He turned to Maeve, to his mate, in all of her unrivaled magnificence. Fucking gods, he loved her. If fate was not in his favor, then he would either die with her. Or for her. And so help him, he would find her again.
“Infinitely,”he whispered into her mind.
She did not falter as she answered,“Eternally.”
“Drop your shield,astora.” He steeled himself, knowing that all they loved, all they longed to save, would come down to this moment, this time. “We’re ready.”
Maeve kept her gaze on the throng of dark fae in the graying skies. With one hand raised, she lowered her other arm and opened her palm. Instantly, her sword of sunlight appeared, a beacon of light ready to cut through the darkest of nights. Majestic wings rippled from her back, ivory tipped in rose gold.
“Tonight, we take back the skies!” Maeve commanded. “We take back the land! We take back ourhome!”
Tiernan’s wings ripped from his back, as did Ceridwen’s beside him, and the bubble wavered.
He reached out, cupping the back of Maeve’s neck, and kissed her hard. He broke it a second later and stared into those fiery sea-swept eyes. Pressing his forehead to hers, he gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Then Tiernan let her go.
“For Faeven!” The battle cry tore from her, echoing through the Summer Legion with a vengeance, and a rise of voices clamored in unison behind her.
And then the shimmering bubble fell.
Maeve was bound for the sky in the next instant.
Tiernan tore through the air as the clash and screams of battle reverberated around him. Rain slashed into him, and gusts of bone-chilling wind launched him into the fray. He cut through the air, severing the bodies of repulsive dark fae who bared their fangs and roared with bloodlust. With each strike, his sword sliced through muscle and tendon, through rotten bones and gurgling throats. He dove downward into a spiral, hacking as he went, ignoring the splatter of crimson that smeared his weapons and stuck to his face.
Through the low-lying clouds, he caught the barest hint of cinnamon smoke.
Orbs of fire exploded all around him as fire rained down from the sky. The stench of charred flesh filled his nose, and screams drowned out the chaos erupting below him as hissirrawrecked and ruined.
He knew he couldn’t worry about her. He had to trust that she could handle herself. So long as he felt her through the witch thread, then she was safe.
A grotesque creature with bulging eyes that hung from their sockets lunged for him. He dipped back and shoved his sword upward, shredding the fae across its bulging chest, tearing through its vile flesh. Stretching his wings, Tiernan soared higher, killing three more as he flew through the clouds.
Tendrils of shadows spanned out in every direction, and a familiar feral magic unraveled before him.
Wings of midnight stole across his vision in a blur of eternal darkness. All around him, dark fae tumbled from the skies, their screams silent, their eyes empty, as the ruthless power of destruction descended upon the heavens.
The Nightweaver.
Rowan decimated everything in his path.
Tiernan slashed through more dark fae, then glanced down, his gaze scanning the ground forces. Bursts of gold and ruby shone through the disarray of battle—Autumn. Shards of silver and navy crashed into the conflict like a rogue wave—Winter. He could only hope the might of all three Courts would be enough to withstand the onslaught.
Continuing through the motions, he battled his way to the ground, taking another dark fae with each swipe of his blade. The rain was ebbing, becoming nothing more than an annoying drizzle, but at least it gave him a clear view of Suvarese.
Winding through the valley was the murky glint of what should’ve been the Rainbow River. The Autumn Legion, led by Aran, was on both sides of its banks, having secured the vicinity, but they weren’t gaining any ground in the fight. Even with Malachy and the Winter Legion at their backs as reinforcements, it wasn’t enough to take Parisa’s stronghold. Balor, Tethra, and Dian were malice incarnate. They tore limbs from bodies, ripped heads from shoulders, and for a split second, Tiernan remembered what it was like when the Furies of darkness, destruction, and death yielded to Carman’s demands.
Dark fae continued to pour from the trenches of Parisa’s encampment located on a hill just outside that godsdamned arena. Something glowed in the distance as though it was on fire, but through the haze of rain and smoke, it was too difficult to discern. They had to find a way up that fucking hill.Fadingwas out of the question, it expelled too much magic, too much energy, strength they would need to preserve if they wanted to ensure victory. Worse, they didn’t have nearly enough fae with wings to fly across the river and take Parisa down, not with the hordes of dark fae converging around her like a swarm of festering darkness.
Tiernan attacked again, piercing his swords through creatures with empty pits for eyes, vicious claws, and rows of fangs. Stretching his wings, he soared higher. Below him, Suvarese was in ruins. Dark fae fell from the sky, their bloodied bodies littering the streets. Shops and homes were reduced to piles of rubble and smoldering cinders as Summer warriors and dark fae alike ravaged their way across the deserted Crown City. Howls of torment echoed over the battlefield. One voice rose above them all.
It was Ceridwen.
His gut clenched, and a wave of nausea slammed into him, causing his knees to weaken. He spun through the air toward the cacophony of noise.
His sister was screaming Merrick’s name, her wails caught somewhere between outrage and fright. He watched, dread curdling in his stomach, as she sprinted across the expanse, leaping over dead bodies with lethal grace, aiming for a pile of ravenous dark fae. She threw both arms out in front of her, and that heap of creatures with snapping jaws and grotesque limbs writhed in pain.
Ceridwen inflicted the full extent of her suffering upon them. And the magic she rarely used, the power that caused her victimsto feel as though their souls were being torn from their bodies, was unleashed.
