Page 2 of Midnight Reign
“Let’s go.” We plunge into the dark forest, the sounds of battle fading behind us. With every step away from MistHallow, I feel weird, conflicting emotions. Relief to be actively pursuing Adelaide, but fear of what we might find.
I reach out with my senses, feeling for any trace of Adelaide. It’s like trying to catch smoke with my bare hands, elusive and frustrating. All I know is she went this way. But they could’ve ducked and weaved and turned back on themselves at any point. There is nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Yet.
As we move, I remember Christos’s words. Vesper. He knows exactly what she is, so if he does, so do others. This situation has gone from extremely bad to potentially worse. My soul aches, knowing she is lost right now. I hate it and like it at the same time.When did she become so essential to me?Well, that’s easy. The second I laid eyes on her in the library. I knew it in my blood, in my essence. She is mine. Ours. The thought of never seeing her again, of failing her, is more than I can stand, and it makes my skin itch.
The forest grows denser, older. The trees are ancient, their gnarled branches reaching out like claws. An oppressive silence falls over us, broken only by the crunch of our footsteps.
The Fae part of me recognises this place, feels the old magick that permeates the air. It’s wild, untamed, dangerous. Under different circumstances, I might have revelled in it. Now, it only serves to heighten my anxiety.
Suddenly, I feel a shift in the air. A familiar energy that makes my skin crawl. I hold up a hand, signalling for the others to stop.
“Watch out!” I yell, just as a group of vampires melts out of the shadows, their eyes glowing with bloodlust.
“What the fuck?” Zaiah hisses, his hands already weaving complex patterns in the air to dispel any magick that comes our way.
I don’t hesitate. The darkness inside me surges up, and for once, I let it. Shadows coalesce around my fists as I slam into the first vampire, feeling bones crunch beneath my knuckles. Theviolence feels good, an outlet for the storm of emotions raging inside me.
Ignatius roars, a tornado of flame engulfing two more vampires. Their screams are cut short as they’re reduced to ash. The fire elemental’s face is a mask of fury.
Zaiah’s magick warps reality around us, trapping another vampire in a pocket dimension. The air shimmers and bends, the unfortunate vampire’s screams fading as they’re pulled into nothingness.
But more keep coming. They’re relentless, driven by a fanatical loyalty to whomever their master is. It could be anyone, but vampire followers usually means a vampire master…
“Fuck,” I mutter as I dodge a set of razor-sharp claws, a chilling thought occurs to me. “Randall Black.”
“What?” Ig shouts as he slams a flame into another zealot. “Are you sure?”
“No, but…” A vampire attacks me from behind, jumping me and trying to break my neck. It won’t kill me, but it will irritate the fuck out of me, and it will hurt like fuck. I slip out of his grasp and into the shadows, watching him fall to the ground in a clumsy heap before Zaiah tangles him up in wisps of smoke so that Ignatius can blow him up.
But for every vampire we take down, two more seem to take their place. They’re like a hydra, endless and overwhelming. We’re powerful, the three of us, but even we have our limits.
“We need to end this,” I growl, feeling my control slipping. The darkness inside me is clawing to get out, but I know I’ll take half the forest with me. This plane, this semi-earthly plane, isn’t designed for the full strength of my power. “Now.”
I reach deep inside myself, tapping into the wellspring of Dark Fae magick that is my birthright. It responds eagerly, surging through me like a tidal wave. The air around me grows heavy, charged with power.
“Duck!” I shout to Ig and Zaiah. That’s all the warning they get.
Then I let it all go.
A wave of pure darkness erupts from me, washing over the clearing. It’s like a piece of the void given form, absolute and all-consuming. The vampires caught in its path scream, their bodies disintegrating into nothingness. Trees wither and crumble, the earth shrinks away from the touch of my power.
And this isn’t even a quarter of what I can do.
For a moment, I lose myself in it. The darkness is seductive, whispering promises of more power, of vengeance against those who took Adelaide. It would be so easy to give in, to let it consume me entirely.
But Adelaide’s face flashes in my mind. Her smile, her laughter. The way she looks at me like I’m more than just a prince of darkness. It anchors me, pulling me back from the chasm.
When the darkness recedes, only the three of us remain standing. Well, I’m standing. Ig and Zaiah are somewhere. The clearing is decimated, looking like a scene from the apocalypse.
I sway on my feet, momentarily drained.
Zaiah and Ignatius pop out of a pocket dimension, probably the safest place for them, and look around.
“Whoa.” Ignatius steadies me, his touch searing hot. The difference to my cold power is disconcerting. “Zephyr, man. You slayed.”
I snort, already pushing away from him. “No shit.” There’s no time for weakness, not when Adelaide needs us. “We need to keep moving.”
