Page 129 of Wrath of the Fae

My eyes go to El, still up on the podium. She’s out cold. Lucca runs towards it and rams it with all his beastly strength. The pole falls and I run to her, slashing and hacking as I go. He’s there, sniffing her and licking her face. She doesn’t respond. I start undoing the chains, my skin burning as I touch them. A fierce snarl has me turning my head just in time to see a demon dog mid-jump. Its jaws are wide and ready for my face. A powerful pulse expels from me, and the hound whines before falling on the floor. It thrashes before me, snapping its jaws and twisting its body as if something is attacking it.

But I feel it. That connection. Something primal between that creature and me. I stand over it. I’m the invisible force attacking it.

It falls still before returning to its feet and bowing its head.

I have it. It’s mine.

‘Kill,’ I order.

It turns and attacks its former master instead.

My head swims, and blood rushes through my ears, deafening me as I claim control.

I turn away and try to free El, but the iron steals my strength and magic. Then, two humans drop to their knees beside me and sever her bonds. Sasha is one of them.

‘Take her somewhere safe,’ I order, trusting them as they take her weight and carry her back towards the palace.

A body lands in front of me with a thud. A Valker woman, her body broken and bloody. In the sky, a battle rages. Blood falls over us like rain, and bodies fall like stones.

Reid grabs my arm and yanks me to the side as a sword comes for me. He deals a swift death blow to the soldier who tried to end my life.

‘Focus or get off the battlefield!’ he scolds before kissing my cheek and standing at my side to fight.

I grip my dagger in one hand, my sword in the other, and I fight. I kill. I use my power to hurtle others around me. I snap bones. I mangle bodies. And all the while, that growling grows inside. It becomes deafening.

My eyes glow as my powers swell. The ground trembles around me before great cracks spread through the ground, all originating from my feet.

To me, everything falls silent. Even though the battle rages around us.

Silence.

Then…

A swarm of insects erupt from the cracks. They screech and cry like nails on a chalkboard. Hundreds of them. Thousands. Winged and spindly, no bigger than my hand, their bones barely covered in black, leathery flesh. They have six arms. At the end of each are claws or pincers. The wings at their backs are silver and beat so fast it leaves nothing but a blur. They hum as they beat.

Everyone watches these grotesque critters in silent horror and disgust as they rise into the air, swarming in a deadly mass.

Until they attack, and then the air fills with the soldier’s screams.

I simply watch.

They carve and cleave a thousand cuts. They bury into their bodies. Eat their tongues and decimate everything they touch, tearing and eating. They only attack the enemy.

I feel them. I know them. And they know me. Know what I want. What I demand of them.

Two of the Thirteen Leviathans that I forced away are free. The others are waking up. Their pets too. Those so dangerous I sent them to sleep as well. And all are starving. All are hateful of the light ones I betrayed them for.

The Leviathan king’s words echo in my mind. These are just some of the pets he was talking about. A swarm as lethal as a plague, sweeping across the land and decimating everything in its path.

But these pets are mine now.

Mine.

My wings pulse as I breathe deeply, and I welcome this sensation of power and control. Of dark admiration that seeps from these creatures. After what I’ve lived through, it’s refreshing. Addictive.

A hideous chorus of screeches, snarls and howls ripple through the Kingdom before the other demon dogs turn on the soldiers, too, tearing them to pieces.

And I smile, relishing in their pain. In their slow and undignified deaths.

---