Page 102 of Midnight Reign
“The only thing dawning here is your downfall,” Dad says, stepping up beside me, to my surprise. His face is a mask of fury as he faces his former ally. “This ends now, Malachar.”
The Dark Fae King laughs again. The sound grates on my nerves. “Don’t be an idiot, Alec. This is only the beginning.”
He raises his hands, and shadows begin to swirl around him. Dark magick presses down on us, heavy like a wet blanket.
“Zaiah,” I say, not taking my eyes off Malachar, “protect Adelaide. No matter what happens, keep her safe.”
The djinn nods, and I know he will keep her from harm.
Just then, a familiar scent catches my attention. It’s like someone lit the darkness on fire. I turn to see Zephyr andIgnatius materialising nearby, a leather-bound book clutched in Ignatius’s hands.
“We got it,” Zephyr calls out, his eyes widening as he takes in the scene before him.
Malachar’s expression darkens. “No,” he snarls. “I won’t let you interfere.”
He lashes out with tendrils of shadow, aiming for the book. Ignatius reacts instantly, a wall of flame erupting between us and Malachar. The shadows hiss and recoil from the heat, but more surge forward to take their place.
“Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast,” I shout to Zephyr and Ignatius as Dad and I move to engage Malachar.
Fighting a Dark Fae King is, in a word, suicide, even for an ancient vampire and his pretty powerful for his age son. Malachar’s shadows are everywhere, lashing out like whips, trying to capture us. Dad and I dodge and weave, our vampire speed barely keeping us ahead of the onslaught.
I manage to get in close, my fist connecting with Malachar’s jaw. The satisfying crunch of bone is short-lived as tendrils of pure night wrap around my arm, flinging me back. I hit the ground hard, rolling to my feet just in time to avoid a spike of darkness that erupts from the earth where I’d been lying.
Dad isn’t faring much better. He’s healing from several cuts, his clothes torn and singed from near misses with Malachar’s attacks. But he isn’t giving up. However fucked up this situation is, he is onourside.
For now.
Every instinct screams at me to go to Adelaide, to hold her, to somehow will her back to consciousness. But I know the best thing I can do for her right now is to keep Malachar occupied.
“Zephyr!” I shout, ducking under another shadow tendril. “Hurry the fuck up, would you?”
I risk a glance over my shoulder. Zephyr, Zaiah, and Ignatius are crouched over the book. Ignatius’s hands glow with heat as he tries to dry out the sodden pages. Zaiah guards them and Adelaide, his form shimmering as he weaves protective magick around them.
“Almost there,” Zephyr calls back, his voice strained.
Malachar lets out a roar of fury, realising what we’re trying to do, which is pretty impressive, seeing as I don’t have a fucking clue what we’re supposed to be doing with this book. I’ll leave that to the magick wielders of the group. I’m just fine being the muscle.
“You think you can stop this?” Malachar snarls. “You’re nothing! Insects before the storm!”
A massive wave of darkness surges towards us. Dad and I brace ourselves, knowing we can’t outrun it. But before it can reach us, a blinding flash of light erupts between us and Malachar.
I blink, spots dancing in my vision. As my sight clears, I see a figure standing there - a woman who looks so much like Adelaide, it’s shocking.
“Enough,” she says, her voice ringing with power.
Malachar freezes but doesn’t lower his offensive stance. “You,” he hisses. “You dare interfere?”
The woman’s gaze is hard as fuck as she regards the Dark Fae King. “I dare to protect my daughter, Malachar, like you were assigned to do so many years ago. You have overstepped, and you know it.”
Daughter?Adelaide’s mother. The celestial being Blackthorn spoke about.
She turns to us, her expression softening. “Protect my daughter,” she says. “The rest, I’ll handle.”
With that, she faces Malachar again, light beginning to swirl around her as she prepares to engage the Dark Fae King.
I don’t wait to see what happens next. I rush back to Adelaide’s side, gathering her in my arms again. “Come on, Dollie,” I murmur. “We need you. I need you. Please, wake up.”
Zephyr and Ignatius join us, the book open between them. “We think we’ve found something,” Zephyr says, his finger tracing lines of text. “A way to contain Crimson’s essence without harming Adelaide.”
