I glanced up, noting that the sun was half-covered. We were running out of time. We had to kill him before the eclipse was over, or else slumber would claim Luna again. I would be left to fight Malex on my own, and Luna would be vulnerable to his attack.
“Luna, get up,” I whispered. “We have to fight him. We aren’t bound, but we can still fight!” I yelled, blasting Malex with a plume of water, shooting into his mouth. He turned his head, but I twisted the water into a globe of water that filled his lungs. Fae might be immortal, but this one had no other power. Malex admitted he was weak, almost mortal. It made me wonder how mortal he actually was without his magic.
Mortal enough to die, I hoped.
I called for my roses. Thorny vines wrapped around his wrists and ankles, holding him in place. Binding him. This was only a temporary measure, as I knew he would be able to break free. He lacked elemental power, but he more than made up for it in determination, strength, and cunning.
“I’m weakening, Luna. The moon has almost eclipsed the sun. Please!” I shouted. “Help me.”
Luna pushed herself up and took a steadying breath. “I’m not sure I can do this.”
“We have to do it all at once,” I pleaded. “All the elements together. Can you try?”
She nodded.
“Good. Carry us to the ground.”
“But Phillip is down there,” she argued.
“Farther, then. Take us into the garden.”
“I have to let his arms and legs go. Blast his dagger away,” I told her. It seemed he had a never-ending supply of blades. When he lost one, embedding it into my sternum, for instance, he just grabbed another from somewhere on his person.
Luna sent a gust forceful enough to open his hand, and the dagger plunged into the earth below. Then she called another, larger gust that took the three of us to the center of my garden. Malex had been waiting, and in that time, plotting. My water died out, my power waned. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that the sun was being blocked, or the fact that my sister and I weren’t bound. Did we draw more power from each other than we did individually? Her wind held him for a moment longer, and then she sent a fiery wall to separate him from us. When Phillip cried out for her from behind us, she lost her focus.
Damn him for loving her.
From behind the inferno, Malex was ready with another dagger.
He gripped the tip.
Aimed at Luna’s back.
And threw.
But I was faster.
I threw myself in front of Luna instead.
When the blade pierced my heart, I stared up at him, mouth agape, panting with disbelief, numb for a moment.
All I could see was our father with his face contorted in hatred and rage. I’d seen those things in me.
But now they were gone. Released.
“Aura!” my sister screamed, catching me as I fell.
I looked at Luna. “Take my power,” I said, grabbing her hand and forcing every ounce of power I had into her. “You were born to kill him. Make me proud.” I coughed, blood spraying all over my pretty gown. Lightning crackled between our palms as my power flooded into my sister’s flesh, and she was blown back by the magical wave that crashed into her.
I fell backward, the warm earth embracing me, and stared at Mother Sun, who was almost gone. Just like me.
And then she winked brightly and disappeared altogether.
Crickets sang out. An eerie feeling stretched over the earth. My breath weakened and then finally... I felt peace. At last.
The sun in the sky was completely covered by the moon, bathing the world in complete darkness. My soul smiled, knowing what beast was unleashed in the night.
chapter twenty-six
PHILLIP
Luna saw the moment Malex’s eyes shifted to me. My skin began to crawl, but I had to do something. She needed help. The sudden power transfer had stunned her. She sat up with her mouth wide open, her breath heaving. Aura’s body was lying in the middle of her macabre garden, staring at the heavens. She’d saved Luna, surprising us all.
But Malex wasn’t one for wasting time, and Luna was within striking distance.
I ran for her. All I had was my body to defend her with, but I would do just that until he killed me, too.
A strange glow began beneath Luna’s skin, pinkish-purple and dull at first, but it soon grew brilliant. She stood and stretched her arms out to look at them.
“This is what being a full-blooded fae King feels like?” she asked, her voice echoing around us all.
Malex let out a war cry and lunged for her, but she called on the earth and a great mound rose up from behind him and swallowed him whole. A few moments later he emerged, dirt speckling every part of him. “You’re going to regret that,” he seethed.
“Let me help you, Father,” Luna said with a malicious smile.
She raised her hands, calling the thunder. Clouds stacked quickly, building into a crescendo of lightning that struck from the sky. And then the rain began to fall in heavy sheets toward the earth.
Luna wasn’t... Luna.
She was cruelty embodied.
Luna laughed while flames licked at her father’s flesh.
She swirled the flames with air she created. He cried out in agony. She had to end him, but it was killing her to do it. The power thrumming beneath her skin was pure evil.
This wasn’t Luna. This wasn’t the dark witch who turned out to have a heart of gold. This was something dark and dangerous.
She heard me running toward her and turned to me and smiled, letting go of her magic for just a second. That was enough for Malex to run her through.
A blade, thick and sharp, stuck out of her heart. Blood pooled in her mouth, coating her teeth as she gave a shaky smile and fell to her knees. “Run,” she coughed out. “Phillip, run,” she pleaded, her body folding until her face hit the ground.
“Luna!” I shouted, unsure of what to do or whether it would hurt if I touched her.
“Stupid human,” Malex snarled, spitting at the ground beside me. He put his boot on Luna’s back, pulled his sword free, and with it, he took her last breath.
Tears pricked my eyes.
“You bastard!” I launched myself at him, but there was an invisible shield around them both; impenetrable, no matter how I beat upon the surface.
“You’re wrong,” Malex snarled. “They were the bastards. Thieves. But I’ll take it all back now.”
His hand hovered over Luna’s back as the moon moved. It no longer blocked the sun and light, though muted, burst over the land once more. In that moment, I saw Malex for what he was–a monster, a father who cared nothing for the children he’d created. A pathetic excuse for a fae, who lied and deceived his own flesh and blood before tearing them to ribbons and then ending them with his own mortal hands.
He was bathed in dirt. His clothes were charred. And the scents of burnt fabric and sweat weren’t the only ones in the air. Malex was desperate.
I needed a weapon. Luna wore all types of blades, I just needed to grab one. I eased closer. Step by step, I made my way toward him.
He closed his eyes, pushing harder on Luna’s back, trying to gather his power from her. Gritting his teeth, he shook her limp body and tried again, but nothing happened. No power flowed from her into him.
“It’s not working,” I laughed.