Page 111 of Calling of the Crown

This didn’t have to happen.

Akira didn’t have to die.

This was because one hell-bent King demanded blood.

And the world had lost a precious light because of it.

I screamed as sharp pain seemed to slice wide open inside of me. A flurry of something else began to unfurl within my chest—something powerful, ancient, and vaguely familiar.

Something all-consuming.

My mother’s eyes widened, and she started to rush to my side. “Bria, no! Don’t! Fight it! Don’t let it take you!”

Ignoring the angry tears coating my face and the pleas from my mom, I leapt to my feet and rushed the watery wall around us to leave its cover. Fae were on me as soon as I appeared on the other side, but the fire that had lit inside of me wouldn’t be stopped. With a furious wail, I summoned more water than I’d ever conjured alone before. The liquid gathered overhead, stretching far across the field like a looming thundercloud. It made everyone pause, looking up at the expanding water. With a twirl of my arms, I sent it flying all around me with one clear instruction.

Bring me Elias.

The water crashed down to the earth from above. As soon as it reached the ground, it pushed every Fae back with a force that sent some hurtling. It cleared the field, leaving me to glare at the only other figure who remained.

“You want a fight, Elias?” I screamed as he looked around the cage I’d put us in.

The water stood tall, and it boxed Elias and I in for all to see from the other side of the watery walls, like zoo animals on display. My emotions were volatile, strengthening the watery fortress so that no one could enter the arena I’d created. It was just Elias and me with thousands of spectators locked onto the spectacle. For the first time today, the field was quiet, save for the sound of rushing water and my rapid, angry breathing.

Another flare of something turbulent and powerful rushed through my limbs, but I ignored it as I yelled, “Here I am! So, let’s end this before anymore Fae have to die!”’

“Bria, stop!” Rune yelled, slamming his fiery fists into the impenetrable wall. My mother and Dallas were beside him, trying to manipulate the water to let them in, but not even they could get past the cage I’d built.

This was my fight.

It should’ve always been just Elias and me.

Then no one else would’ve died.

Blake. Angus. Myra.

Akira.

Fresh, angry tears poured down my cheeks, and I clenched my fists.

Akira didn’t fucking deserve to die.

Elias chuckled as he stood roughly two feet away from me. “Lose someone?”

Scrunching my nose as fury burned through me, I yelled, “No one had to die today. We didn’t have to do this, you bastard. So, let’s end it!”

I swiped my arms down in an X, and water from the walls around us shot forward, aimed right at Elias. It was a pitiful attack, but it wasn’t meant to hurt. It was meant to distract. His attention turned to the watery arrows, and I rushed him, calling up a water dagger in my hand. I gritted my teeth, swinging on Elias. He leaned back, avoiding a slice to the face. I kicked my leg out, which he batted away. I kept moving in, forcing him to take steps back, and he was on complete defense, too caught up in avoiding and deflecting my hits, jabs, and kicks to deliver his own. Just like I’d practiced with Alvaro—keep moving forward and moving your opponent back.

Snarling, he avoided another blow and said, “Such a nuisance.”

He stomped hard on the ground, and as I swung my fist for another hit, a rock wall burst up from the earth. My knuckles smashed into the stone, and I let out a yelp as the skin on my knuckles immediately split open and bones shattered. I drew my hand back, barely registering the sound of movement behind me over the pain firing up my arm. I sensed Elias appearing behind me and leaned sideways, spinning out of the way as he tried to deliver a blow of his own to the back of my head.

Now I was on the defensive, trying to avoid every hit he sent my way. I wasn’t as lucky in avoiding all of them. One caught me in the mouth, making blood drip from my lips, and another kick to my stomach sent me rolling across the ground, landing in a breathless heap.

“It truly was a valiant effort, Bria,” Elias mocked with a smile as he watched me sway back to my feet.

The earth cracked right by his foot, and a jagged, slender stone rose in the shape of a sword, finding its way into Elias’s grip. He held the land-made weapon up to study it, and he plucked a vial from beneath his armor, pouring the black substance—Nightbloom—over the sword.

His green eyes flicked back up to meet mine. “It’s time to rid the world of you and those who follow you.”

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