Keeper of Storms (The Fallen Fae #3) - Jenna Wolfhart Page 0,122

“Why won’t you look at me? Huh?” He advanced toward her, and Reyna had to take several steps back to avoid his next blow. Heart hammering, she glanced from side to side, watching the warriors that surrounded him.

His hand shot out again, his knuckles slamming into her chin. Pain rocketed through her face. “I said look at me! Not at them!”

“I’m just wondering,” she said in a voice as frozen as the icy north. “Why you feel the need to have your warriors training their arrows on me? Do you think you can’t take me down yourself? Even though I’m unarmed? And you have…that thing.”

She tried not to look at his razor-like sword. The teeth still gleamed with Segonax’s blood.

Molt chuckled. “You think I’m as stupid as you are. That trick won’t work on me. My warriors will shoot you if you try anything.”

“Hmph.” She turned inward as the king began his slow stalk around her. He was sizing her up, just like he’d done to Segonax. She only had seconds before he launched his attack.

Please. She whispered to the Ruin. This is your chance. I’m going to release you, but you have to do the right thing.

You can’t, the magic hissed back, springing back to force inside her mind. His emotions were a kaleidoscope, storming through her like a hurricane. You’ve been weakened by my magic. Seelie no longer strengthens your bones. You won’t survive me storming out of your skin.

She blinked, shock and hope slamming into each other. This was the first time the Ruin had given any indication that it cared whether she lived or died. You have to do it anyway.

You won’t be able to control me.

Well, then you have to control yourself!

I can’t, the Ruin whispered with a strangled sigh. You have to do it. Use your ice glass ring, the gift from your mother. Whether you realize it or not, it gives you strength. Force me onto the wood king. Push me into his body. It will rip him to shreds.

The Ruin suddenly fell silent, and Reyna jerked up her head just in time to see the sword swinging toward her face. She gasped and ducked down, her knees slamming into the hard stone. In the background, Lorcan roared. He slammed his hands against the bars, and strangely, the iron began to bend.

“REYNA!” The fear in his voice matched her own. She scuttled back as the wood king’s sword hurtled toward her once more.

With a racing heart, she jumped to her feet and opened every single part of her to the Ruin. She ground her teeth together as the magic surged through her blood. She pushed at that power, shoving it toward the edges of her skin. Magic hissed as it slipped from her, swirling out of her body like a thousand tiny ants. The ash rushed through the hall, swirling with a vengeance that knocked the closest warriors to the floor. The ash rained down on their faces, burning them instantly.

Reyna pushed, squeezing her eyes shut tight as her head began to spin. She reached up to her neck and clutched the ice glass, just like the Ruin had said.

The dizziness stopped. The Ruin spun from her body, swirling before her, and blocking the wood king’s advance.

“What the hell is this?” he asked, his voice full of fear for the first time since Reyna had laid eyes on him. He stumbled away from her as the storm continued to bleed out of her body, rushing and whorling through the hall.

The ash blew toward the cages along the back wall.

“NO,” she gritted out, her vision faltering. “That way.”

She lifted a finger and pointed at the king. The Ruin slowed to a stop. The ash swirled away from Lorcan. More of the magic seeped from her skin. The dizziness slammed into her head once again with full force. She clutched at the ring as she fell to her knees, bowing over at the blinding pain crashing through her head.

She heaved as the final remnants of the power left her. The world spun beneath her, turning her upside down until she was no longer sure where the sky ended and the ground began. Through bleary eyes, she looked up.

The wood king growled, his face blurred by the swirling ash. “You think you can take me out with some dark magic? I have Unseelie’s power inside me. I am blessed by the gods.”

“You aren’t blessed by anything,” she ground out, sagging against the floor. Her cheek hit