Page 90 of Riot of Autumn

“No!” I scream, but everything happens too quickly. The shadows slam into the back of my beautiful dragon, and he lets out a bellow of pain that shakes the ground.

I scramble to my feet, but Rhys is there, blocking my way. “Ruby, you have to focus. The rest of us will help Ezra.”

I don’t want to leave Ezra’s fate in someone else’s hands. Everything about that feels wrong. He’s hurting, he’s exposed and in danger. I want to scream in frustration, but I know what I have to do. Everyone is relying on me, and for the first time in my life, I want to show them what I’m capable of.

Dropping back down to my knees, a curse on my tongue for the Queen, I drive my fingers into the earth. The magic deep in my chest that’s linked to Ezra burns bright. Right behind that are the six other bonds to my friends and family.

Closing my eyes, I hold that burning warmth tight to me, letting the power build until it’s a massive ball of energy. Then I summon the magic of every Fae working against us right to me.

32

EZRA

Ablast of fire tears from my throat. I angle it toward the giant snake and the group of Fae cowering behind him. So far, none of them have dared trying to get past me, but I know that’s about to change.

The second Ruby starts working her magic, they’ll want to fight. There’s a tug on the magical tether that ties Ruby and me together. What she’s about to do is going to require a lot of power, and I’m not sure how long I can stay shifted into this massive dragon form while she works.

Up until now, I’ve been distracting the Fae, giving my friends time to get the veil open. The clearing is too small for me to open my wings and fly above our enemies. But this form has many other weapons at hand. I rear up, slashing at the snake in front of me, and roar as my claws slice his flesh. They sink into his scales, leaving deep, bloody furrows.

I feel the magic of the veil coming down more than I see it. There’s shouting behind me and then something slams into my back. It’s as if a bolt of freezing agony stabs through the scales covering my flesh and lances me through the heart. A stream of fire and a roar rip from my throat at the pain.

The Duke spots the opening and strikes, his fangs sinking into my shoulder. Venom pours into my body, chasing the icy coldness in my heart with a burn so raw I wonder if my skin is blistering. The Duke needs to be taken down, now.

This body is too large to turn around and figure out what’s happening behind me. But I can’t shift and let the snake loose on the clearing. All I can do is focus on the Duke and make sure he’s distracted.

I thrash, crushing part of the snake’s body to the ground with my claws. His body writhes and jerks, but I hold him down. With a roar that shakes the earth, I snap my jaws and take a bite out of his body. The snake releases my shoulder, letting out a hiss that morphs into a scream as the Duke shifts back into his human form.

There’s a chunk of flesh missing from his side. Blood pours from the wound and I enjoy the sight more than I should. His skin is paler than usual, and his twisted grin is nowhere to be found. I’d love to take another minute to enjoy the sight of him bloody and weak at my feet, but another lash of icy pain stabs into my back.

I shift, dropping to all fours in front of the Duke as the pain incapacitates me. The smug look on his face makes me want to take another bite out of him, but there’s no time for that. I push to my feet, swaying as I stumble back. My movements are sluggish, and my breathing labored. The bite on my shoulder from the fucking snake throbs and burns, while whatever blasted into my back feels like frozen death in my chest.

I turn to the side, trying to keep the Duke and the cavalry behind him in sight while I take stock of what’s happening with my friends. The veil is down, an opening wide enough for ten Fae to walk through side-by-side, shimmers in the middle of the clearing. There’s a woman draped in a red gown, grinning around the clearing with absolute joy. The crown on her head leaves no question about who she is.

“Take care of these vermin. They are not worthy of being in my presence.” The Queen gestures toward her guards.

“Bitch, you’re the one who showed up to the party uninvited,” Miri snarls, and all hell breaks loose.

I sprint across the clearing to join my friends. The Fae surrounding the Duke and the guards with the Queen converge and run toward us. Ruby is on her knees, her eyes closed in concentration, protected by the wall of our friends. She’s vulnerable like this. Even if she wasn’t already my number one priority, protecting her while she works her magic is critical right now.

This isn’t a normal fight. It isn’t like a bar brawl where fists are flying, and people are getting slapped around. There’s magic whizzing all over the clearing. Miri and Zara have bags full of potions and they’re lobbing them at the Fae like magical grenades. Except these little bombs are meant to incapacitate our enemies.

I don’t know what magic Miri put in them, but half of the Fae go down, passing the fuck out as the potions explode at their feet. Davis and Emric are next to them, sending balls of fire and spears of ice across the clearing and toward the Fae. One of Davis’s ice spears slams into Anthony’s shoulder. He rips it out and throws it to the ground, his face full of rage.

“Elementals,” Anthony roars, and several of the Fae behind him and those from the Queen’s guard step forward. “Attack.”

Balls of ice fly our way. Fire springs up in a circle around us, and the ground shakes like it’s about to break apart. The Queen watches but stays removed from the fray, laughing at the destruction being wrought in her name.

Archer steps forward and then disappears into the shadows, only to reappear on the other side of the clearing. He punches one of the Fae in the temple, knocking them out with one swing before disappearing and repeating the whole exercise over again, taking out the enemy one by one.

Rhys and Lena are blocking Ruby, but Lena’s eyes are nearly closed as she calls upon the dead. When she figured out she could conjure them to protect us, we questioned if it was a good idea, but we are pulling out all the stops. White specters swirl through the air, forming a barrier between Lena, Rhys, Ruby, and the rest of the clearing.

Sweat pours off my face, and my shoulder burns like it’s on fire. There’s a good chance I might puke sometime soon. The ice in my chest has almost completely gone away, but there’s still an ache there. Knowing that Ruby is protected eases some of my worry. I have no clue how much time I have before the snake’s venom either works its way out of my system or takes me down. All I can do is fight for as long as I can stand. I shift, choosing my wolf form this time.

“Get the wolf,” Anthony commands, continuing to call the shots without doing much fighting of his own.

I’m not certain he has any defensive magic. He can heal and we know he can compel, but he might not have any other tools to use against us.

The Duke snarls as I come for him, shifting into an animal as I launch myself at him. It takes me a second to recognize that he’s turned into a hyena. Could there be a more fitting animal? The bastard is a scavenger, stealing the lifeblood of others by sucking up their magic.

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