Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,186

fails.”

“And it would be a waste of a good dick.”

“That too,” I agreed.

“You need me to do what exactly?” Ember asked, staring out over the armies marching toward one another.

“I need you to remove my thumbs so that I can free my hands.”

“I’m not that hungry, Aria,” she snorted, looking at my hands through our shared vision. “This is going to hurt you.”

“It will hurt a lot less than losing Knox, Ember. We need him for our plan to work, remember? You and I made a plan, and if we fail, this world will fall to the dark witches. Evil will rule, and no one will be safe from what rises from the ashes. If the high king falls in battle, the goddess will rise from her tomb. Hecate cannot rise because she wouldn’t rest until every Hecate witch in the line is lying cold and dead in her tomb. She would use us as her grid to refuel and remake the Nine Realms into the barren wasteland she intended it to be when we put her down five hundred years ago without the world knowing it was us.”

Battle drums sounded as a horn blared. The armies began moving toward one another faster, rushing into battle as their forces collided, and the tang of blood filled the air. I watched Knox, following him as he swung his blade through the men rushing toward him. He was ruthless, dispatching enemies as he fought to get to Ilsa, who dismounted from the horse on which she sat. Luna followed beside her, rushing toward Knox as they moved their fingers in sync, working together to ignite the power grid that began glowing.

“Now, Ember,” I demanded. “They’re going to kill our mate!”

Chapter Forty-Seven

Pain ripped through me as I removed my thumb with my teeth. One thumb and I was on my knees, screaming in pain. Ember purred as if she could comfort herself over my screaming. She moved toward the other one, ripping it off, which added to the blinding pain causing nausea to roll through my stomach. I pulled on my hands, forcing them through the cuffs Knox placed onto my wrists, knowing I was without magic, but I wasn’t without my monster.

“We have to reach the grid, Ember. We have to disturb the power source. If we don’t, Ilsa will unleash the power it is feeding her, and we will lose Knox forever.”

“Give me control!” Ember demanded. Standing, I stared down at the blood dripping from where my thumbs had been. “We will heal eventually.”

“Don’t let them hurt Knox. He is stupid and broken, but he is our stupid, broken male.”

“On it,” Ember said, shoving me into the backseat as we zipped into the jetstream.

Ember moved into the shadows, watching the dark witches standing around the grid, protecting it. Ember didn’t mess around, using her speed to move through the clearing like lightning, snatching one witch away from the others without making a single sound.

The moment Ember was within the forest’s protection, she snapped her head from her neck, tossing it over her shoulder. Turning, she stared out at the other witches, watching them look around as they realized one was missing. They slowly stepped away from the circle, and when they began separating from one another, Ember took out another, and then another until only one witch remained.

Ember slammed into her, using eight claws to cut through flesh and bone to remove her head. I winced inwardly as she spun, staring at the mutilated bodies. Ember grabbed a foot from a body on the grid, pulling it away from the pattern. Nothing happened. The grid continued to pulse with power, even though Ember had disturbed the connection and pattern. She canted her head, assessing the problem and computing it on the fly. Taking control of the corpses, they mimicked her movements, pausing when she got to the magic source in the center of the grid.

Aine sat in the middle of the grid. Only she wasn’t a corpse. In fact, her flesh was completely healed, along with her beautiful face. Ember dropped beside my sister, slapping her cheeks, but nothing happened. She picked Aine up, snapping her neck, and I gasped the moment she tossed Aine to the ground like she was just another body instead of my beloved sister.

“She is powerful, feeding the one who wishes to murder our dicker. Now, she cannot feed them her magic.”

“I don’t think that’s all they intended to use her for, Ember.” I noted Aine’s