Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

A elia

“Shield, princess!” Reign’s cry hissed across my eardrum a second before Kian’s luminous blade would have sunk into my chest. And an instant before my rais burst to life, enclosing me in an impenetrable radiant orb.

Kian’s ethereal weapon bounced off the protective sphere, propelling both him and the blade across the grass.

Belmore watched, stunned, indecision warring across his furrowed brow.

“Don’t do this, Belmore,” I growled. “We are a team, despite the rules of conduct. We must work together this term to battle our foes across the river. I’ve proven myself over and over again. I am not weak, and I will fight.”

Kian pushed himself off the ground, breathing heavily. A wicked gleam flashed across his light azure eyes as he stalked toward me. “Don’t listen to her, Belmore. She’s not like us. The Kin doesn’t deserve to be here, to fight for a place as a Royal Guardian. We are the best of the Court of Ethereal Light, and she is nothing .”

“Shut that male up before I do something you’ll regret.” Reign’s whisper only magnified the anger flaring in my chest.

I dropped the shield, daring Kian to make a move. The blasted male leapt at me once more, releasing a barrage of luminous arrows. I ducked and weaved through the onslaught. But one arrowhead struck true, piercing my bare upper arm.

A growl vibrated the shadow already encircling me, and a frenzy of dark tendrils joined it and coiled around me.

“No,” I whisper-hissed. “Kian is mine.”

Wincing, I plucked out the arrowhead crafted of pure light and blood trickled down my arm. It stung like a mother Fae. While I was momentarily distracted by the injury, Kian sensed his opportunity and leapt at the chance. A radiant spear hissed from his fingertips, seemingly guided by Raysa herself. I barely managed to summon my shield up in time.

This time the clash of power sent a tremor straight through to my bone marrow. The protective bubble burst and I staggered back as Kian continued his onslaught, now with his fists.

“Aelia, I cannot simply sit here and watch this?—"

“Quiet!” I hissed, cutting off Reign’s menacing growl.

Kian’s fist slammed into my cheek and twinkling stars consumed my vision. I bit out a curse, staggering back another step.

“Give up, Kin. You don’t belong here,” Kian snarled.

“Princess, finish that insufferable male, or I swear to all the gods, I will do it for you.”

“I am Light Fae, just like you,” I growled, and sparks of energy lit up my flesh. The medallion hanging below my collarbone warmed, heating my skin, and that well of power broke loose. Like a dam, raw energy bled through my bones, the intensity so overwhelming a shriek burst from my lips. Sheathing my dagger, my hands shot out, unbidden, and fiery tendrils of light uncoiled from my fingertips. Like Reign’s wraithlike shadows, they curled around Kian and hoisted him off the ground.

A familiar deep growl echoed in the distance, but Reign’s snarl was drowned out by the roar of my thundering heartbeat. My minions of pure light spun around Kian, a long coil curling around his throat. Brilliant light blanketed my vision, coating everything in an unearthly glow. My thoughts grew fuzzy, the influx of rais all-consuming. That deep voice edged the corners of my subconscious, the familiar timbre tethering me to the present. My gaze flicked up to the flailing Kian. He kicked and screamed, fingers clawing at the glittering, ghostly binds.

I could feel the smile melt across my lips. He deserved this, had earned a dance with death after what he put me through. Uncontrollable power filled my chest, then every corner of my being. My entire body pulsed with energy, an inconceivable force fueled by anger and months of fear at the hands of these ruthless Fae.

I was Aelia, carved of stone, and I would never be weak again.

“Aelia, no!” A hand wrapped around my arm, jerking me around to face a pair of blue eyes. Belmore? Genuine fear flashed across that typically icy gaze. “Please, don’t.”

“ Please ?” I nearly choked on the word, remembering how little effect my pleas had on him or his friends when I had uttered it. The great Belmore begging me not to kill his friend?

“Release him, and I swear I’ll make sure he never comes after you again.”

The heady onslaught of power began to subside, and I blinked quickly, clearing my hazy mind. “And what about you or Lucian?” I stammered.

Kian continued to flail mid-air, his face a deep crimson shade as he clawed at the tethers of light holding him captive.

“None of us. I’ll even swear an oath if that’s what you require.” He held out his hand and I stared at it, warily. How could I trust him after everything?

I felt it an instant before it happened, the shift in the air, the prickle of the tiny hairs at my nape. I spun around as a cord of light slithered toward me, wrapping around my neck. Kian had managed to wriggle a finger free of my restraints, and he now held onto the magical construct by the tips of his fingers.

The rope tightened, and I choked on a gasp.

From the corner of my eye, I felt him emerge from the shadows. Reign erupted from the very ether, a feral snarl on his lips and pure darkness whirling around his massive form. No . Before one of his wicked minions slithered off his arms, I reached for my dagger and hurled it at the glowing tether keeping me captive.

The moment the blade touched the beam of light, the mystical rope shriveled. The suffocating clamp around my neck fell away, and Kian’s rais disintegrated into a pile of ash. I drew in a breath of sun-blessed air, slowing the frantic thundering of my heart, as Reign appeared at my side.

“You truly wish to test my restraint, don’t you, princess?” he snapped.

“I told you I could handle him.”

The hint of a smile ghosted across his lips, and my heart flipflopped at the gorgeous sight.

Shaking my head, I scanned the grove for Belmore, and it was only then that I noticed the oppressive silence. Where was Kian? Spinning toward the spot in which the Fae had hung moments ago, I found Belmore on his knees beside his friend’s crumpled form.

I took a step, but Reign leapt in front of me, blocking my forward movement. “Get out of my way.”

He slowly shook his head.

Rising to my tiptoes to see over his broad shoulders, I could just make out Belmore now standing over a rapidly expanding pool of crimson.

“No…” I rasped. “Wha—what did I do?” I attempted to push past Reign again, but he widened his stance, an immoveable object between my mounting fear and the truth of what I’d done. “Let me by!” I shouted.

“No. You do not need to see that.”

“See what?” I ducked under his arm and wriggled free.

“You killed him,” Belmore called out before I took my next step. “I don’t even understand how…” He circled the body, running a hand through his pale blonde strands that had come loose from the neat tie.

Reign’s arm curled across my chest, preventing my escape. “Your dagger,” he whispered. “When you threw it, it cut through his rais and kept going…”

“ I really killed him?” My voice trembled, a mixture of anguish and rage.

“And now,” Reign whispered, “I’ll have to deal with Belmore.”

“No!” I shouted, my hands curling around the collar of Reign’s tunic as I frantically spun to face him. “You cannot.”

“He saw what your blasted dagger did to Kian’s rais .”

With Reign’s arm wrapped tightly across my back, holding me to him, I peered around his hulking form. He had maneuvered to use himself as a physical barrier, turning us so that our positions were now reversed. Belmore still stared at the ground as my eyes found his, expression pinched and light brows furrowed. “He has no idea what he saw.”

“Are you willing to risk it?” he growled.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I gritted out, “Wipe his memory clean, then.”

His eyes narrowed, a sneer crossing the perfect bow of his lips. “So now it’s okay to tamper with someone’s memories?”

“Yes, Reign. It’s only not okay for you to wipe my memories!”

He shook his head, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I would much rather you delve into his twisted mind than kill him outright.” I inched closer, an unnamable force compelling my boots toward Kian’s still form, regardless of Reign’s hulking body still wedged between us.

“Even after all he put you through?”

My head slowly dipped. Technically, it was Lucian and Kian, but the point was moot either way. I simply couldn’t sentence someone to death, guilty or not. My gaze latched onto Kian’s unmoving form, then to the hilt protruding from his heart. I squeezed my eyes closed as the wave of remorse threatened to pull me under. I hadn’t meant to plunge that dagger into Kian’s chest. Not really…

Right? Gods, that power was all-consuming. I’d never experienced anything like it. What was happening to me?