Page 199 of Wrath of the Fae

A portal is born.

No longer is it gold, but black and thick like tar, swirling slowly.

I fly through and land gently on a metal platform.

A looming figure stands at a tall window, gripping the edges so tight the brick has shattered beneath his palm.

‘Don’t mind me bringing some friends, do you… Daddy?’

He turns.

And I come face to face with the monster that is my father.

My portal fades, not as dust flitting into the air but with a wet thud as the slick substance falls to the floor.

He’s demonic. Monstrous. His body is broad and hideously muscled. Veins pulse beneath his skin.

His eyes narrow on me.

‘What are you?’ he growls in a deep voice, looking me up and down.

I look at his back, where my mother’s wings remain. They’re still the same twisted form of themselves. Dripping with bile and black blood. I glance to the right, where the machine blasts out extreme power, funnelled through the tall spire of this tower. Cable and buttons mix with body parts. Wings. Hands. Brains. Blood.

I think I should be repulsed. But I struggle to locate that emotion right now.

My gaze lands on Rhea, lying beneath the arch. She’s utterly still. Pale as death. And blood pools between her legs.

‘You are too late,’ he says, clenching his fists at his side. ‘The machine has begun. It can not be stopped until it is done.’

I don’t reply. I simply look at him.

‘Call off your creatures,’ he says. ‘You can join me. Together, we can-’

‘I will hack those wings from your back and watch as you scream for my mercy.’

The corner of his mouth twitches. He wants to laugh, but he’s unsure what he is looking at. He is unsure of my strength. My power. His eyes take in sight of my razor-sharp wings and my skin covered in markings.

‘It does not matter what you do now,’ he says. ‘It is too late. This world is to be the most powerful and endless world ever to exist. All that is left for you is to die or join me. And if you fight me, Reid and Cyrus will die.’

‘Is that so?’ I sing, laughing softly at his pathetic attempt at a threat.

‘Yes. It is.’

‘You distracted me so you could take Rhea and my Mates whilst I wasn’t looking.’

‘It wasn’t a challenge,’ he sneers. ‘You are your mother’s daughter after all. Stupid and easily manipulated.’

That slick substance left from my portals glides into the air, and just as I did before, I use it. Two portals form at my back. On my left, Reid walks through. On my right, Cyrus. They both arrive with two of my monsters. Great wolves but twice the size and ten times more lethal than any normal animal.

‘You were saying?’ I say, looking him dead in the eye.

‘Thanks for the rescue, Princess,’ Cyrus says, stopping at my side. He tosses a severed head at Ivan, which lands at his feet. ‘There are six others, just as dead, down in those cells.’

We all face him. Wings out. Weapons ready. Monsters at our backs.

Ivan scoffs a deep laugh. ‘You think you three can stop this? There is nothing to stop. The walls will fall. Fae will become Dark. They will become mine. Humans will become mine. This whole world-’

‘You sure do like the sound of your own voice, Ivan,’ Reid sighs. ‘Turn the machine off. We’ll make your death reasonably quick.’

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