Before I released a blow, the slim black wings opened and the fairy was diving toward me once more. I hadn’t planned on killing him, merely stunning him to the ground to capture and explain Rowan’s folly, Asher’s madness, so I only allowed a small measure of power into the assault.
When it reached the winged beast, he froze midflight, twisting and writhing, and then jerked against my energy. I believed him to be struggling to overcome the blast, but then Rowan laughed from his vantage point across the charred field and I realized what was happening. I pulled frantically back, trying to draw the energy in, but it was too late. I hadn’t thought it possible, hadn’t believed this half-blood fey was strong enough. He was stealing my power.
“Take cover,” I screamed, severing the tie, and the dark fey beast shrieked a hideous cry.
Steed threw himself against me and Chevelle leapt in front of us both, blocking the debris from the barely missed blast. I gritted my teeth at being knocked once more from the path of destruction so violently, and found my feet again. Rowan used the opportunity to take another shot at me, which infuriated me so severely I sent an excess of power his way. Somehow it missed and a crater appeared in the dirt.
“He’s like a snake,” I seethed.
Emboldened by his victory, the dark fey floated closer. “She is not so formidable, Rowan.” His head tilted to the side as he examined me from the air, purposefully out of reach. “If not for Father’s strength, she would be nothing.”
“Stop wasting time, Sian,” Rowan yelled from his position of safety. “Kill her.”
The fey smiled then, and his face changed. He was no boy, but a man. He was slight and thin, but signs of age lined his face. His long black hair was fine and dull, and the papery wings were tattered and fraying.
“Sian,” I whispered, wondering if Chevelle knew the meaning of the name.
His palm brushed my back and I knew he did. The second.
Asher had planned this all along. Vita had been the first, a unique and powerful light elf, and had borne Aunt Fannie. But he hadn’t stopped there, when she’d been a disappointment he’d moved on to the fey. My mother must have been born after those attempts. And maybe he’d even given up on others for a while when she’d shown promise.
But this was Asher’s second attempt, and blatantly named as such.
I could see him there, in this fey’s eyes, and the resemblance made my stomach turn.
“It doesn’t have to end this way,” I offered. “You have been misled.”
Sian’s mouth bent into a smirk. “She is afraid, Rowan. She knows she will die.”
Anvil chose that moment to step over the ridge and when Rowan commanded, “End it,” the skies came alive with light.
“No,” I yelled. But it didn’t come in time.
My skin pricked and chest tightened an instant before the deafening crack tore from the sky. Anvil had thrown everything into the attack, and the lightning gathered among the clouds for one long second before threading into several strands that tracked straight for the fey. A blinding flash lit the air around us, followed by an instant of dead silence before the explosion.
Sian had fallen from the sky, but he was far from lifeless. His body thrashed and shook, his chest heaved in a few wicked coughs. And then the screeching sounded again. This time it pierced our ears, strangled at first, but quickly stronger, louder… chilling.
Steed cursed.
I’d no more than began to process what had happened when a large, wet raindrop splatted against my cheek. My head tilted back automatically, and several more landed on my face and chest. I drew in a breath, but Chevelle was already calling out the command.
“Run!”
Suddenly, the air was empty, vacant as Sian drew in the moisture from around us. My feet scrambled for purchase on the slope, now littered with dips and rubble from the conflict, and I looked for the ridge above. The eerie hollowness of the air was intensified by silence, the sudden lack of thunder and wind, and I knew we didn’t have long.
Anvil grabbed my arm, pulling me over the ridge, and I caught sight of the trees ahead, lifeless as their leaves had abruptly stilled. I felt the power build and release behind us, but could do nothing to stop it.
Anvil had felt it too, and we were spinning, turning to face the coming onslaught. The others were behind us, and I met Chevelle’s eyes for one brief moment before he turned to shield me.
Steel rained down upon us. The ice didn’t carry the tang of poison, but it was death. Blades of hardened water shone like glass, flying toward us in an endless assault. We could do nothing to Sian, could not give him more power to use against us, could only watch as he laughed and cackled a scream.