Page 62 of Realm of Wind and Vines
When I tried to connect my magic to her emotions, something went wrong. No, somethingiswrong. With her. The moment my magic connected with her, it was like being hit by a wall of tens of thousands of screaming people. It was almost physically painful.
“They’re coming soon,” Isera hisses at me under her breath while she continues throwing sheets of ice at Lavendera. “If they come back and see this, our whole plan is ruined. We need to get her out of here.”
We need to get her on our side, my mind immediately insists instead.
“Why are you working for them?” I call to Lavendera while ice and wooden branches crash against each other. “You could help us. You’re one of us, so why are you helpingthem?”
Her gaze slides to me. “Because you can’t give me what I want.”
“And what is that?”
She doesn’t reply. Only doubles the number of branches that she shoots at us. But a terrible craving flared up in her eyes when I asked that question. Whatever it is that she wants, she wants itbadly.
“Fuck this,” Isera growls under her breath. “We’re taking this outside.” She shoots a pointed look at me. “Make sure we get the bastard.”
Before I can so much as nod, she slams a sheet of ice towards Lavendera’s side. She yanks up a tree to block it, but Isera has already thrown a second attack. A massive ice wall crashes into Lavendera from the front, barely cushioned by a tangle of branches, and the force sends her flying backwards and out through the main entrance behind her.
Without a second look back, Isera sprints after her.
Outside, wings boom and dragons roar while fire lights up the night sky.
Giving my head a quick shake, I try to get my wits back as I spin around and run over to the room that Orion disappeared into earlier.
The Unseelie King jerks back, and his eyes abruptly stop glowing.
“Malachi’s balls, you couldn’t have announced yourself or something?” he huffs. “I was about to blast you with my full power.”
“Sorry,” I give him a smile full of sarcasm. “Next time, I’ll make sure to hire a master of ceremonies to announce me.”
He rolls his eyes in a very unkinglike way. “Everything is ready on my end, so we should?—”
Cutting himself off midsentence, he suddenly yanks me the final half step out of the doorway and in behind the wall.
“They’re here?” I guess, keeping my voice soft.
He nods in confirmation.
My heart leaps and then starts pounding in my chest.
This is it. Our entire plan hinges on this moment. If we screw this up, we’re doomed.
Two pairs of feet thud against the floor in the entrance hall outside, getting louder with every step as they draw closer. But I can barely hear them over the pounding in my ears.
Please, Mabona. This has to work.
Summoning my magic, I get ready to shove it forward at a moment’s notice. Next to me, Orion’s eyes begin glowing as well. I resist the urge to fidget. Every nerve inside my body is strung so tightly that I can barely breathe.
The footsteps reach the doorway.
I hold my breath.
A silver pant leg appears across the threshold.
And then Emperor Bane Iceheart strides in through the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Orion hits him with the full power of his magic. Bane gasps. Whipping his head from side to side, he desperately tries to figure out what just happened as the room around him disappears and is instead replaced by whatever horrible memory Orion is showing him.
