Chapter 13
Stryker met my gaze, his expression filled with agony and anger. The dark fae had fastened some kind of wooden collar on him that pierced his flesh. Daniella wore a similar one, but hers was made of iron and a silvery metal. Both she and Stryker were gagged. My throat tightened at the thought that they were depending on me to do the right thing. But right now, I didn't know what that was. Let everyone here die to save others who'd maybe only had a day or two more of freedom? Or fight with everything I had and end up no better off? The vamp gave me a nod, and I guessed he meant to back me up, whatever my decision.
When I stepped toward the Unseelie queen, President Mason gasped. “Regan, our lives are not worth turning the country over to them. A hundred or a thousand lives isn't enough to cover the damage and havoc that will ensue.”
She was right, but I knew Herbert, his queen, and people wouldn't stop until they'd enslaved everyone, using who they willed for food or entertainment. They'd take what they wanted without remorse… without a thought to anyone else. I only hoped to the goddess I was strong enough to stop them.
“Promise me, if I surrender, you'll let them go. That there will be no more killings.” That we can sing Kumbaya and roast marshmallows over a campfire. Yeah, right.
Herbert cleared his throat. “If you give yourself over to the queen and help us, then all here will be set free. But don't try to trick us. We've been planning this since your folks died.”
What fae Herbert didn't realize was that I'd dreamed every night since I was eighteen about discovering what had happened to my folks. And I'd spent my days training both sides of my gift. That was one reason I'd became a bounty hunter in the first place—to find out if anyone knew anything about my parents. Scum and lowlifes liked to talk, especially if they thought the information they had would buy them a ticket to freedom. I'd learned more from criminals than I had the private investigators I'd hired early on.
For over five years, I'd chased shadows and dead-ends, never getting anywhere, except that they were either dead or had entered a sixth dimension or something. Now the answers had been here the whole time. My gut tightened. For my mom and dad to have left so suddenly without leaving any word, told me that it had been serious and immediate. And they must have thought they'd come back. Had they known that locking up this bitch would cost them their lives?
Tears prickled behind my eyes, but I refused to cry and give these Unseelie the satisfaction. “Get them out of here and I'll do it.” I had to keep up the bargain of the blood vow, meaning I couldn't harm Herbert, Mason, or Stryker. But if I could get Danielle to safety, then the pledge would be fulfilled and I'd be off the hook. Even if Herbert had backstabbed me and broken his own vow, I'd kept my word, no matter what.
“Regan, no!” Madame President jerked against her guards. “You'll condemn us all to death if you help them! And eternal slavery for those who remain!”
Herbert scratched the side of his cheek. “They stay.”
Bastard. I didn't flinch, but I stepped around him to the queen. She smiled at me, and I imagined my parents deciding to do whatever it took to put her down. I would not have their deaths be in vain.
“Do it, and completely free the queen.”
Right now, my magic connected us. I could feel the tie between us and knew she couldn't attack me. Not directly. Not until the link was severed. But she could kill everyone else unless I stopped her.
I had to keep my magic from lashing out while I removed my inner wall. The barricade that kept the two sides of my magic from merging and turning into a nuclear bomb. Easy. I took a breath and shook out my hands. The energy deep within me crackled along the division I'd built and fortified over and over, my entire life.
I had to do this. I had to try. My only chance was to focus the dual magics at the queen. It had taken both sides to nail her ass to the ground, and my guess was it would take a combo to do it again.
Before I could brace myself, Zalfilia snatched my arms. My zenyar, which had been beating on my insides to be free, now dove to her, just like it had to the Terin.
Yet, unlike that time, the queen was ravenous and strong. Half my magic was gone and, if she wasn't holding my arms, I'd have fallen to my knees. What had I been thinking that I could defeat her?
How many witches and wizards had she devoured before my parents came? This was stupid.
The world around me spun, but I forced out the magic words. “Ulviric, Keimrasha!”
Sparks flew between us and she laughed.
“That tickled. Pity your zenyar is not the strength of your parents.” Her eyes turned from crimson to black coals. “And they lasted much longer than you will.”
I bit down on my cheek, drawing blood. “Zerti Malen Retar!” I panted, hoping the blood would add enough oomph to send her reeling. But she lapped it up, her grin widening and the connection between us that was keeping her in check, continued unraveling.
Stryker slammed his foot into the guard behind him, and lurched forward despite the contraption around his neck, then smashed a palm into Herbert's chest. The dark fae went flying. The vamp charged us, but the queen held up a hand. Stryker stopped in midair. His dark eyes met mine, full of acceptance, and I screamed, fighting to reach him… to save him. With a flourish, the queen snapped her hand closed and all the wood pikes sunk into his neck.
“No!” My scream was echoed by Mason and a muffled cry came from Daniella.
His body convulsed and fell lifeless to the ground. Thick black blood snaked toward us through the grass.
“I am the queen of the Unseelie court.” She snorted at Stryker's graying body. “No ordinary supernatural can defeat me.”
When she replaced her hand on my arm, my knees buckled. Her veins glowed with my zenyar. I was fueling this monster and I couldn't end this. All of my insides burned with acid. If I tried what had worked with the Terin, I'd kill everyone nearby.
I tried to kick the queen. My legs wouldn't freaking move. Dizziness slammed into my skull. Strike and annihilate everyone here? Or die and let the Unseelie win? Either way, I was screwed.