Page 180 of Crown of Briars
Leaves and dust swirled around us as we drew closer. The wind burned, making my skin throb. I had to shout over the roaring wind to ensure Azure could hear me. “The spell mentions blood and shadow, which references the stones. But it also says someone from Jessinda’s kind must offer up their life. I come from the Earthen Court, descended from the witches who once lived here.Iam one of Jessinda’s kind. And my sacrifice will end this curse.”
Azure was silent for a long moment, but she kept flappingher wings, maneuvering through the fierce winds. She did not stop.
“Tislora,”she said at last.“Tislora could have broken the curse. And she had no idea.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “But I would never condemn anyone else to this fate. It is my responsibility. It is what I was always meant to do. All those generations of human brides were given to dothis exact thing. And now, finally, hundreds of years later, it will be finished. The curse will end with me.”
“Sybelle.”Azure’s voice was strained.“Please.”
“There is no other way. Gerard must die. The stones must be destroyed. And I must give up my life. You know this. Otherwise you would have turned us around by now.”
“Then I will die alongside you.”
Tears streamed from my eyes, but the wind dashed them away before they reached my cheeks. “You can’t! I need you to protect the Shadow Court. If the Earthen soldiers keep fighting even after Gerard is dead, you have to keep my people safe. Promise me, Az. Promise me you’ll do that.”
Azure said nothing. Would she refuse me this last wish? Was she so angry with my decision that she would deny my request?
At long last, she whispered,“I swear it. I will protect your people.”
My people.Yes, the unseelie fae were my people. Not the humans. Even though I was part human, even though I had been raised in the Earthen Court… it was no longer my home.
I wasn’t sure when this had changed for me. When had I no longer considered the humansmy people? When had I decided that the lives of the shadow fae were more precious to me?
The wind was so intense that Azure was having trouble flying straight. The wind screamed and howled. The black void was upon us, the darkness so thick I couldn’t even see my legs swinging below me.
“We are at the epicenter now,”Azure said, her wingbeats slowing.She teetered, bobbing up and down.“I cannot fight the wind anymore.”
“Then drop me,” I said, the storm raging around us. I could see nothing but the dark shadows. The toxins filled my nose and throat, making me choke.
Even if Azure retreated now, there was every likelihood I would still be poisoned.
No turning back now,I thought.
“Azure, drop me!” I cried. The longer she stayed here, the worse the wind would get. She might be immune to the Necro Shadows, but she wasn’t immune to the storm.
“I love you, Sybelle.”
Azure’s talons loosened, and she released me.
I fell, the weightlessness rushing around me. My stomach flipped as my body careened with the wind. Tree branches and debris slammed into me, barreling me left and right. My body was battered as I slammed into something hard and unyielding. A choked scream built in my throat, but I couldn’t find my voice. Darkness pressed in on me. Poison seeped into my veins, coursing through my body like fire. My bones melted. My blood burned.
And then my body shattered into nothingness.
Screams and shouts echoedaround me, but they were drowned out by the bloodlust burning in my veins. I was on all fours, paws hitting the earth hard as I pounced from one soldier to the next. I saw no faces. Only enemies.
I swiped my claws, then dug my fangs into the flesh of the enemy closest to me. My wings flared, lifting me upward to avoid the slash of his sword. With blood dripping down my chin, I broke away from the throng and howled at the full moon, my entire body quivering from the euphoria coursing through me.
It felt glorious to unleash the demon that had been festering inside me for so long. Years of pent-up rage had been mounting, and now, finally, I was free to let it all loose.
My roar split the air, and I took off at a run, the muscles of my legs pumping hard. I was a beast built for speed and death. And I embraced it fully.
“Varius?”A sudden voice echoed in my mind.
I faltered, my stride slowing as I homed in on that singular sound. The voice awakened something that was slumbering inside me. Something I wanted to keep buried deep.
Confusion clouded my mind, and I shook my head with a growl, ready to lose myself to the bloodlust again.
But that damnedvoice…It haunted my thoughts now. All I could hear was her. All I wanted washer.
