Page 43 of Immortal Alliance

My body thrashes on the obsidian floor, fingers clawing for a shore that doesn’t exist. The kelpie’s magic is strong, as she feeds on the darkness of the Unseelie kingdom.

A break in the onslaught of hellacious water and I gulp sweet air into my lungs. The darkness begins to fade, but somehow it still lingers at the edges of my vision. I look up into Morrigan’s face.

“You will not succeed, whether I die here or not. The realms will be rid of you and the fae will once again be free.”

“Big words from a man who will die at my order,” she spits back at me.

“It took me a long time to come to my senses, but I will not be—” I begin to cough and sputter, trying to spit out the water even as it fills my mouth instantly.

The sound of crashing waves roar in my ears. I crawl toward Theren, trying to reach my brother, but Morrigan’s magic forces me to the floor once more. She mocks me. Her laughter mingles with the pounding of my heart as panic begins to cripple me once more. Shadows swallow me whole, pulling me deeper and deeper toward that frigid sense of demise that licks at my boots.

All before it fades once more...

“Cambion,” Morrigan purrs, brushing the hair from my forehead. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me. I’m so close to getting my powers back, I can taste it. You are of no use to me, and neither are the others. As for the angel, she is alive simply because I will it to be so.”

“You’re lying.” I cough roughly, feeling the burn in my lungs. “Eilish and the others are alive because they refuse to give up fighting. Tell yourself all the lies you wish, Morrigan, but I know just how weak you really are. I see your stolen power fading even now.” I watch her expression fall for just a few seconds but it’s long enough for me to see the truth. “You’re afraid, aren’t you?”

“No, Cambion, I’m not afraid,” she spits the words at me. “You are the one who should be afraid because it’s you who’s going to die here and now. I won’t die unloved and abandoned by my allies.Youbetrayed them. What makes you think Eilish and the others will ever forgive you?”

“I don’t think they will,” I respond. “I would never expect them to forgive me.”

“Then why continue to fight alongside them?” she demands.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“No,” she almost interrupts me. “They will never accept you as their equals, given your lies.” She pauses and a broad smile takes over her face. “Join me on my quest to set things right.”

“You seek the power of the Veil?” I ask mockingly.

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ve seen it for myself, and Pyre is the Guardian of The Veil. He’s the one who wields its power. Not you. Never you.”

“Once the Veil is torn open, I will ride through the portal with an army at my call. We will lay waste to all who seek to rise against me. You know yourself how hard the mighty fall in battle, Cambion. You and your pitiful friends are merely a bump in my road.”

“Not even Theren’s army could take the Veil,” I reply. “Not even a hundred legions of orcs and demons could take on the great beast who sits on the mountains as though he’s king.”

“Pyre,” she starts.

“I don’t speak of Pyre, but the creature who calls the Veil its home.”

“And what is this beast?”

“A dragon you’re no doubt familiar with, for your kind failed to slay him in the mortal realm. His name isWynrothand he’s an elemental capable of great destruction.” I watch Morrigan flinch. She clutches a hand to her chest, and I remember a tale she once told me as a child. “You were burned by his fire, if I remember correctly?” I continue, enjoying the sudden doubt in her expression. “Scorched to the bone and left for dead, until Abedon found you.”

“Elementals no longer exist,” she sneers. “If they did, the world would be overrun by them. They were creatures that bred by the dozens. Not even the Singularity was enough to stop them. But where are they now? Gone.”

“The former Guardians of The Veil brought the dragons into the spirit world, Morrigan. They aren’t extinct. They roam freely in the territories of the Veil. Had you not run away so quickly in the fight, you would have seenWynrothfor yourself.” I face my brother, even though he’s not my brother at the moment. Morrigan’s magic still overwhelms him. “Theren was there with me. He saw the dragon suck the lightning from the sky and decimate all who dwelled in that clearing.”

“And yet here you are.”

“Wynroth answers only to Pyre,” I say with a gasping wheeze, still feeling a tight pressure in my chest.

Morrigan pulls Theren aside. She whispers to him as the kelpie stands over me with a lustful gaze that makes my stomach turn. Though she appears to be a beautiful woman, the kelpie is more a demon than any succubae could ever hope to be. I know she needs darkness. A promise of more could sway the kelpie to my favor.

“My allies would welcome you,” I tell the creature. “You would not be used for Morrigan’s bidding. A vampire, a King of Shadows, a necromancer who deals in forbidden magic, and a succubus. You would have your choice of rider. Perhaps even the king whose realm you feed from now.”

I flick my gaze over to Theren and the kelpie shivers. Her pale eyes blink rapidly before she presses a hand to my chest.

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