Page 69 of The Mirror in the Mountain

They hadn’t deserved the quick deaths they had been granted.

I removed the keys hanging from what remained of one of their belts and tossed them to Marin. She was already at Yael’s side.

Yael grinned as her chains fell to the floor. “What took you so long?”

We hurried back the way we came after ascertaining that Yael was healed enough to continue. Marin’s magic soothed away the worst of her burns, as well as her thankfully bruised and not broken ribs. She still held herself stiffly, flashing me an exasperated smile at the concern I was sure showed all over my face.

I could practically feel Abrahim’s anxiety to find Eliav and Noam as we followed him up the dark metal stairwell after them. Marin walked ahead of me, her arm around Yael even in the narrowest sections. As we reached the end of the passage, Abrahim pressed his ear against the wall, then raised his sword before tapping on a glowing blue stone. A bright, rectangular outline appeared in the rock that Abrahim carefully pulled inward.

We emerged into a nondescript, empty corridor. I blinked owlishly at the sunset shining through a small half-moon window, even the dim rays blinding after so long underground. There was no need for Abrahim to gesture around the corner—the cacophony of noise that preceded the ongoing battle left little doubt of how close we were. He bowed deeply to me. As I bent to return it, he disappeared around the corner, no doubt to find his kings.

Bash’s shadows crisscrossed up his sword as his eyes became the same color gray. He smiled devilishly at me as he admitted, “I’ve been aching for a good fight.”

Rivan grinned as he came up next to him. “Let’s go then. Before we miss all the fun.”

“Yael…” Bash’s gaze dropped to the pinkish burns still visible on her bronzed skin.

“I’m fine,” Yael said, her mouth twitching with annoyance. “I can help. And I’m not sitting on my ass while the rest of you keep a kingdom from falling.”

Marin inclined her head. “And I have no plans to ever leave your side again.”

Yael laughed as she raised her sword, the long, thin blade glinting in the dying light. She limped slightly as she started toward the sounds of battle, Marin at her side. We followed them around the corner to an enormous, domed room, a great golden throne shining in the center of the chaos. The two sides were all in the same uniform, as those who had remained loyal were forced to fight against their former brethren.

Noam was standing in front of Eliav, a shield of wind whirling around them like a tornado. Fire pelted them from all sides. Their own Kingsguard surrounded them, far too many of them adding to the assault.

A burst of wind blew my hair forward as Yael’s magic joined Eliav’s shield, strengthening it against the onslaught. Then a guard moved toward us, a flare of his fire heading straight for me. For a split second, my darkness seemed to cower before it, then Bash’s shadows engulfed him. The fire disappeared, and the guard was lifted off his feet by the smoky tendrils that snapped his neck before he slumped lifelessly to the floor. Bash glanced at me quickly, concern permeating our bond as he stepped over the body, already ready for the next of them.

I nodded slightly in thanks as I breathed in for a familiar four-count, letting my exhale strengthen my resolve—finding that calm even as fire lashed out at us from all sides. But now wasn’t the time to falter.

A flame arced toward myanima,and my magic flooded into the room without a second thought. Like it had been waiting tobe freed from the shackles of my own fear, eager to extinguish the fire that threatened me once again, and those I loved. Darkness streamed from my hands, forming a shield in front of me. Ready, this time, to smother anyone and anything that might threaten me or my family.

Yael and Marin fought side by side, and those who faced them didn’t get any farther. Rivan raised walls of stone, bursting from the castle floor to shield him from the flames before they hurled forward, crushing the oncoming guards who weren’t quick enough to jump from their path. Bash’s sword and shadows sliced through the room in deadly tandem.

Enough, I thought, as I watched a flame whip far too close to Bash for comfort. There was a slice along his forearm I hadn’t seen him receive, the sight of his blood illuminated by the encroaching fire filling me with a primal sort of fear.

Magic rattled my bones, then my darkness pulled me under.

My back arched as it flooded down my spine, my head thrown back, my lips parting with an inhuman cry as the power became more than I could bear.

ENOUGH.

I erupted. Night flew out of me just as it had in Morehaven—pure blackness blasting outward in a shockwave from my eyes, my feet, my hands. Whipping around me in a hurricane of inky tendrils, wrapping around my enemies who had foolishly raised their swords against me. Bending to my will as it hurtled toward the traitors surrounding their former king and hisanima, the very people they had sworn to protect.

Unyielding, solid darkness attacked soldier after soldier, their magics flaring and dying as they did. I caught a glimpse of teeth and claws as my magic tore apart my enemies—the flickering shapes of my nightmares come to life.

And I let myself hate them—for what they would’ve done to Yael, for what they wanted to do to my family. For whom they had chosen to side with, and what he had done to me.

No, I would not mourn these deaths.

Rivan opened his mouth, then shut it soundlessly, lowering his sword.

Bash let out a low laugh as an entire swath of bodies slumped to the floor. “What happened to leaving some for the rest of us, hellion?”

I stared at him through my night darkened eyes. There was heat in his shadow-filled gaze as he came up next to me. His thumb stroked my cheek until I could feel the darkness slip away.

Rivan’s wide eyes met mine. “You’re kind of terrifying now, you know that, right?”

My smile was a bit shaky. “Thank you.”

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