Page 54 of My Demon Desire
I stand, trying to think of something, anything to get us out of this mess, but I can't think of anything. The queen takes a step closer, her sword still raised.
My birthmark throbs with such intense pain that I cry out, falling to my knees.
The queen's lips twist in a cruel smirk. "In the end, I have the throne and I still will. No matter what my cousin tried to do to stop it, it is always mine."
I glance down at my arm, expecting to see it gouged and bleeding, but there's no blood. Just a pulsing glow now.
"We must protect the true fae blood and weed out anyone who harbors the human taint."
"Like you?" I prod, not understanding if she's part fae too like me, why she has such a problem with humans.
She comes at me with renewed ferocity. "Time for all of you to die."
"No!" I can't let her hurt my dad anymore or my men. "This ends now." I raise my hand and magic shoots from my birthmark, up my arm, and into her.
She's blasted backward into a tree. The guards around us stare, their weapons held ready, but they don't attack.
"I am the daughter of Reyshiik. Join me to overthrow the pretender to the throne. And I promise you peace and freedom."
They murmur amongst themselves for a few moments before several of them come to stand by me facing their peers. With her weakened, the control she had over everyone must be slipping too.
I turn to Morrigan. "Don't make me kill you, cousin."
"Never." She spits. "I will never beg for mercy from the likes of you. You won't succeed."
When she raises a fist and blows some white powder at me, Reis jumps in between us before I can blink.
Then he crumples at my feet, twisting in agony.
"Reis," I scream, kneeling beside him and pulling his head into my lap, trying to comfort him.
With a roar like a beast, Thorne leaps over my head, shifting into his wolf form at the same time.
He sinks his teeth into her neck and chomps down so hard the sickening crunch that follows.
The queen drops to the ground, dead.
All of the guards drop down to one knee, facing me, and pound their fists to their chest.
"Hail the new queen and ruler."
I pull Reis into my arms, my heart aching at what he had sacrificed for me.
He looks up at me, weakly, and I press a kiss on his forehead, tears streaming down my face.
"Don't you dare die. I forbid it," I manage to say before I bury my face in his neck as the emotion overwhelms me.
The birthmark on my arm warms, then travels through my body like an electrical current. I gasp as gold and silver tendrils cover Reis.
He chokes, gasping for air, catching his breath. Then he looks up at me as though in wonder. "Y-you cured me of the nightveil poison."
"Wha— how?" I'm dazed, stunned, but elated at the same time.
"Magic," he says. "Your mom's birthright must have unlocked in you."
I glance around at my dad who is wheezing and Kaden who lies so still I'm afraid he's dead.
"Can I heal them?" I choke out and Reis stands, pulling me up with him.
