A vision of Kols taking Emelyn as his date to the event fluttered through my mind, and I didn’t quite care for it. Not even a tiny bit.
Kols sighed. “Fuck. I forgot to talk to my father about it.”
“Obviously,” she said slowly, annunciating each syllable. “Fix it.”
“Yeah, I will,” he muttered.
“No, you’ll fix it right now,” she demanded. “I’m not going.”
“I said I’ll take care of it, Emelyn.”
“Yeah, and that’s what you said weeks ago, Kolstov. I want it fixed right fucking now.” She put her hands on her hips.
Whatever expression she gave him seemed to irritate him even more, because his golden eyes swirled with red power. “Remember who you’re talking to, Elite Blood.”
“My betrothed,” she spat out.
“Your future king,” he corrected, his tone holding a chill in it that caused all the hairs along my arms to stand on end.
Power sizzled in the air as the two of them squared off.
My stomach twisted at the dark-source essence, my Quandary magic flaring to life inside me at the familiar call. I winced, trying to shove it down, but it spread like rapid fire through my veins.
Aflora? Zeph’s deep voice trickled through my thoughts.
My mind shut down my ability to reply, the magnitude of energy swimming around me, through my soul, and stealing the breath from my lungs.
Shade grabbed my wrist, his voice urgent in my ear. I tried to hear him, to comprehend his words, but I couldn’t understand him over the roar of sound inside my head.
Kols’s golden irises snapped up to mine, his expression melting into concern as he tried to harness his power, but it was too late. He’d released too much, his connection to the source thriving between us like the day we first joined.
Only this was worse.
It ripped through me on a level I didn’t understand, the dark essence searing my being and bringing me to my knees.
Kols shouted, the inky lines climbing up his neck writhing and stirring a cascade of electricity that sizzled through the air and zapped my skin.
Blue embers flickered across my fingertips, forcing me to lock my fingers into the charcoal blades. Pain shot up my arms and down my spine, causing me to tremble beneath the weight of oppressing magic.
Red fire sprinted across the ground, circling me.
My body reacted defensively, shooting off an array of colors in response. Blue. Green. Purple.
How is that even possible? I thought, tears blurring my vision. Oh, Fae. It burns!
The blood-red flames fought mine, the power mounting into an array of light that temporarily blinded me.
And then Emelyn was there, her black eyes narrowed with fury as she engaged in a battle I didn’t understand.
Everything began to spin, her energy somehow connecting to mine in a savage handshake that rippled through the air. Zeph and Shade yelled inside my thoughts, their collective voices leaving me unhinged and uncertain as a tornado of power swept me up into a cloud, the world disappearing behind a thick smog.
A hand grabbed mine, nails digging into my flesh.
Not one of my mates.
Emelyn.
Her Elite essence engaged mine, battling my power for dominance.