Page 27 of Veil of Monsters

I shake myself out of watching the two most powerful males in this world and focus on Nerelyth. Emerson will be okay. He has to be. It still takes all my strength to actually not focus on him. We climb up the rocks to the top, using a broken building to climb out of the pit that is quickly filling with Emerson’s and Louie’s magic, along with their grunts and the sounds of their swords clanging.

Posy points forward and I can see exactly what she wants to do. Nearby Nerelyth is a dipped ledge, what is left of a brick wall, and it will be easier to climb up and down it. I look at my friend. All I can see is her red hair tumbled around her, but she doesn’t move, even as rocks and dirt fall on her. Even as the power from Emerson and Louie threatens to hurt her. My blood feels like it’s on fire as I quickly check on Emerson, but there is so much magic that I can’t see either of them. I feel sick to death at the idea of him fighting Louie alone. Louie is so powerful, but Emerson is, too. I have to tell myself that he’s a king and he’ll be able to hold him off long enough for me to get Nerry. “Wait for me!”

Posy nods, keeping an eye out for any threats before I rush down the wall and jump into the dirt, coughing on it. I slide down straight in front of Nerry, and I’m not sure if I should touch her. She looks so tiny, so fragile, and so broken. I sink to my knees, and I reach out to touch her shoulder. She doesn’t move. Pushing some of her hair away from her, I softly cup her face. “Please look at me.”

Her eyes flicker with the slightest recognition. “Remember me? I’m your best friend, your sister, and I’m here to get you away from him.”

Fear flashes in her eyes and it cuts me deep to see it. I’ve never seen Nerry afraid ofanythinglike this. She is so scared, and she looks back down. I have to turn her head back, feeling her shaking under my touch. Louie is a bastard for this. Whatever he is now, he is a monster for this. “Look at me, Nerry. Come with us. You’ll never have to see him again. Come with us. I’ll get you out. Please. I need you to stand up.”

“No,” she gasps, her voice nearly completely gone. I wondered why she didn’t use her siren power of singing to stop him, to escape him, but I know he hurt her before she stood a chance. Men like to steal female voices; they always have done. Her voice sounds like she screamed and screamed endlessly until her voice eventually gave in. My heart turns to stone. Tears fall onto my hands on her cheeks. “No. I—I die.”

Fury crashes into me like waves. “Nerry, I will not let you die here. I will knock you out and carry you out of here if I must. But do not make me do that, and let me help you. Posy is here and she can make a portal nearby. You can get out and be safe. Trust me, please. Be strong, just one more time.”

Her eyes search mine, and she gives a slight nod, tears streaming down her face. I put my arm underneath hers and pull her up, a cry escaping her lips as she limps a few steps. Her leg must be broken, as it doesn’t look like it’s bleeding. I get towards the edge of the wall held in the dirt and pick her up. She nearly makes me collapse, but with some effort, I push her up. Touching the dirt, I close my eyes and make ice ledges shoot out of the dirt to help us climb. She’s heavy, and every step we climb burns my muscles, but we make it to the top. Thankfully, Posy reaches down near the top and grabs hold of Nerelyth, yanking her up.

Breathlessly, I climb the last bit to the top and look back over to see Emerson getting closer to Louie within the magic storm around them. Louie seems to struggle against Emerson’s power, and it’s just night all around him, pressing in on the shadows of Louie’s magic, cornering him with his swords at his sides. The ground rumbles with the magic, tearing at itself. They are a ticking time bomb.

Posy links her arm under Nerelyth with my help, taking all her weight. “Take her and make a portal and leave. Do not come back and do not let Lorenzo come. I’ll get out with Emerson… if we can.”

Posy shakes her head. “No. Come with us! He can fight on his own, and I can feel my magic coming back. I’m not long off from a portal.”

I touch her arm. “I am never leaving him. Maybe one day you will say the same for someone else.” Lorenzo, but I don’t say his name. “Our fates are one. You need to go.”

Posy’s eyes narrow. “So, you want to die?! That psychopath is here for you! Even Emerson would want you to leave,” she snarls at me. “For fuck’s sake, I’ve promised to protect you—”

I stop her. Nothing and no one will make me leave Emerson. I’m going to fight at his side, even if it ends us. “And you’ve done that a hundred times over. Just, if I don’t come back, do not take the boy to your mother. Never take him. Never go back to your mother, Posy. Promise me.”

Posy looks surprised as she blinks once. “Why?”

“Just promise me, okay?”

The darkness seems to reach the stars, and my time here is running out. Emerson needs me. “I promise,” she says quietly, searching my eyes. I look at Nerry, but she is focused on the ground, and I know there is nothing I can say to help her right now. She needs to heal. Posy looks at me one more time. “Don’t die, bitch.” I nod with a tense smile as Nerry leans her weight on Posy, and they slowly start hobbling towards the houses at the back that are still standing. I wait until they’re gone before I run straight to Emerson and Louie, feeling my own power rising to the surface.

I barely get within ten feet when a boy runs out of the side of a building, his blond hair flashing in the darkness. Louie reaches out with his shadows, wrapping them around him. He yanks the boy between Emerson and himself. Emerson diverts his power to the left as I run to him, not wanting to harm the boy. Louie takes the chance, slamming grey magic straight into Emerson’s chest, sending him flying backwards across the clearing. “EMERSON!” I scream as Emerson roars in pain.

I’m running to him without thinking, only for shadows to wrap around my waist and roughly yank me backwards. I slam into Louie’s hard body, and he latches his hand around my neck, turning me. His eyes glitter with darkness. The boy is gone, and he used Emerson’s kindness, his unwillingness to kill a child, to win. “Stop, Louie.”

Louie leans down. “When everything is dead and gone, I will stop. This world will burn, and you will be the trigger.”

I frown, wondering what he means as he rips the crown off his own head and slams it down on mine. Time pauses as a power like I’ve never known rips through my soul, burning my skin like fire. I scream as the power builds within me, and it’s more than fire or ice. It’s darkness. It’s shadows, light and everything this world needs to survive. All of it builds in my chest as I fall to my knees, grasping my stomach, and suddenly my power explodes. A flurry of fire, ice, shadow, and darkness all in one, roll out around me in waves that feel like they are being torn from my soul. I can’t stop screaming as I lose control of the power, unable to do anything, to control it at all.

Suddenly, there is silence.

Too much silence.

“You’re stronger than predicted. Thank you for giving me your power to share with the other rulers, blood of the goddess, but now it’s time you die.” Louie roughly pulls the crown from my head, ripping my hair with it. “The prophecy was right about your power. ‘Reborn to mortal life five times over, each time, a drop of power taken from the rift.’” He repeats the first lines of the prophecy about me. I never knew what they meant. “You had so much power from the Rift, more given each time you were reborn. Now that I have your power in the crown, this world will fall.” I can’t hear him, fear him, or see anything but the destruction around me. Ash falls slowly from the sky, right down on my cheeks, and I lift my hand to brush it away. I scream in horror as I realize what I’ve done. What he made me do. Junepit City is gone, and there is nothing left but ash piles, spread in every direction to the sea and thick forest. I’ve destroyed an entire city and murdered millions.

Emerson!

Louie is laughing, almost in delight, as I search the ash until I spot his nearly lifeless body on the ground, darkness flickering around him. His wings are ripped, spread out in a pool of blood that marks the earth. But his chest moves.He survived. Goddess, he survived my power. The darkness fades, leaving him on the ground, covered in blood. He’s so badly injured he can’t even rise, but he somehow still struggles on one arm to look directly at me. He’d find me anywhere, in any world or place. Fear flashes in his eyes. Not for how injured he is, not for anything but me. I love him. “RUN!”

Louie reaches for me, but with all my strength, I kick him hard in the chest and sprint to Emerson. I know Louie is right behind me, his shadows chasing me as I run to my mate, my love, and I beg for anyone to save us. Just as I crash into him, his arms catching me and rolling us over for him to take the hit of magic, a portal of shadows opens right under us both. He kisses me as we fall into another world, this one full of nothing but grey shadows.

Epilogue

LORENZO EVENINGSTAR

“Repeat that to me,” I command the fae female, who has so many orphans laid around her. I don’t know her name or why she is here, but she has been complaining ever since I found her a tent for the children and herself. There’s a fire in here, and it’s dry, even with the storms outside littering the city with bitterly cold rain. The children are sitting on the ground in blankets, playing with rocks and flowers that they found outside the tent. Most of the children are too young to speak, but the ones that can, clearly have not been taught to speak well.

---