Page 118 of Brutal Birthright

“My brave faerie.” He quickly scooped her against his body. “We have to move.”

What he would fucking give to be able to use his magic right now and disappear from this place in the blink of an eye.

But they would have to fight their way out of this mess.

Nodding, Oriana clung against him. Able to stand at least but unsteady on her feet. Rowan didn’t stop as he dragged them in what he could only hope was the direction of the portal. Fuck, he didn’t know where the others were, having lost all sight of them while being held under Fiadh’s control.

But as they made their way through the thick cloud of reddish-brown dust, he realised the others were gathered together. The bodies of the monsters they had been fighting were all obliterated on the ground, covered in the symbols they’d been searching for the answers to when they’d found them in their own realm.

And everyone seemed to be watching something with horror in their expression.

Rowan turned, and what he saw made his blood turn to ice.

There were two swirling black entities now, plunging and weaving in the sky in twisting and torquing balls of onyx shards. Each battled the other in a fight extending from the billowing dust on the ground and rising high up into the sky above their heads.

One being controlled by Fiadh.

The other controlled by Belle.

Two Ampher witches harnessing the primordial magic of this hellscape. The kind of violent and unfathomable magic that had caused the explosion that flattened everything in its path moments before.

“Belle… the Guardian… she killed all of the Snatchers and other creatures.” Brynne came running over, her face splattered with black streaks of blood and her body covered in a thick layer of dust. “Ri, I was so worried; thank fuck you’re safe.” She dropped their foreheads together and held her friend by the shoulders.

“I’m ok.” A raspy croak was all his little faerie could manage, and he gripped her waist tighter. Urgency still pressed at him to get her to safety, but he couldn’t leave Belle to fight this thing alone.

Lachie must be going out of his mind with worry. He needed to make sure his brother didn’t do something completely suicidal.

Turning to the sprite he barked out a string of orders. “Brynne, you need to take her and the others back through the portal. Etienne can myst you back to Astracadia.” Looking across he saw the vampire in question, who appeared at their side immediately.

His blood-stained hands and face were evidence enough of the destruction he’d been able to cause.

“But—”

There was no question in his mind that this needed to happen. He wasn’t going to take any pushback or fight from her right now. She was the only glimpse of good in his blackened life, and fuck if he’d risk her not reaching safety.

“Oriana. You are going to follow orders.” He took her by both shoulders and desperately wanted to kiss her, hold her tight, fucking vanish far away from this place, but none of those things were possible right now. So instead, he shoved a sword in her shaking hand and wrapped her fingers tight around the handle. When he was satisfied she wasn’t going to drop the damn thing, he grabbed his own.

As she watched him with reddened eyes, he brought the tips of both swords together and narrowed his gaze. Piercing her with a look that he hoped to every fucking Star in the cosmos conveyed what he wished he could say.

She tried to shake her head, but he nodded. Tapping the metal again as her lip quivered. She was fierce and incredible, but her part in this fight was over. Surviving whatever enchantment and torture Fiadh had inflicted was enough.

Rowan barked at Etienne to move. Shoving her into the arms of the vampire, he fixed him with the kind of look that should convince him his life would no longer be worth living if he didn’t get them back to the safety of the academy. Then, he turned and raced to find his brothers amongst the clouds of dust and deafening roar of magic colliding in battle.

“Lachie.” He yelled. Spotting his brother barely being held back by Niall and Finnic. The wolf form of Fehrn snarled and snapped as he held his ground, preventing their brother from trying to get to where the two witches were locked in battle with one another.

“You’ll get yourself fucking killed.” Niall hissed.

“Get the fuck off me.” Lachie seethed with fear and rage and palpable distress. His eyes bulged wide as he watched helplessly.

The two women matched each other blow for blow, with the dark entities colliding against each other in great surges of power. The shards clattering and smashing in the sky.

Belle was holding back the destruction, and none of them could do anything in the face of this kind of dark magic.

Reaching his brothers, he helped Niall restrain Lachie by grabbing his other arm and pinning him back against his bulk. He could feel every muscle tense and desperate to lash out and didn’t miss the wild look in Niall’s eyes as he tried to remain focused on his brother, but clearly wanted to make sure Ruby was safe, wherever she was amongst the thick dust swirling in the air.

It was almost impossible to see anything and with each clash of the Ampher magic above them it set off another shock wave, stirring up more of the reddish dust and choking them all.

Suddenly, Belle’s body seemed to glow with a brilliance that wasn’t there before. Her power surged in a torrent that blew back Fiadh’s magic. Standing beside her was Brigid, and his sister seemed to be channelling some kind of additional power into Belle. Giving her an even greater source of power to tap into.

---