stop running. Fighting Turi’s army and Erna’s magic would only get everyone killed. I’d had a good run, but this was the end of the road. It was time to face my own personal truth.
The roaring in my ears ceased and I realized the flames had stopped. I was once again facing charred earth and the scent of death, ash flying around like gray snow blanketing the air.
The wall my Fae father had built was nothing but razed earth now, and Erna floated above it. Why had I not seen her power?
Was it because it had come from me? I thought about what Marcus had said, but I didn’t feel the charm drop from my neck. It was still firmly planted there. If I had any access to my magic, I couldn’t feel it.
Because you screw it up. Because you hurt the ones you love. Because you’re not normal or loveable. Don’t you remember how the people in your tribe gave you a wide berth? They didn’t want their children to play with you. They weren’t mean, but they knew something was wrong with you.
Marcus doesn’t think anything is wrong with me. Marcus loves me. My parents love me.
Haweigh loved me.
The argument in my head was interrupted by a deep voice.
“Summer of the Gentle Winds, I told you I would have you.” Turi sat on the largest of the steeds. The horses on his plane were bred for battle. They were as large as Fae horses but trained to bite and kick their opponents. Or impale them on the spikes in their armor. Turi dismounted with the grace of one who spent a lifetime in the saddle.
“Don’t bother using your mental powers.” Erna had changed into trousers and a tunic, her hair down in waves for once. She looked younger than she normally did and far more focused. Her eyes seemed to burn through me. “I can feel you trying to get into my brain, vampire. It won’t work. My shields are too strong, and I’ve placed a spell on the general to save him, too. The way he uses the thrall stones on his soldiers makes it impossible for them to disobey him.”
“Danny seems to be okay.” My mother looked at Papa as though he could fix things. “Kelsey got to him in time.”
Papa raised a hand, but then winced and went to his knees. Mom dropped down beside him.
“It’s okay,” Papa said. “But she seems to have sapped my strength. It hurts to even try to summon my magic.”
“I won’t let you get the jump on us again,” Erna announced. Her feet hit the ground and she strode through the sea of war horses like a woman who knew no one could hurt her. “Summer, I’m through trying to talk to you. You forced my hand. Now come and take your place at the general’s side or we’ll start killing your friends. I believe I’ll begin with the vampire.”
Taggart stood in front of his wife, but that wouldn’t matter for long since the horde was already encircling us. “Which vampire do you mean? Because there are three of us here. I definitely think you should take out Adam first. He’s a mouthy asshole.”
“Fuck you, Tag. You’re the mouthiest asshole I know,” Adam replied, getting up in Taggart’s face.
Charlotte moved between them, her voice low. “I don’t think you two causing chaos is going to work this time. There are too many of them. Besides, for all we know there’s only one way out of this.” She glanced back my way, her light blue eyes reminding me of the brilliant skies of my childhood home. “Summer, please.”
I shook my head, panic threatening me. “I can’t. I’m trying.”
Marcus turned my way and reached for my hands. “Don’t try, bella. Do. Relax and take back your power. Know that you are worthy of it, that you were meant to have it. It was entrusted to you and you cannot fail.”
But he was wrong. I could fail. I’d done it before.
Panic threatened to overwhelm me. I was going to fail. No matter what I did.
A vision of Haweigh’s face right before the flames took her assaulted my mind. She’d looked to me and her eyes had widened, and then she’d held out a hand as though trying to take me with her. She’d looked so desperate in the final seconds before her death.
I could see her clearly. I could place myself in that moment. I’d been standing on one of the hills