Page 180 of The Reaping Rose

“Elorie, stop!” I cradle her cheeks, staring into her eyes that have turned pure silver. “You’re Cleaving.”

She’s gone too deep in her magic; the stars aren’t just streaming through her—they’re becoming her.

“Elorie!”

Something crackles in the air. Darkness wraps its fingers around the beach. The sharp claws of night wind around us, and I pull Elorie to me as her eyes blink, and she collapses. Her magic retreats, but she’s still glowing.

She’s the only thing glowing with how darkness floods the beach. Her breathing is ragged as blue starts to climb back up her hair. Her pupils once more darken, and she blinks up at me.

Around, everyone is coughing, choking for magic.

A soft, sadistic chuckle comes from the center. Footsteps crunch against bloodied sand.

As quickly as the darkness appeared, it collapses back in on itself, curling into the tips of Hazel’s fingers.

Malachi stands beside her, twisting the orb. Each turn sends a screeching caw into the depths of my mind. A wicked smile curls in the corner of his mouth as he stops, looking down at Elorie cradled in my arms.

“I underestimated you, Elorie Vale.”

Chapter 61

Elorie

Magic strums through my blood. It courses with my heavy heartbeat. I grip Wilder’s arm, steadying myself as the surge of power settles.

I don’t know how deep I tunneled. I just know I went so far that there was no light at the other end of the thread. There was only the darkness stars swim in, and I was one of them. Floating. Drowning. Then my fingers clasped with my mate’s, and magic was not simply the blood in my veins; it was the air in my lungs. All I felt. All I saw.

A rush so powerful that the aftershocks continue as I force it to settle. Clouds might mask many of the stars tonight, but they’re out there, singing a siren song to my bones, begging me to set them free.

Malachi tilts his head, and Wilder’s grip on my body tightens. His once-golden strands hang limp around his shoulders. His sapphire eyes have changed. One is now pure gold, while the other is a blue so dark it is the ocean at night. His once-warm skin is pale and littered with dark spots at his hairline.

Something stirs in him. Casts around him.

Shadows paint circles around his eyes. And when he grins, there is nothing friendly—barely anything Fae—about it. It reminds me of the clacking teeth of a ravager. Soulless creatures with no real gaze.

Long gone is the beautiful male I met in the Ley Court. While always a little cruel, there was a heart beating in his chest. Now, all that beats is the orb, animating another side of him and erasing what once was a king.

Malachi doesn’t attack. He’s a good distance from me on the beach, but his presence towers. It grows the longer I sit here.

When I try to move, Wilder hesitates for only a second before meeting my gaze. Then, he helps me stand on shaky legs.

“The human girl who can summon the magic of the heart of our realm,” Malachi announces.

“I can summon more than that.”

His chin lifts, face to the sky, as he takes a deep breath. “Yes, I suppose you do. It would be impressive were you not using it to help them.”

Greer shoots forward, sword lifted and aimed at Malachi’s throat. But she doesn’t reach him. Something stops her before she gets close, and then she’s screaming. Atlas barely reaches her before her knees strike the ground.

Malachi smiles down at Greer writhing in Atlas’s arms. “Still angry, I see. That was once a useful weapon for my cause.”

“Gods curse you.” She glares up at him.

“Hmm.” He spins the orb, and my belly throbs. “Soon, I will be one of those gods. And you will be on your knees, as you are now, bowing to me.”

“Never.” Defiance lights her eyes, piquing Malachi’s amusement even more.

“Oh, but you will, if only for my pleasure.” His gaze shifts across the beach where Lochlan stands. “Same as you. I’m disappointed, Lord Ravage. I assumed you finally learned your place.”