Page 88 of How to Claim A Shadow King

It is a magical blast meant to incinerate my castle in a single strike.

"Now!" Cern roars.

The brothers unleash hell.

Cern drives both hands into the earth, his veins glowing woodland green as oak roots violently tear through the earth, erupting into a thick wooden barricade outside the castle walls. Valen slashes his sword, and the entire first line of Fae soldiers screams, then withers, then turns to dust.

Really scary magic, that. I shudder.

The volume of the emerald Fae fire is too heavy.

The oak barrier splinters, glowing as the Unseelie wild magic tries to tear it apart.

I don't wait to be asked.

I drop my hands to my sides, close my eyes, and reach deep into the core of my chest. I strip away the doubt, the fear, and the lingering annoyance over our marriage, tapping directly into the raw, golden wildfire of my confidence.

Of who I am.

Who I have always been.

Aveline, Duchess of Stormspire.

Aveline, Queen of Shadow Keep.

Aveline, of the Wild Oak Woods coven, the witch of day.

Ter screams a war cry, and I join him in the wordless sound.

A dazzling light erupts from my skin.

Malakai steps behind me, his massive, burning-hot frame bracketing my body. He doesn't hold me back; he throws his hands over mine, his shadows expanding to block out the falling Fae fire. His cooling shadows surge forward, twisting directly into my gold fire.

The combination is incredible.

Our magic spirals outward, a shockwave of gold-threaded darkness that surges over Cern’s wooden roots and expands into a colossal dome across the entire courtyard.

When the Seelie emerald fire hits our shield, I brace myself. But it doesn't hit, no, the shield consumes it, and when I inhale, energy rocks through me.

Our magic smothers the Fae light, suffocating the energy until the emerald flames die out, repowering our shield.

All that’s left in the sky is the quiet, harmless drift of winter wind.

“ONCE MORE,” Valen bellows, so loud I wince at the sound. I swear I can see bone through his clothes now, too, and he turns, picking up speed, before slashing his sword in another huge arc.

“As one,” Cern shouts, and more roots erupt from the earth outside the castle walls, primeval trees sprouting in the ranks of the Seelie themselves.

Malakai takes my hand, and this time, our magic is effortless.

With this final push, the Seelie vanguard is thrown backward off the ridge. The rift they march through folds in on itself, collapsing into nothing.

My ears pop as the perimeter threshold locks back into place, stronger now.

Impenetrable.

Malakai and I finished what we were meant to do.

A sudden silence settles over the courtyard.