Queen of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,62
to the ground, agony everywhere.
Dazed, I stared up at the sky. Pain nearly blinded me, but it was the heat of the nearby fire that made terror drive me to my knees. Red, blue, and green—it flickered across the rooftops, devouring and rising high.
Tarron landed next to me, his face white and his lips tight. In the distance, the queen turned on the air and began to retreat.
My heart thundered so loud and so fast that it felt like it would explode. My head roared. Fear chilled me.
My gaze moved to Tarron. “No!”
Jaw set, he removed the blade from the holster at his side.
“No!” Grief tore at my chest.
“You have to.”
“No! There’s another way.” My gaze moved to the queen. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be time. “I can kill her.”
“It will still kill me.”
He was right. He was rational. Both Fae royalty would die when this blade was used. Two halves of the same coin, taken out by the magic that was destroying this place.
Panicked, my gaze flashed to him. “This can’t be happening.”
Somehow, he found the time—the strength—for a tender smile. “It’s over, Mari.” His gaze flicked up toward the platform in the sky. “Look—the flame is nearly to the platform. They will all die. All of them.”
My gaze flicked upward, but it was nearly impossible to see through the tears that filled my eyes and the smoke that clouded the air.
The inferno had grown impossibly high, reaching for the sky platform as if it knew the living ones were there. It wanted to burn flesh, not just wood and stone.
I failed.
All I’d wanted was to save Tarron.
My fated one.
I failed.
“But I tried to stop this!” I cried.
“I know.” He kissed me gently on the lips, and I clung to him, unwilling to let him go. To let time pass.
But it would pass—no matter what we did. Delaying would only cause grief.
I didn't need to be rational though. Tarron did it for me. He pressed the blade into my hand.
My skin grew cold and my stomach lurched. I wanted to hurl the blade away from me, break it in half.
He twisted it so the tip pressed to his chest. Right where his heart was. He did all the work. I could barely see through the tears.
This was what I had seen in my vision.
So perfectly.
Except I hadn’t seen him basically killing himself.
Anything for his people.
“Don’t leave me.” My voice broke.
“I have to.” His gaze flicked to the sky platform. “It’s nearly there. Only a few feet to go. Most of them can’t fly.”
I sobbed, the memory of their faces flashing in my mind. Terror like I’d never known opened a hole in my chest.
The queen was nearly to the exit. The Seelie were near death.
And then Tarron did it for me. Though my hands touched the hilt of the dagger, it was he who actually drove it into his chest.
It was the most terrible moment of my life. I could break every bone in my body and nothing would feel as bad as that blade in my hand as I shoved it into the heart of my fated mate.
He stiffened, not even gasping.
For me.
He wouldn’t show pain for me.
Somehow, I knew it.
Because of my visions, we assumed I'd been the one to do it. But I hadn't seen our hands clearly. Hadn't realized this would be what happened.
But Tarron had realized. He’d done it.
As he sagged, I screamed, so enraged and grief-stricken that I couldn’t hold it in anymore. As the life faded from him, magic exploded out from his body. So much power that it slammed me off my feet.
Barely conscious, I sprawled on the ground, staring up at the flame that began to die down.
I gasped hard, raggedly, refusing to pass out. I crawled to him. Through bleary vision, I spotted the other Fae falling. The blast knocked them unconscious. I fought it with all I had, using every bit of my Dragon Blood strength. I wouldn’t be unconscious for Tarron’s last seconds on earth.
All around, the flames died. His magic extinguished them in a heartbeat. They faded a few feet before they reached the sky platform. The town turned black instead of orange with flame.
I could no longer see the queen, but I didn’t care what happened to her.
I had to get to Tarron.
Impossibly weak, I clawed my way across the ground. His magic still blasted out of him, a golden glow that made my very bones shake.