rest of the fae. They locked hands. Locked minds. Each of them trying to take what wasn’t theirs.
I heard Archer’s voice in the distance. He would only see Krall’s light pouring into me. My body jerked, convulsed, went rigid. I never felt any of it.
“Now!” I shouted. Krall’s eyes snapped open. The smile never left his face.
They were there. My mother. The Council of Five and the entire Durness coven. While Krall and the fae formed the Ring for which they’d come to be called, the coven formed another. They stood between the fae and the Source. Invisible to them.
“More!” Krall shouted. “Ah! So much power. So much heat.”
“Burn, motherfucker!” I muttered.
“Phaedra, no!” This time, it wasn’t Archer’s voice warning me. It was my mother’s. She stood at the outer edge of the circle. She knew what I set out to do.
I hadn’t planned it. But as Krall and the others tried to steal from us like they had for thousands of years, I saw the answer. Krall was right. I was born for this.
Dragon. Fire mage. Wolf shifter’s fated mate. I was the nexus. The answer.
“I love you,” I said to her, knowing it might be the last time. Then, I stepped into the breach.
21
Phaedra
“Phaedra!” The warnings came from everywhere. My mother. My father. The coven. But loudest of all was Archer.
The Source fought back.
Finally, Krall opened his eyes. Pain lit his face. Horror, as he realized what I was doing.
“No,” he said. “No!”
I don’t know how I did it. It had never been done before. My connection to the Source became a chain. I wound it around Krall, focusing all of my power on him. He couldn’t break free. Moren and the other fae were bound to him. One by one, I watched them explode into light.
I stood in the breach. The hottest fire poured through me. I felt my feet lift off the ground. I became the air. The heat. The sun.
I saw a doorway. I saw Rose Kilgore. Her agony ended. She was free. I had shown her the way. She crossed over. There were others. Hundreds. Every witch that Krall had ever stolen from. I couldn’t save them. But now, I could at least set them free.
I felt my fire begin to drain. The doorway began to close. I would do it. I would sacrifice myself. I would close the conduit between the Ring and the Source forever. This was the way.
Krall began to rise. Light exploded from each of his pores. He spun faster and faster. I felt his magic drain. There was no portal he could open fast enough. No refuge he could seek.
“It’s over!” I shouted.
“I’ll take you with me,” he managed, though his voice was little more than a ragged whisper. I was more than willing to go.
I let go. I floated in space. I felt the sun behind me. The moon. The stars. We were one. Krall was gone. Vanished. Cast out of the Source.
No cold. No heat. No light. No air.
And yet...I could still think and see. It was only a sliver, but the doorway was still open.
Then, icy pain shot through me. Blue flame snaked around me, spinning me like I’d seen it do to Krall.
“No!”
I tried to fight against it. I saw a single, great eye, swirling with every color of the rainbow.
“You?” I heard myself say. No answer. I was carried on its wings. I felt the creature’s breath. Frozen fire and lightning.
“Phaedra!”
“Who are you?” I asked. The creature had no shape. But I knew it. Like trying to remember a dream. The harder I fought for it, the more it slipped away.
I was frozen. Suspended. Trapped.
Then, I heard a single heartbeat. It filled me. It brought me home.
Down and down I fell. Though I knew in my heart, I’d never left the ground.
The wind raged. Smoke filled the air. Three water mages stood side by side, trying to douse the flames before the whole forest went up.
I couldn’t breathe. My ears rang. I lifted a hand to block the light. Agony speared through me.
“Phaedra?”
One heartbeat. So strong. It held the promise of forever.
“Archer?” I whispered.
“I’ve got you,” he said, relief-filled laughter erupting from him.
“Am I dead?” I asked.
He came into focus. Sweat poured off of him. Soot smeared beneath his eyes.
“No, my love,” he said. “Thank God. You’re very much alive.”
“How long was I out?” I asked, feeling disoriented.
“Half a day,” he said. “Forever.” He kissed me back to life.
Then my mother was there beside