Page 92 of A Tale of Treachery

He continued chuckling and approached me, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear as he leaned down and whispered, “If the crystal that holds my power was able to cross over to the other side all those years ago, why would you think I couldn’t?” He tugged my lock of hair and strode off toward the portal.

My breath hitched as he threw one final look my way and stepped inside, the portal gel parting around his body as if it were terrified of touching his skin. And then he disappeared.

* * *

He couldn’t have been gonefor more than a few seconds, but it felt like forever. I was sick with worry, and nausea swirled around my gut as I thought of the repercussions of Ryken retrieving the crystal. The world would spiral into chaos and be left defenseless. Ryken didn’t have to worry about the consequences of stealing his power back, considering his power was the one thing keeping the otherworld locked up. He would defend Faerie, leaving the rest of us to rot.

I shuddered. Malachi was probably situated just behind that barrier of power, waiting for the opportunity to come crashing through.

He would come after me, for sure. But not just me. He would track down everyone and everything I’d ever loved and unleash mass destruction. Redmond, George, Brandon, Gabriella, Eulalia, and even Aiden would be helpless against him and the creatures of the darkness. Hell, Malachi would probably wipe out the entire kingdom of Cambriel just to prove a point.

The portal hummed loudly as its color shifted from that dark color, morphing into the deepest black I’d ever seen. Something was happening in there, something that was taking quite a while, considering how many seconds had passed.

A leg slipped through the entrance of the portal, followed by a hulking frame, and my mouth gaped open. Ryken’s hood was down, and his silver hair floated on a nonexistent wind. His eyes were glowing, and a silver-colored static seemed to crackle off his skin like the embers of a fire.

I gulped. Ryken had his magic back.

He approached, his aura bright and unyielding as he came to a stop in front of me. “Come. We’re going to Faerie. We can send for Redmond after we’ve made it away from here.”

My mouth dropped open. How could he think I would abandon my friends and let him whisk me away to safety? He was selfish. He’d left anyone outside of Faerie completely vulnerable. He’d just started a war. All because he wanted his powers.

“No, Ryken. You’ve left my entire kingdom defenseless. I have friends in Cambriel, people I care about, no matter how much they’ve upset me. I can’t leave them to fight alone against the creatures of the otherworld. Who knows how much time is left before they burst their way through the portal?”

There wasn’t much time, considering how dark the portal was growing. The liquid stretched out as if something were already trying to tear its way through. I stared at it in fear, wondering who or what was trying to escape, since the shield had just dropped.

Ryken’s jaw went tight, and he ground his teeth, approaching me with a movement that was borderline violent. “So that’s what this is about? Aiden? You can’t stand to leave him all on his own?”

“What?” I asked, shaking my head. “No. Aiden isn’t the only one I care about.” I cared about Brandon and George. Redmond and Gabriella. And yes, I did care about Aiden, regardless of how much he’d angered me.

“So youdocare about him?” Redmond growled.

I swore under my breath. Seriously? Is that the only thing that concerned him? He’d just condemned our world to an eternal hell.

“It’s not like that, Ryken, and you know it.”

He raised his chin and looked down his nose at me, his eyes now a swirling mixture of silvers and metals. Power radiated from his body, nearly choking me. His power was the antithesis of mine. It was how the crystal had managed to keep the underworld powerless and sealed away for so long.

His eyes bored into me. “Fine. You’ve made your choice.”

He turned to leave, and anger boiled my bones. He’d made this mess, and he would be the one to clean it up. Even if I had to force him. I closed my eyes, reaching deep into that pit inside of me and called on my magic, demanding that it aid me. It perked its ears with excitement, knowing that now was the chance for it to be fully free. I wouldn’t hold it back or dampen it.

I opened my eyes. My vision was strange, and when I spoke, my voice came out darker than ever. “You’re. Not. Leaving.”

He turned to me and laughed, sizing up the gold flame that danced in my palm. “Oh, and who’s going to stop me? You?”

“Yes.”

I threw my head back and welcomed my magic, feeling it pump from my heart and through my blood. The veins in my arms turned a bright gold as the magic flowed through me, and I released it with a scream, aiming for the bane of my existence.

The body of water nearby caught fire as angry golden flames tore through it and onto the grass surrounding Ryken. Golden lightning cracked through the sky. With a flick of my wrist, I directed a lightning bolt at Ryken while smiling with delight.

That was new.

It felt so good to finally give in to that part of me. I felt strong. Unstoppable.

But Ryken didn’t so much as flinch when the lightning hit him. He seemed toabsorbmy power as if it were sustenance. My brows furrowed as he stepped into the flames of my magic, unbothered. They danced around his skin in a light caress, leaving him unharmed. With every step closer that he took, the flames dampened, slowly dying to nothing.

I threw my hand out to cast more magic at him, but nothing happened. A slow panic started to build as I tried to stop him from coming any closer. There was nothing to do but sink to my knees, exhaustion finally taking its toll on me. I closed my eyes, reaching down into the depths of myself, but my magic had returned to slumber, refusing to move an inch.

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