warrior as he surveys the scene. I aerstep him to my side, never taking my eyes from Krantz.

“Let’s take this bastard down, queenie,” he roars, and I nod. Thorne has put up a shield to protect himself and stands, but Krantz and the remaining rebel fighters are pummeling him with magic and blades. Krantz’s strategy is clearly to target Thorne to get under my skin and force me to lose myself again, but I push down the urge, keeping a tight fist around the mating bond and its demands.

Fionn grunts, and at least half of the remaining weapons in the field have flown hundreds of yards away. What remains are now pointed directly at Krantz, who laughs.

That feeling ofwrongnesssurrounds me again, and with Fionn at my side, I feel confident enough to close my eyes once more. The churning black mass around Krantz has grown, and red currents of aether flow into him faster than before. Thorne is particularly impacted, the aether that courses through him dimmed significantly. Fionn is also being drained. I have to find a way to stop Krantz, have to find a way to keep him from bleeding my mate and my friend dry of their aether-force.

When I open my eyes, Thorne has dropped to the ground again, and his shield dims. Fionn’s brow is damp with sweat.Krantz’s magic is affecting them.

“I need to keep my eyes closed so I can focus on Krantz,” I tell Fionn. “Can you cover me and keep Thorne protected for a little longer?”

Fionn clearly doesn’t understand my request, giving me a strange look, but he agrees anyway. “I got this.”

I close my eyes again and focus on the swirling black mass around Krantz. It’s made of aether but has been corrupted. I attempt pulling it away from him, willing the aether to bend toward me, but it resists. As I pull, it only gives slightly, like a jammed door or a stuck lever. The effort makes me lightheaded. It won’t budge, and I huff out my frustration, trying to focus through the dizziness that overtakes me.

I open my eyes again, and returning to the world of sight helps steady me. Once corrupted, it appears it stays under his command. I don’t want to think about the implications of that for Fionn and Thorne, whose aether still flows into Krantz in red streams, or for the magic of Thayaria. I have to stop it from reaching him in the first place. I close my eyes again.

Instead of pulling the aether to me, I attempt sending my own pure aether into the mass surrounding him. I worry it will just make him more powerful, but I have to try something, so I keep a firm lock on the pathway that connects me to the current of aether around me to ensure he only gets the small amount I’m willing to give him. The bright crimson of my aether moves toward the maroon-black mass where he stands. When the streams collide, red appears to battle back the black, and the mass surrounding Krantz is encircled with a red glow. The aether I sent into him is absorbed back into the ground, not corrupted.

I sigh. Of course the only way to stop him would be to do the one thing I’ve spent decades avoiding. I do one more test, this time with a larger amount of aether. Once again, red and black fight for dominance, and as my crimson stream wins and returns to the ground, Krantz’s unseemly swirling mass actually shrinks.

Encouraged, I take a deep breath and center myself, letting the feel of my feet on the ground steady me for what I’m about to do. Then I outstretch my arms, palms facing down, and pull massive amounts of aether from the closest leylines and direct them into Krantz. A tidal wave of scarlet crashes into him, and even though I can’t see him, I can tell he falls to the ground at the onslaught. The black mass circling him dissipates, lightening to red, before also flowing back into the world around us. He’s still pulling from everyone around him, but it’s at a much slower rate.

I do it again, and this time I hold nothing back. I’ve never tested the limits of how much aether can flow through me, but today I’ll find out. With a cry to the sky, I fully open that mental valve that has always kept the aether flowing into me at a trickle, allowing myself to become the conduit through which the aether flows. The second it slams into me, I gasp. I collapse to the ground as the aether threatens to consume me. The torrent is overwhelming, hard to redirect, but with another infernal cry, I coax it into Krantz, drowning the black mass until nothing but the usual glow of red surrounds him. Then I grit my teeth and close off my access to the aether once more, my body trembling with the effort. I lie there on the ground, eyes closed, too shaky to stand. It takes me several minutes of deep breathing to recover, and I’m grateful Thorne and Fionn have the fight so firmly under control, or I might not have been afforded the luxury of laying still for so long.

Finally, I open my eyes and stand, and the cacophony of the battle slams into me all at once. Fionn has left my side and is fighting Krantz hand to hand a few paces ahead of me. Krantz seems frantic to get to me, eyes wild and more animal than fae.

“Bitch,” Krantz spits. He knows what I’ve done to his magic. Fionn sends a dagger flying into Krantz’s gut, and blood pools out of him, the smell foul despite the disappearance of his vile magic. I wrap his arms in cords of light, bringing him to his knees. He struggles against the bindings, but without hissecretmagic, he’s no match for me.

“Go help Thorne,” I order Fionn, who immediately follows my command. They take out the remaining dozen rebel soldiers together with ease.

“It’s over Krantz,” I tell him, and he spits at my feet. I sigh loudly, then check my nails. “You have two options. I can kill you slowly, torture you with water and plants in your lungs—it’s a specialty of mine—before I force the information from you anyway with the aether-voice.” I give him a wink. “Or, I can kill you quickly, which I’ll only do if you tell me who on my Council you’re working with. Your choice.”

“I won’t tell you anything,” he growls, and I shrug.

“Not the choiceIwould have made, but I did give you the option,” I say before ripping the air from his lungs. At the same time, I will the grass under him to lengthen and wrap up and around his body, squeezing tightly. I leave him like this until his eyes water, then release the air back into his lungs. He heaves in a breath as he gives me a look filled with hatred. I only smirk before sending grass up his nose and water down his throat. I pick up a dagger from the ground with my magic, using it to make small slices over his arms and face. Tears stream down his cheeks. “Because I’m such a benevolent Queen, I’ll give you a chance to change your mind,” I coo, pulling all my magic back.

“The one. You least. Expect,” Krantz says between gasps for air.

“Be more specific,” I order, bringing an orb of water to his face in threat.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” he hisses. Then, before I can stop him, he uses the last dregs of his magic to pull the dagger I was using to him, slicing his throat before slumping to the ground with a gurgling noise. I sigh in frustration, then use my power to stop his heart, if only to spare myself from listening to him slowly die.

“Laurel,” Thorne says, and I freeze. Panic washes over me, fear that Thorne will only see a monster when he looks at me now. He’s seen me kill, but I’ve been brutal the last two days.

“Thorne,” I say, “I can explain…” He just wraps me in his arms, crushing his lips to mine in a kiss that tells me how relieved he is that I’m okay, that we both made it through this fight relatively unscathed. Releasing me from his lips, but keeping me pinned to his chest, he stares down at me, and pure, male lust fills his eyes.

“Aethers, you’re sofuckinghot when you go all evil Witch Queen,” he whispers, and both of my hearts practically explode with emotion for this male, finally believing the words he whispered to me in the dark only two nights ago.

Allyssia stayed by Silene’s side during the fight, getting her free of the iron and even forcing some water into her unconscious body. I do what I can to heal the infection that’s started spreading from the wound, but it’s not enough, not without thayar concentrate and the shakiness I still feel from my battle with Krantz. Some of the color has returned to her face, but we need to get her to a healer.

“Would you like to come back with us, Allyssia?” I ask. “My earlier promise still stands. You’ve helped my friends and stood up to the rebels when it mattered most. Any past crimes are forgotten.” She blushes, then curtsies, a bit more coordinated this time.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she says. “I would like to go back to Arberly. But—I—”

“What is it?” I ask, gently.

“I don’t have any family, friends, or anyone else to take me in,” she says, eyes lowered in shame. “I’ve lived with the rebels my entire life. I… I might need a place to stay for a few days until I can figure out what to do.” A small tear runs down her cheek, but she wipes it away quickly. I think I see Fionn stiffen beside me.

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