Page 86 of Ruthless Fae King

“She’ll be just fine, thanks to you and your attempt to save her from Cyrene.”

Terra smiled at me. I couldn’t see it, but I felt the warmth that radiated from her.

Relief washed through me. All I wanted was for Hazel to be safe.

“We have to do one more thing before I go,” Terra said.

“What?”

She grabbed me, a little roughly, and she brought her face so close to mine, the light was blinding. She blew power into me through my mouth, and I felt it fill me up like a balloon. When I was so full that I felt like I could burst, Terra stepped back.

“Let it go, Erol. Use what you have and save your people.”

I did what she said. I let go of the magic within me. It pulsed out of me like a wave, and the old metal furniture in the dining hall blew outward, crashing into the walls. I closed my eyes and felt the magic blast further and further like ripples in a pond. It raced across the lands, starting with the castle and washing outward. It touched every soul in Palgia and drove away the darkness. It showed them who they used to be and let them see the light again, and I felt as each and every one of them accepted it, embraced it, and turned away from the darkness.

Despite the risk of losing someone, nobody died. I didn’t know how I knew—I just did. Cyrene had lost, and her power to keep her people, killing them if she couldn’t keep them in the Conjurite darkness, was gone.

They knew what was happening. They knew how it had all come to be, and they had a divine understanding of everything that had happened—Falx and his control, the darkness, the power that dragged them under without choices of their own.

My kingdom was finally free.

The earth drank in the power, and the destruction and death disappeared. The darkness vanished, running away from the light, and the earth was renewed.

When the light finally stopped pulsing out of me, I slumped forward, shifting on the dusty floor so I sat down next to Hazel.

She moved next to me.

“Erol?” she asked.

I looked at her, and she gasped. “What happened?”

“I’m free, Hazel,” I said. “We’re free.”

33

HAZEL

Cyrene was gone. Every bit of darkness was gone. When I blinked my eyes open, the whole dining area was filled with a strange, pulsing light.

When I turned to see where the light came from, Erol sat next to me, his skin glowing.

“I’m free, Hazel,” he said when he saw me. “We’re free.”

“How…?”

“Terra. She came when I called her. I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t fight Cyrene alone. She was going to kill you, and I couldn’t do it.” His voice trembled, and his face crumpled, but he laughed through his tears. “She came for me when I called her. I thought she’d given up on me.”

“Never,” I said. “Terra would never give up on anyone, least of all you. Neither would I.”

Erol blinked at me before he grabbed me and pulled me against him. He planted kisses all over my face.

“I love you so much,” he said. “You have no idea.”

Our bond was open again, and through it, I felt the intensity of his love for me, the truth of everything he said.

“You look different,” I mentioned.

“How?” Erol asked with a frown.

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