master, she desperately poured magic from her wings.
Calem didn’t move.
Earsplitting shrieks pealed from her small body, and again she showered him in magic and tears.
He stayed still. Silent. Dead.
“Calem, quit kidding around.” Ozias spoke around tears, the soft words breaking my heart.
“Get up. Please, get up.” Kost. Soft. Pleading.
Nothing happened. Effie never stopped. And Calem never opened his eyes.
My brother was gone.
Thirty-four
Leena
Effie’s agonizing wail shattered Wynn’s hold. The veil that had pulled tight across my eyes dissipated, leaving before me a devastating and bloody scene of death. Each beat of Effie’s wings was an unyielding tornado of anguish—a mother helplessly begging for her child’s life.
Regaining control of my limbs, I sprinted toward my family.
My family. For that is what they’d become. They were here for me. To save me. And I’d led them to this.
“Leena!” Wynn yelled at my back. He’d never again own me. Never again touch me.
As I slid to the ground to cradle Calem’s head in my lap, Noc disappeared, trading sunlight for shadows. I knew exactly where he was going as all eyes fixed on us.
Running my fingers through Calem’s knotted hair, my chest shuddered. My beast had done this. Onyx lingered on the fringe of my vision, his worried gaze shifting between Calem and me. He hadn’t known. How could he?
I did this.
Effie cried, laying tired wings across the expanse of Calem’s wound before dropping her head to his chest. Tears streamed from my eyes.
“Those kids need you,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his forehead. “You can’t leave them behind. Not yet.”
Oz cradled his head in his hands and Kost simply stared, face bone-white and sweat-slicked. They would blame me. For the rest of my life, I would be a source of pain and suffering. They’d endure me for Noc, but they’d never forgive me.
I wasn’t sure I’d forgive myself.
Wynn took a few steps toward us. “Leena. Get back here.”
Slowly, I rotated my head to give him the full weight of my stare. “No.”
His jaw twitched. “No?”
“You’ll never charm another human again.” Gently moving Calem’s head out of my lap, I stood and stormed toward him. Rosewood light ruptured from my symbol. Onyx snapped to attention and flanked my side, teeth bared.
Wynn thrust his hand forward, white light sharpening around his fingers. “Stop, Leena.”
My body tightened. Froze. I fought for every twitch of my finger. Ground my teeth and glared at him with all my worth. “You will not control me again.”
The Council froze. Accusing gazes slipped from me to him.
His charm faltered, and I gained an inch. And another. My muscles protested as I forced them to push beyond his control. To listen to me instead of him.
“Leena.” He used my name as a warning.
“No!” Everything ached. I was a trembling mess, but it was my body to control. Not his. My mind and my thoughts and my feelings. They were mine. He’d done enough. “This ends now.”
Wynn flexed his hand, preparing to command his beast. “We’ll see about that.”
Noc appeared from the shadows behind Wynn. “No, we won’t.”
As he sank a blade into Wynn’s back, a splintering crack split the quiet clearing. Blood shot from Wynn’s mouth on the tail end of a gurgling cry, and Noc twisted the blade deeper. With deadly precision, he extracted it and made a clean swipe across Wynn’s throat.
The whole thing took less than a second.
Noc stared at the decapitated body with enough disgust to send chills down my spine. Turning on his heels, he stormed back to us. Pain shredded his features. Red-rimmed and heavy, his gaze found mine. And then I ran. Right into his open arms and clung to him with everything I had. He’d come for me. All those awful things Wynn had said, the poison that had steeped my mind and manipulated my thoughts, were gone. Noc loved me. And I loved him.
Noc pressed his forehead to mine. “Leena.” So much weight in my name. We had so much to fix. But I knew Noc had fought for me, that he would’ve given his life for me, and I was ready to fight and die for him, too, if that was what it took.
Lips trembling, I placed gentle kisses on his cheeks to catch his tears. “I’m here. I’m sorry. I love you.”
He broke then, a low cry ripping from his lungs and disturbing the quiet horror of the clearing. Slowly, I kissed his tears away. Gave what little solace I