Blood Beyond Darkness (32 page)

Had we lost? The world was destroyed, and soon I would join Eli on the floor. My lashes fluttered as I looked back at him. Numbness blanketed me. Everyone I loved was dead or soon would be, probably horrifically tortured before they gratefully let death take them. I started to envy Eli’s quick demise. He would never see what became of the world or experience the torment Aneira would have inflicted on him.

Flapping at the window drew my gaze away from the battlefield and the magic bolting across the sky. “I am here, my lady.” Simmons dove through the window, zooming past Aneira.

“Simmons, what are you doing? Get out of here.”

“I am your faithful soldier. I will never leave you, my lady.”

“Simmons, I order you!”

“Sorry, my lady. Sir Torin has requested my presence here no matter what your objections are.”

“Torin?” I couldn’t stop the question from coming out. The small bit of hope circled my chest and wanted to land.

“Alive, my lady. Calvin and he both send their apologies since they cannot attend the fight.”

He meant they survived but were probably badly hurt. It was still a small bit of happiness. At least they lived. Hope crashed into me, giving me the will to fight. My legs took on more of my weight as I stood taller.

“This is all greatly amusing.” Aneira let out a bell of laughter. “A pixie who thinks he can help you. So sweet.”

Simmons pulled out his little sword, his eyes lowering in a glower.

“I’ve learned never to doubt what six inches can do,” I said and threw myself back out of her grasp, landing hard on my behind.

Simmons dive-bombed Aneira, diverting her attention while I pulled the bracelet out of my
pocket and scrambled to my feet. Aneira swatted at the pixie, but he kept going at her, circling her head. This would probably be the only opportunity I had. I leaped for her. My legs, not ready for the sudden movement, collapsed under me. I went face first on the rigid floor; the goblin iron flew out of my hand and skated across the floor.

“Simmons!” I yelled and nodded toward the bracelet. He followed my line of sight and dove for the object. Aneira tried to snatch it but pulled back when she noticed what it was. Simmons grabbed it and went airborne.

“How’s your iron immunity going, Aneira? How’s the Dark Dweller trait helping you?” I pushed myself up. She had to be aware she still couldn’t fight the metal. She didn’t have any of the Dark Dweller in her. I did, and I could feel it coming to the surface. The sharpening of my vision told me my eyes had turned vertical. “The Dark Dweller never left me because it was given to me through blood. Something you can never have.”

“I did wonder. I tried over and over thinking I only needed to work through it.” A cruel smile twisted at her mouth. “I should have known the characteristics that slaughtered your mother would stay with you. You ungrateful, little wretch. Still bedding your mother’s killer? She would love the respect you have shown her.”

“You killed her, Aneira. The Dark Dwellers were only the instruments. You were the one who assassinated my mother. Your own sister.”

The bulbs of fire in the room burst, flames flicking with her anger. “Shut up. She would not be dead if it were not for you,” she screeched.

I could feel the air becoming denser. She would soon lose it, and I knew all too well what she was capable of if she did. “Simmons, now!”

Cole had told me the goblin word to lock the bracelet on her wrist. I needed to do it fast. Simmons threw me the band, and he plunged for her eyes. I sprang for her wrists, the Dark Dweller in me giving me the energy and desire to tear her apart.

“No!” Aneira screamed, her hand aiming toward me. My body slammed into the wall, and my head cracked back, causing my vision to go fuzzy. I fell and slumped over. Blood trickled into my eyes, pooling on the floor.

Simmons yelled something and attacked her. She snatched him from the air. “Sub-fae should stick to what they are good at. Being extinct.” The Queen threw Simmons to the floor and slammed her shoe on him, twisting the heel of her boot hard onto his tiny body. His wings tore in bits, trailing in arch away from his twisted body.

A scream bounded off the walls—mine. I clawed the stone floor trying to go to him, but I couldn’t move my body.

“You’re next.” Aneira sauntered to where I lay and peered at me. She kicked at my hand, sending the iron skittering from my grasp. She stood watching me. “
Your lying there is actually quite paradoxical.” She leaned down, getting closer to my face. “I found my sister in the same position and watched her die as well.”

I knew Aneira had planned Aisling’s murder, but for her to have watched with pleasure showed me exactly how truly cold she was. Anger burned in my chest, and my lids narrowed on Aneira.

“Yes, she gave me the same look before she died. She thought she had outsmarted me, and she had won, even if it was simply getting you out of the Otherworld. Well, Aisling ... do you hear me? Your bastard daughter is following you to the dark pits of the underworld. You will finally have some time together.” Her eyes scanned around wildly and seemed to be actually waiting for her sister to reply.

Aneira stared down, her eyes widened as she watched me. I felt she no longer saw me, but a ghost. “Aisling?” She jerked back, then shook her head, trying to clear out the haunting memories. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. Words I could not decipher rushed out of her mouth in garbled mumble. She looked like she had snapped.

Lars told me too much magic could turn someone insane, especially one with Dae powers. She had hers and mine. It was not natural for her body or mind to hold so much. A pure Fay could not handle a Dae’s power for long. No other species could. We were designed to handle it better. But we even struggled with containing our magic, some Daes still went insane.

Aneira screamed at me. “Aisling, I know you can hear me. I won, little sister. You did well at trying to best me, but I prevailed. Daddy always said you were the smarter, stronger, more magic-filled one. It looks like he was wrong. I survived you all. And I even won against a prophecy. It was me at the end who outsmarted everyone.”

A wave of dizziness enveloped me. My head felt thick and groggy. The blood loss pulled me toward unconsciousness. It seemed I was seeing Aneira through my mother’s eyes. Aisling had expected her sister’s betrayal. My heart felt heavy with sadness. “I loved you, Aneira. Even when you made it impossible.” The words came out of my mouth, but I didn’t remember thinking them.

What the hell?

Aneira stopped, and her huge eyes bore into me. “You betrayed me! You left me. You did not love me. You loved those Demons more,” she ranted.

Whatever had come over me was gone and left behind a slight tingling in my back. Energy twitched through my tattoo. Heat ignited the curly ink marks, burning through my back, giving me strength. In my fuzzy brain, I knew beyond a doubt my mom had come to me. Aisling was the one who spoke. The strength came from her. My tattoo was her calling card, the thing she sent me in a dreamscape to protect myself. She wanted me to survive. To fight my enemy and get out safely.

Thank you, Mom.

I tried to lift my head, but an involuntary grunt fell from my lips.

Aneira shook her head, her violet-blue eyes sharpening on me. Her confusion was gone. She did not see my mother anymore; she saw me. Her grip tightened around the handle of her sword. “I have been waiting for this day. It should have been you who died, not my sister,” Aneira sneered. “I cannot believe she would betray me for a Demon and a bastard child. A DAE!”

I tried to lift my head again. It stayed long enough to get a better view of the room. The Sword of Light rested on the floor behind Aneira, near Eli’s body. With every fiber or ounce of my energy, I would get to the sword. It was my fate, and I could not fail. Power slammed into my chest, knocking my head back. All my muscles locked under the Demon magic, holding me unmovable against the cold stones.

“You will not be leaving here. Alive anyway,” she howled.

One single tear leaked from my eye. It angered me. I would not die crying like a baby.

Eli’s words came back to haunt me.
We are in this together. No matter the outcome.
Yes, both of us would die in here. Very
Romeo and Juliet
of us to perish together.

I always hated that play.

“Now it is your turn to join your mother and father. Aisling gave her own life to save you ... all for nothing.” Aneira drew her sword. “You failed, Ember. Even the prophesied one could not kill me.”

I shut my eyes, feeling a burst of air hit my face as she swung the sword toward my neck.
I am sorry,
was all I could think, to all the people who still lived and to my loved ones.

A shrill scream echoed through the room. My lids burst open. Only inches from my neck, the sword fell from Aneira’s hands. Her mouth opened in a frozen scream. A glowing metal point stuck out of her stomach, blood seeping into the fabric of her clothes. Aneira went limp and collapsed. Her flesh tore as the sword slid out of her body.

My brain grappled to understand the scene in front of me.

“Daes weren’t the only ones whose bloodlines were repressed.” Kennedy stood over the Queen’s body, the Sword of Light in her hand. It illuminated a warm glow, filling the room with its brilliant radiance. It had come alive for Kennedy. It never had for me ... because ... I wasn’t the one it was meant for. Ever.

By one of the Light, Darkness will take its revenge.

A bloodline that cannot be repressed will rise to power.

A descendant will take the throne.

Blood will seek to kill you.

She who possesses the Sword of Light will have the power
.

Holy shit!
The prophecy was talking about two different people, not one. It never said a Dae would take the throne, but she who possesses the sword. It had been meant for Kennedy all along.

By body was released from Aneira’s Demon hold on me, and I pushed myself up.

“Ember!” Kennedy’s attention finally broke from Aneira. Kennedy dropped the sword at her feet and came to my side to aid me. Her arms shook as she helped get me on my feet. I swayed and almost fell again, but she gripped harder. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

A groan came from the body at our feet. A yelp rose from Kennedy as she jumped back. I went back to my knees and turned Aneira’s face to me.

“She’s still alive.” I looked at Kennedy. Leave it me to state the obvious. Kennedy’s face turned white, her eyes looking at me with hope. I shook my head. “Kennedy, it has to be you. It glowed for you. It’s you who was prophesized, not me. You are the one meant to kill her. And as long as Aneira lives, the curse is still on me. I cannot touch the sword.”

I could taste my desire for Aneira’s blood. I wanted to avenge all she had done: the deaths of my friends and family, the annihilation of innocent people. I wanted to destroy her, but I now realized it wasn’t my fate to kill Aneira and become Queen. It was Kennedy’s.

Kennedy was not a violent person by any means. The only reason she could stab Aneira was because she was about to slice off my head. The idea of stabbing Aneira again made Kennedy look like she wanted to vomit.

“And you have to chop off her head. It’s the only way to kill her.”

“What?” Kennedy screeched. “I-I can’t chop off her head!”

Aneira coughed, blood leaking from her mouth.

I stood. “You have to. It must be you. You were meant to be Queen.” My voice sounded strong and sure with the realization I was right.

An eerie chuckle came from the body at our feet. “You both are pathetic. Even the all-powerful Dae and Druid can’t kill me ...” Another spasm of coughs made her sentence trail off.

I grabbed Kennedy’s hands, forcing her to look at me. “Kennedy, you and you alone have to fulfill the vision. Remember all she has taken from you: your human family, Ryan, and Jared. Your whole clan died because she wanted to break the spell on the sword. This sword was
always meant for you to avenge your family.”

Kennedy gulped.

Suddenly, Aneira rolled over and reached for her own personal sword. Kennedy’s instinct took over. She seized Nuada’s Sword. It burned bright at her touch. Aneira’s body leaped up, and with a strangled cry she turned to me. Anger and hatred twisted her features.

Kennedy dove in front of me, swinging. With a bone chilling slash of flesh and bone, the sword cut through Aneira’s neck. Blood sprayed across us as Aneira’s body fell as a lump on the floor. Her head flew across the room and rolled underneath a bench. Symbolic really. From below her ruling seat—where she would never reign again, the Queen’s dead eyes were wide with horror, staring at us with disbelief.

In that moment, Aneira’s curse on me broke. I went on my knees with a deep gasp. Magic surged into my body and dumped power through me like water from a broken dam. It was almost too much. I clung to the surface, breathing in sharply. Then the flood stopped. My magic coiled contentedly inside me. The emptiness I had never gotten used to gurgled with happiness. It was glad to be home. My chest opened, feeling the power exude through me. I felt whole again. My arm wrapped around my stomach cradling the core of my energy.

The room stood silent. Only Kennedy’s heavy breathing and my own could be heard. Blood which was not mine dripped down my face.

“Holy crap.” My stomach clenched as more of Aneira’s blood trickled to the corners of my mouth. I would not throw up. “Are you all right?” I turned to Kennedy.

She stood frozen.

“Kennedy? Are you okay?”

She nodded. The sword clanged to the old rock floor as it fell from her hands. A cry broke from her lips.

I rushed to her, wrapping my arms around her. I held her tightly as she sobbed. “Shhhh ... it’s okay.” There was nothing else I could say. No words would make the memory of her slicing off a woman’s head go away. No matter how evil the person was, Kennedy didn’t work like me. I felt nothing for Aneira’s death. At least right then I was numb to it. She had to die.

“She’s dead.” Kennedy hiccupped in my ear. She turned her head on my shoulder, her tears soaking my shirt.

“You did it.” I squeezed her tighter to my body. “That took a lot of balls, girl. I am so proud of you.”

Kennedy pulled free from my arms, stepping back. Her legs buckled, and I reached out clutching her elbow in my grip, keeping her from falling. She turned her puffy, blotchy face to mine, and her soft brown eyes stared back at me with sadness and doubt. “
We
did it.”

Liquid rimmed at the corners of my lids, and a small pained smile spread over my mouth. “Yeah. We did it.
Together
.” Like the prophecy had always foreseen. But no one else had predicted, with the help of a Dae, it would be a Druid who would rule.

The prophecy may not have been accomplished in the way most expected, but it had been fulfilled. We were all heroes in this story.

My fate and strength were not tied to a prophecy or even to my own powers. I learned I was the same person with or without them. Who I was and what I wanted for my life came from me. I dictated it. My powers would always be a part of me, but it wasn’t until I lost them did I realize they didn’t define me. I loved, lived, fought, messed up, and fell on my face—a lot. But I was me, and I was proud of that.

I’m Ember Aisling Devlin Brycin ... and proud of all that my name represents.