Page 202 of Wrath of the Fae

He calls his Dark Fae, and they all start running towards us, scrambling and clawing across the blood-soaked dirt.

I call my monsters to defend me, and they crash like waves around us.

‘It doesn’t matter what you do,’ he says. ‘The wall is still falling. The great shield between worlds will crumble and your Fae will become my slaves. My dark soldiers.’

I feel it then.

The lie. I not only feel it but hear it. A whisper, speaking to me as if it’s alive.

‘I will march across this world and claim it for myself,’ he continues, boasting of his victory, spreading his arms wide as if this nightmare is something wonderous to behold. ‘Humanity will live in walled in cities, serving thoseIdeem worthy to live as humans by my side. I will rule over them all, Raven. Over monster. Over humanity. I will be a God. TheonlyGod. And when I have this realm in hand, I will seek out more, and more, until the entire universe belongs to me.’

‘Shield?’ I repeat, sticking to that single word he said. The one he spoke just after his lie rippled over me.

It doesn’t matter what you do. The wall is still falling.

And the whisper that followed.

It matters what you do. Nothing matters more. The wall is falling. But it can be replaced just as it was before.

He laughs again. The fucker is always laughing.

Ivan crouches down, resting his elbows on his knees as he looks at me.

‘You are something new. And I do enjoy playing with new toys. I wonder if I peel your skin from your bones if I will decipher those markings on your flesh.’

He wraps his hand around my throat.

A blinding light strikes him, followed swiftly by a stream of black smoke.

Reid and Cyrus reform and pin him down as a third lands atop him.

One of pure beauty. Of grace. Of shining gold and an ethereal glow

Rhea!

She holds him by her foot on his chest and looks down at him. My mother's wings softly beat at her back, thrumming with power.

So beautiful. So light.

Now I know where the gold dust went after I tore them from his back.

They went to her.

The new Fae Queen.

‘NOW!’ Cyrus shouts.

Reid and Rhea each grab one of Ivan’s hands, and he roars against them.

His body judders and shakes. The gold light in his eyes starts to flicker out. Reid and Rhea both throw their heads back, crying out.

With a blast of light, they’re tossed away, left to roll in the dirt.

The Dark Fae all stop. They freeze in place, unmoving.

Rhea’s eyes glow, and she stands tall, wielding control over them again.

She has her power back. And when I watch Reid get to his feet, and all his injuries disappear, I know he has his gift to heal back as well.

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