to throw it while she was looking at me so intently. She could hit me with her power before I released it.
And I definitely couldn’t fight her. My insides felt pulverized. I could barely support myself against this wall, much less attack her.
The crystal was my only hope.
On either side of her, Aeri, Declan, and Cass fought her minions, but she had eyes only for me.
“This is my destiny,” the false queen hissed.
“Okay, that’s just insane rambling.” I arched a brow, trying to look unimpressed.
Tarron’s magic flared brighter. He was about to hit her.
“If it was your destiny,” I said. “I wouldn’t be the true queen.”
She hissed, her eyes narrowing on me. “You are only half of me. Half of what you could be.”
To my left, Tarron raised his hand and hurled a blast of sunlight right at the false queen.
It hit her dead-on, and she shrieked. She didn’t go down as she once would have, but she was distracted enough that I could raise my hand and chuck the Aranthian Crystal right at her.
It slammed into her chest, surrounding her with red light. She froze solid, her eyes wide.
“Let’s get out of here!” Tarron shouted.
“I’ve got to take her out!” I staggered toward her, my legs weak from the hit I’d taken.
Cass and Aeri turned toward me, their eyes widening as they looked past me to the windows.
“The guard is coming!” Aeri shouted. “Look out the windows!”
My gaze flicked up, and I spun around, taking in every window in the room. Dozens of Unseelie guards were flying right toward us, and they were only ten feet from the windows.
Shit.
I looked toward my mother, still frozen, rage twisting her features.
“The portals!” Tarron shouted.
He yanked his golden apple out of the ether and hurled the fruit to the ground. It smashed, and magic sparked on the air.
Silver branches began to grow up from the ground, twisting to form an arch. It was slow going, and the queen’s guards crashed through the windows when it was only half formed.
Dozens of them charged us.
My heart thundered, panic surging.
Cass threw fireballs, while Tarron called upon the sunlight that was so abhorrent to the Unseelie. Each of them hurled their magic at the Unseelie, who fought back with their own blasts.
My mother stood, still frozen.
If I could only take her out…
But I didn’t have time to open my veins and create a new magic with which to attack her. The silver archway was nearly formed. With more Unseelie guards pouring in, we were going to have to run for it soon if we wanted to survive.
I dodged a blast of black smoke. A slender Unseelie woman with spikey black hair came at me with a sword, and I ducked low to avoid the blow. I called upon my own blade, then lashed out and delivered a cut to her arm. She shrieked and drew a dagger, hurling it so fast that I couldn’t avoid it entirely. The blade slammed into my shoulder, and I screamed, pain lancing me.
A blast of golden light shot from the left and hit the Unseelie.
Tarron.
“Thanks!” I shouted, turning to search for Aeri. This was our only chance to try to take out my mother. I spotted Aeri on the other side of the room, swinging her mace at our attackers. Declan fought on the other side of her, making sure her back was covered.
“Aeri!” I raised my left palm up to face her, then sliced it with my sword.
She got the hint and sliced her own palm, holding it up to face me.
It was the strongest magic we had right now.
I called upon the lightning, feeling it crackle and burn inside me, coming to life. I gave it everything I had, letting it rise to the surface.
An enormous bolt of golden white lightning shot from my palm to Aeri’s, and we fought our way to the false queen.
An Unseelie man charged me, his sword raised high. Without dropping my lightning hand, I struck out with my own blade. I’d made sure to cut my non-dominant hand so I could keep fighting.
It took all my concentration to fend off the attacker while moving toward my mother with the lightning still flickering bright. The Unseelie landed a blow to my thigh that cut deep, and agony surged as I staggered forward.
I parried his next attack, then delivered a cut to his abdomen that had him staggering off. We were nearly to the false queen when a blast of fire hit me from