He frowned. “Okay. Stay here. I’ll get the crystals and be right ba—”
“No.” I shook myself, forcing him to put me down. “Last time you did that, you were…possessed. We’ll go together.”
I reached into my bag and pulled out the jar of healing water. Lifting the lid, I dipped my hand in it and splashed it on my forehead. The dizziness ceased immediately.
“Let’s go.” I screwed the lid on, and we took off running.
Time was of the essence when people were fighting for their lives. We had to be quick about this. As we sprinted across the green lawn, a whizzing sound passed my ear, and an arrow sank into the grass in front of me.
Yikes. My heart pounded with adrenaline as I shoved my boot into the ground and kicked off, taking to the skies and activating my Seeker power. Where were the crystals, exactly? I felt a strong pull in the direction of the house.
“This way,” I told Liam, cutting through the air, and he followed me.
Liam’s Halfling army was right behind us, running on the lawn and crashing into the Winter King’s men. There were yelps and groans, but I tried to push them out of my head and remember why we were here.
Get the crystals. Get home, I told myself.
I landed on the porch near the front door, dropping right in front of a guard. As he raised his sword to me, I reached out my palm and shot a pulse of sunlight into his eyes. He dropped his sword and clutched his face, wailing.
Liam landed onto the porch next to me. “You okay?”
I still felt shitty, but I was determined to push through, so I nodded.
He reeled his booted foot back and kicked the door in, splintering it. Then we both charged forward.
I don’t know what I’d expected…a regular house, maybe. But the inside of this place was…pulsing with power unlike anything I’d ever felt on Earth. It was dark and strong, and the second we stepped over the threshold, I was slammed with it.
I felt a presence at my back and turned to see Elle walking up, with Cam in wolf form and half a dozen other Halflings from Liam’s army.
Backup had arrived.
“What is that?” I shouted, gesturing into the house. I couldn’t shake the oppressive feeling in the air.
Liam shook his head, walking slowly like he was wading through quicksand. “The crystals. They’re all dark.”
My inner Seeker power went haywire. We were so close, but it felt so icky, I wanted to recoil. The hairs on my arms stood, and dread churned in my gut. This was dark, dark magic.
Walking through the entryway, Liam led us all to the living room. I took in the scene quickly. The three crystals sat about a foot apart in a triangle shape, pulsing with green, sickly looking power. The next thing I noticed was the Winter King, standing with five men just behind the crystals, glaring right at us. They were ready.
“You’ll never give up, will you?” Liam’s father asked him.
I felt the light pulse in my hands, and screams outside on the front lawn pulled my attention. Were we losing men? Or were they? We needed to do this quickly and get the heck out.
Liam took one look at me, and something unsaid passed between us. Blast these motherfuckers with light, grab any crystals, and run.
“No. We won’t,” I said, and threw my hands forward. A solar flare erupted from my palms, coating the men in searing orange light. Screams of agony filled the room, and Liam dove forward for one of the crystals.
Knowing what he was about to do—that he was going to willingly touch darkness in order to save Faerie—made me sick. Why did it have to be this way?
His fingers wrapped around the crystal, and he cried out in pain. There was no time to pull the jar of healing water out now. It would have to wait. Liam lunged for a second crystal, but his dad burst forward and stepped on his hand.
I felt power surge within me, and another wall of light flew from my palms, this one less bright, as if my power was limited and I needed to recharge.
A blur of black fur signaled Cam bursting forward, and he wrapped his jaws around the Winter King’s leg. Something exploded. Ice, snow, and frigid cold slammed into me, throwing me backward. I sailed through the air as my back hit the wall. Sharp pain sliced through my wings, and I slid down with a whimper.
Pain flared between my shoulder blades as snow and small bits of hail pelted my face.
“Retreat!” Liam shouted.
I tried to stand, but the force of the snow pushed me hard into the wall and pinned me to the spot.
It was chaos. The Winter King stood in front of the remaining two crystals and grinned at Liam like a madman. Meanwhile, his Sons fought our guys, and people were getting seriously injured.
Cam was thrown across the room, and I knew I needed to do something before our people were killed. I felt that pulse of power just under my skin and wondered if I had enough energy for one more big burst. One more burst of light to melt this ice storm so that we could get the hell out of here.
Letting the feeling build inside of me, I brought that warmth through my entire body. With a battle cry, I pushed out everything I had left and aimed it squarely at the Winter King’s chest.
It was like the sun had dropped into that very room. Everything flared for a second. Then, the ice storm died, and I was free to walk again without being pinned to the wall.
The only problem was my legs felt like Jell-O, and little black dots danced along my vision. Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out, I chanted.
But darkness prevailed, and the last thing I saw was my best friend opening her arms to catch
