Saving the Fae (Daughter of Light #3) - Leia Stone Page 0,45

was like a festering wound, constantly reopening and never healing. How many times were we going to do this back and forth?

No longer. Not anymore. I couldn’t bear it.

I let the powerful magic and light fill my body as it mixed with the rage that was brewing there. Then I poured in a dash of anger and hatred, and by the time they reached me, I was a bomb ready to blow.

The time for speaking and giving them a chance to surrender had passed. If they were still gunning for my life at this point, they were dead to me. With a battle cry, I opened the aching cavern of pain and magic and grief in my chest and exploded. Light shot out of my body like a bomb and eviscerated the advancing army in seconds. It didn’t light the men on fire or slowly peel their skin off, no. One second, they were running on two legs, and the next, they were piles of ash.

Holy shit. The amount of power I contained actually scared me then. I didn’t feel remorse for them, but I felt fear of what I’d just done.

Suddenly, a weakness overwhelmed me, becoming too much, and I fell forward. Black dots danced at the edges of my vision. Bile rose in my throat as I surveyed the scene.

I did this.

All of it. Even if I didn’t personally kill Liam’s men, they were dead because I’d led them here without enough support.

So much death because of me.

I heaved on the ground, gagging as the realization of what I’d just done hit me. I was a monster… A murderer. I just wanted this to be done. I just wanted the war over. I only ever wanted to go home, to have a home to go to, and to share with everyone.

“Lily!” Elle’s voice cut through the space as Liam and Cam ran out to grab each of my arms.

I think I passed out for a second when they pulled me up; there was dirt on my face so I must have…

Time was weird, and I felt so sick, so weak that Cam and Liam had to drag me across the ground. Liam had stopped somewhere and taken a backpack, which looked heavy with the weight of the crystals. I wondered if he’d stolen it from one of the dead fae trying to flee.

“We need to get her out of here,” Liam said to Cam, and then Elle swooped in, and we were airborne. Liam and Elle were flying with an arm hooked under each of my armpits. My wings flapped a few times, but it was useless. I was too weak. Cam ran underneath us, blindingly fast.

“It’s going to be okay,” Elle whispered beside me. Knowing she had my back gave me a small measure of hope.

I didn’t realize I was crying until Liam reached out and brushed a tear off my cheek. He lost half his men, and he was wiping away my tears? I was such an asshole. A murdering asshole.

When we landed on the dirt road that led to the car, I felt a bit of my strength return. My legs were a bit steadier, and my wings didn’t feel so heavy.

Liam and Elle let me go, and I stood strong on my feet as Cam burst through the trees behind us. “I can walk.” My voice shook with the grief I was repressing as we all picked up speed and power-walked to the car, which stood still against the beautiful Montana landscape. The two guards were nowhere to be seen, but I’d hoped it was because they were inside, that the other half of Liam’s men had retreated inside to the safety of Mara’s house and they were all waiting for us.

I just couldn’t take any alternative.

The back car door stood open, and when I rounded the corner, peeking inside, my stomach dropped at the sight of blood. Large fat droplets stained the laundry room of Mara’s house as I tore inside, screaming her name.

When I turned the corner and came out into the open kitchen, a sob ripped from my throat.

I’d found the Winter King at last. He stood over Mara and Bashur’s dead bodies piled in a bloody heap at his feet like discarded waste. Liam’s mother whimpered as the Winter King dragged a finger across her neckline, holding her close to his chest while he caressed her in a fucking creepy way that added to my desire to murder him.

Looking down