Page 50 of The Queen of Ash and Magic

“Shut up,” he shouts. Rystar lunges at me, ready to wrap his hands around my throat, but I let Mom take over and an invisible vice tightens around his throat. He instantly starts to panic as he collapses to the ground and claws at his throat.

“While he was locked away in that paralytic state, I took the dragon king,” I boast. “I broke the curse. I mated to the king, Rystar. I mated to his second in command. I have taken them separately, together, and even shifted. Don’t you see now? You spent my entire life calling me a useless and powerless witch. You had no idea who I was or what I am capable of. Had you known that I was ahybrid witch, you would’ve killed me ages ago to prevent the fate that you are about to receive.”

“Aw. Look at him struggle,” Mom laughs.

“Want to know what that makes me, Rystar?” I say as Mom and I kneel to either side of him with our hands joined. Isolde is frozen in place. I’m not sure if it’s out of fear or if Petra has bound her powers. Either way, she is unmoving. “I am the queen of ash and magic, Rystar. And you? You are nothing. Useless. Forgettable. No one will miss you. No one will mourn you. You will lay here while your body rots away and you burn in hell for what you did to us.”

“This is for me, Dad,” Mom says softly as the vice tightens and his face turns a deep shade of purple. “But this… This is for Lysa.”

Together, we tighten and twist until his head starts to turn around. After one loud crack, his body goes limp, but his head keeps turning. Once it makes one full rotation and his skin starts to split, Mom grabs Rystar by the hair and pulls his head from his body. I can’t help but laugh when she tosses it to Isolde, and she screams in fear before instantly throwing up.

“Her powers are bound,” Drake says as he gently touches my shoulder. I turn and hug him before hugging Eyrx.

“Nothing better than a bit of poetic justice,” Dad says as he hands Mom and me a metal rod.

“Wait. Wait. Wait. Girl. Please. Please, wait,” Isolde begs as she moves to her knees to beg.

“Do you remember what I told you right before Dad raped me that last time?” Mom asks.

“Unika, please,” Isolde begs.

“I put myself in harm’s way and you said that I was ignorant for sacrificing myself,” Mom says. “I told you a mother would do anything to protect her child. I told you that if anyone laid a finger on my little girl, I would kill the both of you. Didn’t I?”

“Yes,” she cries. “Lysa, I’m sorry. Please don’t m…”

“Just shut up,” I say. “Die with a little dignity, hmm?”

“Lysa, please,” she screams. Isolde cowers and tries to protect her head when I raise the metal bar. I smile at Mom and wait. It takes her a second but when she finally moves her arms thinking that I will have mercy on her, I slam the rod down on the top of her shoulder. She let out a shrill scream as she falls back. Mom and I instantly start to wail on her. We beat her the way she beat me so many times. She screams until her voice breaks, but we don’t stop. When she tries to crawl away, we move with her. There is blood everywhere and her body is limp, but I don’t stop. Only when my mom wraps her arms around my body and the rod is taken from me do I realize I am sobbing.

She brings us down to the ground before holding me against her chest. Sobs rack from my body, ripping through the years of pain. Countless pleas for mercy play through my head as I cry in my mother's arms. She rocks us gently and sings a familiar song while stroking my hair. Eventually, I am reduced to whimpers and sniffles. She lifts my face and gently wipes away my tears.

“I love you to the moon and beyond, Lysa,” she says softly. “I’m so proud of you. We areallso proud of you.”

“They’re gone,” I whisper.

“Yes, baby. They’re gone,” she smiles. “Stand for your people, Lysa.”

I nod before turning to let Drake help me up. As soon as I face all of our people, they erupt in cheers and claps to celebrate. Drake and Eyrx hug me tightly before Dad does the same.

“We have not won the war,” I say to everyone, and they go silent. “We have not won the war because we have one battle left to fight. Aldric Morgana still needs to be found and brought to justice. Let’s take the night to rest before we end this once and for all.”

More cheers erupt and I let my mates take my hands and pull me toward the center. Each of them kisses me passionately before they step back to shift. I climb up to sit with Drake and I can feel all the adrenaline seeping out of me. I’m exhausted from how many spells I’ve done today. Within a few minutes of being in the air, I shift back and lay forward to fall asleep.

Chapter Seventeen

Lysa

I wake to thesounds of someone muttering. I open my eyes and see that Drake is fast asleep, so it must be Eyrx. I roll and see him pacing the tent holding his pendant. He is crying so I nudge Drake before I sit up. “Eyrx,” I say softly.

“I did this,” he says tearfully. “I got my little girl killed. Now she won’t even pay for what she did to her.”

“You didn’t, Eyrx,” I say as I step in front of him.

“She did it because of me. Because I loved you more,” he says, almost whimpering. It breaks my heart to see him in so much pain like this. I would give anything to take away his pain. “It had been one day. She was fine before we left. I don’t understand. Why did she do it? Why didn’t she just talk to me? I would have taken her. I would have cared for her and loved her. She didn’t have to do it.”

“Do what, Eyrx?”I ask softly.

“No,” he says as he shakes his head and steps back. “No, she’s a liar. She’ll lie. I didn’t do anything wrong. I swear to the Gods, I wouldn’t…”

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