I was too late.
I couldn’t save her.
She was already gone, taken from me, from this realm, by the Elder standing stoically on the platform.
My fingers curled into fists at my sides, my ire mounting by the second.
Only for my blood to freeze in the next minute as a familiar voice screamed “Tray!”
My neck refused to work, my eyes locked on the stage. A fae approached to remove Emelyn... by smashing her body with a large hammer, shattering her marbled form into a thousand pieces.
I covered my lips, my gasp drowned out by the booming approval around me. They’re celebrating her destruction. Tears smothered my vision, my soul screaming at the unfairness and wrongness of it all.
Then Dakota appeared, her dark hair styled in an elegant bun that somehow matched her too-perfect face. I nearly growled at the sight of her, the traitorous bitch having hurt more than one of my mates.
Except the wiggling blonde fae beside her captivated all my attention in the next breath.
Ella.
I stopped breathing, my heart no longer functioning, and I barely heard Constantine speaking above the roar in my ears.
“This Halfling traitor knowingly helped an Abomination to escape our kingdom, her antics nearly taking the life of her mate, Trayton Nacht. Based on the testimonies of her male mate, the Midnight Fae Council finds her guilty on all counts and has hereby sentenced her to immediate exsanguination.”
“He’s lying!” She screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Tray, tell them he’s lying!”
But Tray did nothing.
He merely stood with the council off to the side with an expression of indifference. A foreign energy wafted around him, rippling in hypnotic waves as though lulling him into a bizarre state of comfort. This is just a nightmare. This isn’t real.
However, it felt real.
The Dark Source pulsed inside me, protesting these antics. It wanted me to act, to do something to stop this madness.
“Please!” Ella cried out.
Dakota laughed, the sound cruel and cold and grating my ears.
Constantine handed her his scroll and pulled a wand from his cloak. Then he began to murmur a spell, the chords of the enchantment underlined with death.
“Tawaqweef!” I shouted, blasting his incantation to literal pieces. Shard of rocks splayed across the stage, hitting Ella in the face, but keeping her very much alive.
Constantine didn’t hesitate, his lack of surprise telling as he pointed to me in the crowd. “Seize her!”
I’d unknowingly shadowed in with a cloak around my shoulders and hiding my head, which was why no one had noticed me.
But they did now.
A hoard of Warrior Bloods appeared from the shadows, the trap evident in the way they moved directly into sight, their focus on me.
Yes, this was definitely real.
Which meant Anrika and Emelyn were dead. Because of this monster. This thing that the Midnight Fae chose to follow. Several fae from the crowd pulled their wands and directed them at me, their propensity for violence a dark mark against my psyche.
Midnight Fae kill, I thought, looking around at these lethal beings and their love for drawing blood. What is wrong with you?
They all craved death.
They all wanted my death.