Sorcha looks up. “Don’t do it. The Book is yours now—”
The Morrigan crashes her fist into Sorcha’s face and she collapses into the cobbles. I lunge for her, but the Morrigan lashes out at me with her power. It strikes me with the force of a tidal wave. My teeth clamp together and the coppery taste of blood is stark on my tongue. I barely raise my own power in time to stop her from breaking every bone in my body.
“Say yes, girl.”
Catherine’s voice rings clear in my mind, warmth amid the pain. We’ll return everything to the way it was.
And Derrick: Get off your arse and finish this. End it, Aileana.
“Aithinne,” I breathe. “I’m sorry about this.”
I throw my power into the Morrigan. It rips out of me like a lightning strike, tearing through my body with a pain that leaves me gasping. I fight through it and knock her off her feet. Our bodies collide. We slam into each other, fists and nails and hard, thrashing hits laced with power.
My body isn’t immortal. My body is a frail, fallible thing of flesh and blood, and every punch makes me stagger back until she comes at me with a hard final strike. I’m breathless as I collapse onto the cobblestones. And I’m going to lose. I’m going to lose this fight because I can’t throw everything I have at her. Because then I’ll kill Aithinne.
“Kam!” Kiaran’s call breaks through the haze of pain. “Use one of Lena’s spells!”
The spells. Of course.
The Morrigan is on her feet but I tackle her back to the ground, my power slamming into her. The force of it is enough to make me see stars. I scramble over to Lena and throw up a shield to protect us from the Morrigan’s attacks. It’s clumsily erected, but it should buy us enough time.
Lena is slack against the vines. I grip her arm. “Lena. Give me a spell.”
“I can’t,” she murmurs. “It’ll kill you.”
The Morrigan’s power slams into the shield. Electricity crackles in the air, bolts of discharge that snap around us. The remains of the few buildings left around us are shuddering, falling. Gavin, Daniel, Sorcha, and Kiaran dodge falling bits of stone and use the Morrigan’s distraction with me to leap inside my shield for protection.
“I say we mount one last attack.” Daniel says grimly, his voice ragged. “Let’s finish her off and be done with this.”
“I agree,” Gavin says. “Blaze of glory. Die with dignity.”
“I’ll help.” Sorcha swipes at the blood on her face. “I didn’t escape the Morrigan just to hide like a coward.”
“And I don’t run from battle,” Kiaran says. “Especially not when the realm has degraded enough that I can finally feel my powers again.”
The Morrigan’s power crashes into my shield again. I wince, straining to hold it up. Keep holding it. If we don’t act soon—
Catherine’s soft voice in my mind reminds me: This world isn’t your burden. It belongs to all of us. Even them.
“Wait,” I tell the others. “Lena? What if Kiaran and Sorcha combined their powers with mine?”
Lena smiles. “Now that’s an idea.”
“Then it has to be all of us,” I say, looking at them. We’re all that’s left. “Together. We have one chance.”
Gavin’s jaw is set, determined. “If you only have one chance, then you’ll need a distraction.” He looks at Daniel. “What do you say, old chap?”
Daniel nods once. “Aye. Time for your idiotic Plan B.”
No. Everything in me is screaming to say no. Don’t let them go. What if they die and I can’t win?
But it’s their choice. When Gavin’s eyes find mine, I see the flicker of fear there. “Destroy her and bring us back,” he says. “Or I’ll haunt your arse forever, do you hear me?”
This world isn’t your burden. It belongs to all of us.
“I hear you, Galloway.”
I glance at Sorcha and reach out my hand, palm up. “This doesn’t change anything,” I tell her. “I still hate you.”
“Of course.” She puts her hand in mine with a quick smile. “I hate you, too.”
At my other side, Kiaran’s fingers thread through mine. “Now, Kam.”
I let down the shield, and Gavin and Daniel hurtle toward the Morrigan. She looks at them like a hunter catching sight of her prey. Her powers build, ready to attack.
“Shut your eyes, Kam,” Kiaran rasps. “Don’t watch. Don’t listen.”
I close my eyes. Next to me, Sorcha begins to sing. Her beautiful, high, melodic voice fills my ears and blocks the sound. She gives me peace. One last moment of peace so I don’t have to listen to my friends being slaughtered.
Lena presses her hands to my shoulders and whispers, “Say these words.”
She whispers in my ear a language, a song. I meet the Morrigan’s gaze as I sing with Lena. Our voices entwine with Sorcha’s, then Kiaran’s. The power builds and builds through our collective voices, through our bodies, our hands. I fight to stay with them. The song takes on a life of its own, surrounding us as if it were carried on the wind.
Then it hurtles toward the Morrigan. She fights against us, her voice rising in a song of its own. But I push back. I direct it.
Sorcha and Kiaran’s energy crashes through me so hard and painfully that I almost fall to my knees. My veins are on fire. My bones are heavy. Blood begins to stream from my nose, my eyes. My voice strains, rasping in my throat, but I keep singing. I push all the agony down and use it to focus. I have to do this. For Derrick. For Catherine and Gavin and Daniel.
Derrick’s amused voice rises from my memories. Going out for a slaughter?
Going out to save people.
A change of pace for you. I like it.
In the midst of everything, I almost smile.
I open my eyes just as Aithinne’s body jerks. Her mouth opens in a wide scream and her back arches like something is being ripped out of her. The startling blue sapphire of the Morrigan’s irises burns blindingly bright as power explodes around us in all directions. The buildings still left standing shudder to their foundations.
Then everything goes still and silent and calm.
Aithinne collapses to the ground, blinking in confusion. Her eyes are her own. The Morrigan is gone. She’s gone. I can’t feel her there anymore.
“We did it,” I whisper to Kiaran. He catches me as I fall, easing me slowly to the ground. He orders Sorcha to go see to Aithinne, his voice sharp.
“You did it.” His touch is gentle as he wipes the blood from my face. I rest my cheek against his chest. “Kam. Kam, keep your eyes open.”
A startling crack draws my attention. Around us, the few remaining buildings are beginning to crumble, falling into the streets.
“It’s almost done,” Lena says quietly. “There isn’t much time left to save your realm.”
“Tell me what to do,” Kiaran says.
“Not what you have to do. Her. She’s the only one who can break the curse.”
Me? But I’m not—
A jolt goes through me as I remember her words.
You have my daughter’s blood in you, her powers. My blood, the Cailleach had said. I am of her lineage, connected by blood.