as best I can as the magic shreds our surroundings, the power I wield never truly within my grasp.
My destruction grows, the mansion above us groaning and failing as the foundation breaks down to its elemental bits and turns to dust. I will make this house a crater, a hole in Arin where nothing can grow, nothing can be built, and nothing can survive. I owe it to my mate. She needed protection, and I wasn’t here to give it. Rage fuels the magic, the riot of annihilation creating a cacophony around us.
“Gareth.”
I look down at Beth, my beloved.
“Gareth.” She puts her palm to my cheek. “You have to stop.”
“Granthos will pay.”
“Please.” Her eyes water. “There are other slaves, changelings and lesser fae who live in this wretched house. They will die if you don’t stop.”
“I can’t let this evil continue.”
“You’ll kill them,” she cries. “They’re innocent. All of them are victims just like me. Please.”
She’s right. At least, the thinking part of me believes she is. I still want to tear this place apart, but if I hurt the ones she cares about, that’s the same as hurting her. And I will never harm my mate. The only problem is that controlling my magic has never been my strong suit. Even so, I try to pull it back, to yank the tiger’s leash until the beast returns to its cave. It roars and fights, defying me as I focus all my energy on dimming its power and bringing it to heel.
“You can do it.” Beth seems to sense my struggle and presses her cheek to my chest. “Come on, Gareth. You can control it. You’re the most stubborn, rigid, go-by-the-rules male I know. If anyone can get magic into line, it’s you.”
Her faith in me—along with the veiled insults—spark the same longing I felt for her from the first moment we met. I focus on her, on my need to keep her safe, and pull harder, forcing the magic to return to its well deep inside me. The structure stops shaking, the air simmers to a standstill, and the maelstrom slowly stops.
I gulp in a deep breath, my body quaking from the effort and a sweat breaking out all along my skin. “I’ve never been able to control it. That’s why I can’t use it. I could have destroyed the Catcher before he took you if only I could wield this power instead of it wielding me.”
“You did fine.” She pats my arm, and I pull her out of the way of a falling hunk of brick.
“We need to get out of here before it comes down on top of us.” I scrape the rubble in the doorway aside and pull her into the hall.
She rushes to the stairway and peers up. Bricks fall behind us, the building groaning. There’s no time.
“We have to go. Now.” I scoop her into my arms and bound up the stairs.
“Brute!” She twists to look down the hallway as we reach the main level. “Taura! This way.”
A lesser fae dashes past a falling chandelier and joins us as I hurry to the kitchen and out into the night. A semicircle of slaves has formed, all of them staring up at the mansion that moans and trembles as it falls to pieces.
“Is Master in there?” one of them asks, her tone verging on hopeful.
“What’s left of him, yes.” Beth slaps my arm. “Put me down.”
“No.” I hold her tighter. There’s no way I’m letting her out of my grasp.
“You did this?” The one from the hall—Taura—asks.
“He did.” Beth points her finger in my face. “This big guy right here. He’s to blame.”
“To blame?” I must be mishearing. “I saved you and brought down Granthos’s mansion.”
“Oh, wow. Thanks for the recap.” She twists again, trying to break free. “But what do you think the nobles will do about it? You think maybe they’ll be mad that you killed one of their own? You think, oh I don’t know, that maybe, just maybe, they’ll want vengeance and take it out on the slaves? That’s what they do, Gareth. They will see this as an uprising and make examples of all of us. The dead kind of examples, in case you missed my meaning.”
“I hadn’t thought—”
“Exactly.” She kicks, and I finally put her on her feet, but I don’t step away from her even though her ire has risen to the stars over Arin. “You didn’t think. And now Granthos is dead, the house is destroyed, and