Page 54 of Bound By Fate

Rain soaked my pajamas, my visibility non-existent in the driving storm that I had created. But I refused to let it pass, even though it was draining every ounce of my energy.

Still, my fury toward Stralia and the uprising she had started in my home, under my nose, with my staff, kept me going. I enhanced the snow, whirling a tornado of white to embrace her, and she extended her powers toward it, giving my side time to escape to safety as her faeries scrambled to find shelter.

“How is this happening?” Coraline shrieked. “Where is this weather coming from?”

“From me, you fool!” I barked, advancing on Stralia, but every step I took was laborious. “Did you think I would let you take my kingdom? My mate? Hurt my friends? My loyal staff?”

Coraline whimpered, and I commanded a whirlwind to take her, turning it toward Stralia, but to my horror, the blonde was no longer where I had left her. I whipped around to find her, confronting her once and for all, but the haze of weather I’d created made seeing anything through the storm impossible.

“Come out, Stralia!” I wheezed as someone called for me.

“LUNA! Please, come inside where you’re protected!”

I ignored the pleas, determined to find the head of this mess, my shame and anger overtaking any sense of worry I had for myself.

I opened my mouth to tell the others to find Cade and warn him, but before I could utter a word, Stralia showed herself again.

“Well,” she spat, her eyes glittering, her tall, lithe form a few feet from mine, shivering in the slicing ice around us. “You’re more powerful than I realized.”

I raised my fingers to penetrate her with a bolt of lightning, but to my horror, I realized that I had exhausted all of my energy in keeping up the magnificent storm I’d conjured to save the staff in their escape. A slow, cruel smile formed on Stralia’s lips as she understood my weakness.

“Or maybe you’re not,” she purred, jumping on the opportunity before I could turn and flee.

I whirled around, my baby’s safety forefront in my mind, but I was unable to take a step before I was again frozen by Stralia’s spell.

“Not so strong now, are you?” she growled, her breath hot in my ear. “I’ll teach you to take what isn’t yours,Queen Zephyrine.”

I struggled against her paralyzing spell again, but I was drained, my magic depleted in the aftermath, and even my motherly instincts couldn’t override my exhaustion.

“Get her out of here,” I heard Stralia bark at someone I couldn’t see, my neck cemented like a statue just before the world around me went entirely black, the snow, rain, and sleet abruptly stopping with my unconsciousness.

Chapter18

Cade

Sweat beaded my brow, but I refused to stop the house-to-house search that I had begun at day’s break, my gut insisting that there were answers in Ironhelm City.

Ryland and the other guards were growing weary of the job, even though most of the residents were welcoming and permitting of our entry, but we had yet to approach Sandor’s household.

“Maybe we should get back to this tomorrow, Alpha?” Ryland offered for the second time as dusk settled over Ironhelm City, and for the second time, I ignored him.

I wouldn’t rest until I had answers as to where the ebonleaf had come from, although I was quite certain I would find the stash in Sandor’s garden.

“We’ll stop when we find what we’re looking for,” I growled, raising my fist to knock on yet another door. “If you’re certain that you’ve searched the entire palace for it, then it must be somewhere in the city.”

The sound of a scooter approaching made me turn, the same messenger approaching for the second time in as many hours. “I am not coming back yet!” I growled at him, scowling. “Inform the Queen—”

But he cut me off, his eyes wild before I could finish.

“All hell has broken out at the palace!” Uruslu blurted out before I could finish my speech. “Bring all the guards and come back at once!”

I stared at him for a moment, sure that he was enacting some kind of ploy to get me to return at Zephy’s behest, but his pale face and wide eyes told me that I was wrong to assume that.

“What are you talking about?” Ryland asked for me, stepping forward with concern. “What’s happened?”

“An attack. The faeries with dark magic. The ones who attacked before,” the messenger babbled, not making much sense. “There was a freak storm with snow and sleet…”

I balked.

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