Page 112 of Maleen

Jesper shakes his head. “I’m with big, tall and burly over there. No.”

Talyn sighs, running his hand through his hair. “There has to be another way.”

My gaze turns toward Aemon and he pulls out the three chunks of Soul Stone from the safe. I immediately feel their effect. I gulp, trying to swallow the nervous lump out of my throat. “The Fates clearly want her to do this. We need to trust them,” he whispers. “We need to trust our mate to know what she can handle.”

“The Fates are the reason this all happened in the first place!” Killian yells. “They have the power to stop this and they let us suffer, watching as our friends and family die. Who’s to say they won’t let my mate suffer the same consequences?” His fist makes contact with the brick and dust plumes around it.

His chest heaves with anger and fear. I move toward him and wrap my arms around his form. “I think this is how it has to be. I’ll be okay.”

Tears pool down his face. “You don’t know that.”

“I know that nothing can tear us apart. We’re bonded in this life and every life. And if this is what I need to do to save my realm from the last effects of that fucking Stone, then it’s what I’m going to do.”

“We can get another Galallaus fae to do it,” Talyn suggests.

I shake my head. “I won’t let them bear this burden. I’ll be okay. I may not be the same, but we will figure that out together. I promise.”

My mates are silent, and tension is nearly boiling over through the bond as I make my way to the Stone. Nero, who has been silent on my shoulder, nuzzles my cheek and nips my ear. “I’ll be right here the whole time, Rav.”

I grab the largest piece of the stone—the one I threw at Vasari after snatching it from Craven—staring at it as I sit at the desk, my legs far too exhausted to hold me for much longer. Then I grab the piece Aemon retrieved from the witch. As I place the pieces against each other they vibrate slightly before melding together. Finally I grab the piece that has been with me since the day my life changed and do the same.

The stone hums, the sound haunting and beautiful, finally complete after years split and hidden across the realm.

“Ravina,” Jesper whispers, his eyes wide with fear. “This could kill you…”

I smile up at him weakly. “I need to do this for our citizens. Heavy lies the crown and all that.” I sniffle, my throat clogging with emotion.

“I can’t bear to watch,” Killian groans. “But I can’t leave you to do this alone.”

Talyn kneels beside me. “I’m right here, princess. Save our Kingdom, because no matter what happens, I will follow you anywhere. Even into the void if I have to.”

Aemon clears his throat, his voice steady although deeper, laced with emotion. “We may not have the magick to do this. But we do this together. You know I’m with you until the very end.”

I wipe the tears from my face and clear my throat, giving each of my males one last look before I chicken out and close my eyes. I feel the pulse of the stone in my hand before opening the channel of magick that it’s begging for.

To save Talyn and Aemon’s father I gave it a small fraction of my magick in exchange for its use, but with the damage Craven has caused, brainwashing so many fae and creatures to do his bidding, it will take so much more. Everything. But I have no other choice. If the Fates haven’t tricked me then all might be okay with the realm after.

The center of my pool of magick opens up and I pour it into the stone, casting my intent as strongly as I can. Pulses of ancient magick explode from the stone in turn, so intense that my head falls back and my mouth opens into a silent scream, but I keep going. I have to keep going. My bonds shatter, one by one, but I can hardly feel my grief as the room begins to fade around me. And with the last drop of my magick given to the stone, my chest explodes with insurmountable pain and then I fade into the abyss.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

“YOU REALLY NEED TO STOP doing this to us,” Nero mutters, and I feel him shift on my chest.

“Nero? What happened?” My voice comes out as a hoarse whisper and opening my eyes feels impossible.

“You absorbed the Soul Stone and then passed out for a week. We thought we lost you. Again. With your magick gone we thought the bonds snapped, but they were dormant until a few minutes after Talyn caught you. They’ve been getting steadily stronger, so maybe the stone didn’t take all your magick…”

My brain goes into overdrive trying to comprehend everything he just rambled about, and I instantly reach out to my bonds to see that they are all still intact and safe inside my chest. I blow out a relieved sigh and just feel my magick pool for a moment, never wanting to experience that kind of pain again.

“Is anyone brainwashed still?” I ask next while trying to piece things together.

The bed shifts beside me and that’s when I realize I’m surrounded by my mates whose bonds thrum happily inside my chest.

“Everyone is back to normal, but you scared the crap out of us,” Aemon growls. “I started second-guessing myself and almost snatched that Stone and chucked it into the Safir Ocean.”

I try to sit up, but my muscles are slow to start. Jesper scoops me up silently and places me against the headboard as I try to get my bearings. My body feels like mine but also doesn’t. I swallow and try to summon any of my elemental magick but nothing works. Panic builds in my chest as I go for my shadows and then illusion magick but there’s nothing there—nothing but this new thing sitting in the center of my chest, foreign and terrifying.

Tears spring to my eyes. “My magick—” I gasp, rubbing my chest.