Page 84 of Fates Fulfilled
Lex kicked the ice barrier separating her from the others, and though she was stronger in Tirnan, it didn’t budge.
Overprotective boyfriend!
She threw rocks at it and barely scratched the surface.
A scream rent the air beyond the ice wall, and Lex’s heart nearly stopped.Em? Mom?
She closed her eyes and focused on the tendrils of Garrin’s power. And then she pushed it at the ice wall with all her force.
The wall didn’t melt. It didn’t mist away. It burst in an explosion as loud as the one minutes before, shards flying in all directions.
She hunched and covered her head, ice cutting through thick fabric on her back and arms.
Lex looked up and saw Garrin skid to a stop on the other side of the alcove, his chest heaving. “Are you hurt?” he said, before turning and throwing his arm out, the tendons in his neck strained.
A male voice down the hall yelped in pain.
“I’m fine,” she said.
A liveried soldier made it to the front of the alcove, and Garrin snarled, slashing his sword and sending the Fae stumbling backward.
Lex ran past Garrin and the soldier to the main cavern.
The sun hadn’t fully risen, and a faint glow filled the room where the ice wall had stood, its fragments splayed across the dirt floor.
Everywhere she looked, castle soldiers fought her friends. Too many soldiers.
Jas fended off a guard and swung his leg back to kick another in the chest. Then there were two Jases—one a wavery illusion and the other the real version.
Lex could see how his power, weak though it may be, was useful, because the soldiers were distracted long enough for Jas to get the upper hand and push them back with his fists and sword.
But no matter how much Garrin and Jas and the others pushed the soldiers out of the cave, more poured in.
Lex vaguely heard Garrin shout for her to stay back. As soon as she looked up, she understood why.
Dressed in an amethyst robe with gold embroidery down the sleeves stood the Dark King, men flanking him.
His square jaw and refined nose no longer seemed jovial, like the last time she’d seen him. Casone Branimir was all business, and he was terrifying to behold.
Lex sensed no power wafting off him. He wouldn’t need it because his men backed Lex’s friends deeper into the cavern three to one, with a fresh influx of soldiers behind them.
But her friends weren’t giving up.
Elena threw small, lethal lightning bolts at soldiers as they poured in, while Keen fought off four soldiers at once. Reese stood off to the side, her expression focused as she jumped and kicked a soldier square in the chest. He stumbled, turned, and stabbed his comrade in the leg.
Reese’s magic had sent anger in the wrong direction and confused the soldier into stabbing his companion—until an alchemist snuck up behind Reese and extended his hand.
Lex called out, but her voice didn’t rise above the cacophony inside the cavern.
Reese convulsed and dropped to her knees.
“No!” Lex shouted.
Zirel ran forward and stabbed the alchemist attacking Reese. He reached over and touched her temple.
Reese shook her head and stumbled toward Elena.
Camille dodged the fighting and raced to Lex’s side. “We must leave.”
