Page 58 of Hopeless Sacrifice
Chapter Seventeen
Deadly Magic
The thin dragon leather protects my upper body, holding back the sharp attacks of the creatures. But it only covers me so much.
The talons of the nix’s claws rip through the flesh of my bare shoulder but I don’t feel it. I don’t wait for Ryder as I trail after the King of Juvar. I land in the living room of Saint’s Inn with the creature still attached to my back. I don’t think twice before pulling at its spindly limb. I jerk it to the floor and my flesh tears away beneath its claws. With reckless power and anxious movements, I grab the wine bottle. It shatters against the nix’s face as I slam it into its snarling mouth. My muscles are tense and jerking as I quickly slice the edge of the bottle across the creature’s neck. Its screams drift off into silence. I storm away from the nix without looking back at it.
“Celeste.” I yell her name through the house. My voice carries all through it. Through the glossy windows I spot Daxdyn and Darrio passing out weapons and dragon leathers to our men. I barely even think about the soldiers outside.
“Celeste.” My screams are a shrieking cry. My heart pounds harder with every passing second.
Rapid steps pound against the floorboards when I storm up the stairs.
If anything happens, go to the cellar.
I halt in my tracks, remembering what I told her less than twenty-four hours ago.
I take the stairs several at a time. I race to the one place I promised her she’d be safe.
When I swing open the door, I know he’s here. Crimson magic glows at the bottom of the stairs. The wood creaks beneath my steps as I stalk closer to him. The color of his magic is the only light. It fumes over his features in dark shadows and eerie blood red colors.
His palm is held tightly over my aunt’s mouth. No tears stream down her beautiful face. She looks furious as he holds her tightly to his chest.
She’s never been intimidated by men.
Not even by the Eminence, apparently.
“She made a good show of running from me. You’d have been so proud.”
Another creaking step brings me just a few feet from him.
“Release her and you can have me.”
Laughter shakes through him, curving the angles of his face into a look of terrifying happiness.
“I don’t know how many times I can say this;I don’t want youanymore, Miss Storm.” The light in his hand blazes into so much power it makes my breath catch in my lungs. “All I want now is to watch you suffer. I’m going to take everything you love and I’m going to destroy it. And then, I’m going to rule over the seven realms. I’m going to rule over your entire life. And I want you to see what we could have been together.”
The fire magic within me stings through my palms as I try to find the best way to harm him without burning my aunt and this whole fucking house to the ground.
“But for right now,” his hand rises and I leap for him. The crimson magic slams hard into her chest. “I want you to suffer.”
I slam into him but my eyes are held on Celeste as she slumps to the floor. The crimson color glows through her body, emanating from her chest until it fumes all through her shoulders and legs. It consumes her entirely.
A quiet sound of pain leaves her lips on an empty breath. Her eyes hold mine and I know the moment the life leaves her body. A glossy look fills her gaze and the crimson color drains from her.
My palms are against her unseen wound. I shove at the magic within me, trying to find the healing powers that I know every fae possesses.
Warm energy shakes through me. I feel it. I know it’s what I need. I know it’s the magic that could save her.
But it doesn’t.
The bright white magic that pushes from my palms simply dissolves into her slacken body.
I release it, but it never absorbs.
She’s gone. Several moments pass like that. When I jerk my hands away, a charred and decaying texture starts to burn across her body, leaving a corpse behind.
A startling breath rips from my lungs. Moisture burns my eyes as I stare at her.
