Page 90 of A Story of Sinners

“What are you doing?” I shouted. “You are supposed to be guarding the women.Yourwoman.”

He glared, and I growled.

“At least tell me they are safe in the tower.”

A nod.

I couldn’t worry about this now, not when that final shadow slithered in through the crack. It pulled and tugged at the barrier, and then there was a loud, cracking sound that would haunt me for the rest of my days. The demon’s cold, blue eyes bore into me, making it clear he only had one mission: destroy.

A terrifying battle horn sounded from the Otherworld army as the bubble collapsed in on itself, turning to dust as it fell to the ground.

Just like that, the palace yard turned into a battle ground, and all hell broke loose.

Without the barrier in place, Aiden’s and Malachi’s armies advanced without hesitation. Evander raised his arm, signaling for his court to fire their arrows all at once. The pointed edges fell from the sky like rain, taking nearly half of Aiden’s army out in one fell swoop. The Otherworld army didn’t so much as stumble from the strikes.

The shades took to the sky in pursuit of the dragons, and a burning black fire spilled from Malachi, smoldering the grass, spreading out and forming a protective barrier around his army, only his army, leaving the army of Cambriel utterly defenseless.

Eulalia and Isadora ran to us, muttering incantations beneath their breath and taking aim at any shade they could find as Evander sifted to my side.

“My archers cannot harm the shades,” he announced, drawing a bow in the air.

“Your archers will continue to try,” I claimed as I summoned my power to me, releasing it in the form of lighting, swiftly striking each shade in the sky. They fell, crunching against the cold, hard ground, but they didn’t stay down for long. I summoned silver fire and attacked again, aiming for the shades once more.

This time, when they fell, they stayed down.

Fin flew down, taking a place behind us and spraying molten flames at anyone who dared come near his mate and his king.

Evander pulled water from the river on the other side of the downed barrier, and drew it to land, knocking a few soldiers off course. but it wasn’t enough. They just kept coming.

Kieran targeted his fear towards any shade he could find, but it didn’t affect them. They thrived off fear.

Another storm of arrows fell from the sky, sending the remainder of Aiden’s army to their deaths. It had been mere minutes since the battle had started, and Aiden and George were the only two remaining on the Cambriel front.

The mortals had been used as a distraction. Aiden realized it, recognition visible in the flickering of his gaze. His calls for help towards his allies remained unheard. Malachi had only one thing on his mind, and that was my wife. He didn’t care if his allies burned, didn’t care if everyone died. All he wanted was her, and he would stop at nothing until she was his.

Aiden had been sent to his death. He’d been used as a means to an end. When it dawned on him, visible in the purse of his lips, he gripped the bow and arrow at his back and took aim at the half shade god.

Malachi didn’t even blink as the arrow soared through the air in his direction. He didn’t even acknowledge the betrayal of his ally. With a simple wave of his hand, the arrow burned to a crisp. Shadows veered from their course, crawling slowly towards Aiden and George, and though the men fled, they weren’t fast enough.

Their necks snapped as they fell to the ground.

This male had no loyalty, and though I’d hated Aiden as much as anyone else, a small part of me burned at the betrayal.

Wind blew about the field, sending the shades spiraling off course as I took aim at the one true problem: Malachi. He smiled at me, stretching his wings as if priming for flight, and I sent a combination of all my powers in his direction.

Wind.

Lightning.

Silver fire.

That dark silver shadow I always felt hesitant to draw on.

He rose from the earth, wings flapping, shadows and black fire rippling across the field as he held up a gloved palm, halting my attack. There was something in his palm that sucked my magic in, causing it to vanish. Malachi smirked and slowly released more shadows, until they surrounded everyone in the grassy yard.

I tried to call my magic, tried to send those shadows away, but nothing answered.

Redmond gasped beside me. “The crystal, Ryken.”

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