Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,61

element of surprise any longer. We were outnumbered and likely overpowered, given the amusement in the queen’s eyes. The king’s, too, for that matter.

She cocked her head at me and feigned curiosity. “I see no reason to prolong the inevitable, do you?”

At her words, a growl erupted behind her, and for a moment, hope surged in my heart. Those that had been left behind hadn’t all died trying to get to the Ether—or at least some of the New York pack hadn’t, by the sound of it. I wondered if they’d somehow tracked Knox through their connection and come to our aid.

But the fey army didn’t even flinch at the potential surprise attack. Instead, they merely parted so that Mack’s former wolves could waltz between them, wolf eyes gleaming in the moonlight and pinned on us as their growls grew louder and more menacing.

The look on my face must have shown my utter disbelief, because the fey king’s laughter rang out so loudly that it actually startled me. “Did you think they were yours? Did you think Knox could control them?” he asked, stepping in front of his bride to address us. “Do you think I can’t control him?”

I dared a glance to where the alpha wolf stood stock-still, teeth bared in a snarl.

“They were Mack’s, and Mack was mine,” Phineas continued. “And since they failed to kill you earlier without my assistance,” he said, his disdain at their shortcoming plain in his tone, “they will do so now—just like they killed the rest of your little army you left behind.”

His words barely had time to register because the fey guard had joined the wolves and were headed toward us.

“Sherry!” I yelled. “It’s time for that talisman...”

Sherry emerged from the crowd with a black stone hanging from a leather cord around her neck. She touched her fingertips to the craggy crystal, then whispered something in a language I didn't recognize. A mist of sorts emanated from it, grazing each of the wolves on our side of the mob. Then it drifted toward the New York pack, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the fey guard. But the second it reached their line, it hit an invisible wall and dissipated entirely.

And the fey king laughed. Again. “You’re going to have to do better than that if you want them back,” he said, taunting us.

To say we were greatly outnumbered would have been an understatement, and while that hadn’t proved to be a problem moments ago in Faerie, as the pieces of what the royals had done fell into place in my addled mind, my concern grew. The army we’d faced there had been a ruse—a distraction to keep us busy while they’d escaped to New York to do whatever the fuck they’d done to blend it with their realm.

With their full, intentional power behind them, I wasn’t sure we’d survive this time.

But I sure as fuck wasn’t going to give up.

“Kingston!” I shouted. “A little help over here…” The sinister warlock was at my side as I called my winds to me. “Time to teach me that little tornado trick of yours.”

“With pleasure.”

Standing at my side, wrists glowing blue, he spun his arms in a circular, swirling motion as I thrust the gale toward the advancing army. A funnel the size of a Manhattan building began to swirl, sucking up anything and anyone in its wake. I heard my father and the coven queen shouting commands at their followers to add to the force I’d created with my former nemesis. Knox and his wolves, alongside Merc and his enforcers, held fast, waiting for anyone that made it past the violent funnel.

But then I felt it—the thrum of the royals’ combined power crashing into that magical, twisting trap—and I knew I couldn’t hold it forever. Together, they were so strong. Too strong.

I turned my panicked stare to Knox. “I can’t hold it!”

Knox’s hands clamped around my wrists. “You can,” he said as he stared into my eyes with a determination so fierce it almost scared me. “You have to kill them, Piper. All of them.”

Bea stepped between her brother and me and rested her hand on my shoulder. She chanted in Latin in my ear, and I felt the fire rise within me, though I hadn’t called it. Heat tore through my veins, and I screamed as it shot from my fingers, ripped from me by Bea’s spell. Knox’s grip on me tightened as I fought the magic, red and blue flames igniting the