Page 35 of Heir of Broken Souls

A spark ignites within my chest—within the heart that hasn’t felt anything good in months.

Light flows out of my palm and into Axel’s chest, the muscle, nerves, and skin stitching together. The color slowly returns to his face. The rise and fall of his chest grows faster with every passing second, no longer the slow, choppy movements of a man with blood in his lungs.

His lashes flutter to reveal his eyes once more. They still shine with awe at the power thrumming from every morsel of my body, but there’s something else. As the power slows, Axel’s hand wraps around the hilt of his sword beside him, his lips flatten on a snarl, and like never before Axel is reborn—angry.

It isn’t until I stop, leaning back on my heels and resting my hands on my leather-clad thighs, that I realize he isn’t the only thing to be reborn today. My skin isglowing. Like the sun shines through my skin and not the other way around.

But there isn’t time to reflect, to bask in the difference in my body. No time to come to terms with how fluidly I stand, how easy it is to hold the heavy dragon pommel sword, how much power I truly hold. Because Axel is already rising, snarling at Knox, “I’ll be fucking damned if they take my home.”

With a swift nod, Knox turns on me, his eyes tracking my entire body, gliding from the tip of my head to the bottom of my boots before flicking back up.

“How much do you have now?” he asks.

I cock my head, wondering why he’s asking when he can simply walk across the bridge of my mind and look for himself, but then I become aware of what’s surrounding us and why the sound of the battle hasn’t been grating my ears.

For within a mile, up every street and narrow alley, demons have fallen, melted, and burned already.

My gasp is audible. I didn’t consciously have anything to do with this, but my magic didn’tneedme to reap their punishments. When I peek into my well, I find something I have never seen before. And that’s when I know what I need to do.

With just a simple emotion down a different bond, a keening roar of shock and relief sounds out a moment before something large and heavy lands behind me, making the cobblestone street beneath my feat rattle. I run and jump into Aurora’s saddle. “Follow me,” I tell them.

The boys turn to each other in bewilderment but there isn’t time to explain. After all, I don’t believe I could even begin to try. They follow me into the sky anyway, Knox’s gorgeous black-as-ink wings beating feverishly as Axel comes up on my left. It isn’t until we’re high within the sky, my view unobscured by the buildings, can I see what is truly transpiring.

Thousands upon thousands of demonic creatures march throughout the streets, their talons and claws striking into the hearts of Knox’s men with ease. Our men lie dead while those small victories they find in killing a demon barely last more than a minute.

We are losing.

But not for long.

Sensing the men’s frustration and lack of patience, I slowly raise my hands—and step into what I have become. “Let them perish,” I say.

Tendrils of golden power slither from my body in every direction.

For weeks, all I have felt is burning hatred. I feel it in this moment too, but it isn’t entirely my own. Something far older than myself lies within me—an ancient wrong being righted as my power begins to exact a revenge that feels as if it’s been brewing for centuries in the making.

And suddenly I realize why my magic chose me.

One by one the golden snakes strike, their golden fangs piercing every demonic creature.

Those within the streets using their claws to gut our soldiers. Those within the skies battling against a small group of griffins and Harlow’s dragon form. Even the Phookas using their horns to stab and pierce our men. The serpents plunge their golden fangs into their hearts.

For a moment, time seems to pause as they take their final breath.

And then with a mighty sound, they fall.

Every last one of them. With just a strike of my golden power.

Chapter14

Delilah

The fall of the demonic army sends a wave of victory throughout Azalea. It’s felt throughout the homes and hearts of those who managed to escape the demons’ wrath.

Shock and astonishment are written stark across the faces of Knox’s men, along with awe and surprisingly fear as they gaze upon me. I’ve never wanted to invoke fear in those around me—unlike Peter when he was posing as the human king—although if it’s the price I must pay to defeat the dark magic that plagues these lands, I’ll do it.

Knox sends for those who have survived to come out of hiding and pack a bag. At first, I wondered why until I took in my surroundings and the catastrophic damage the demons inflicted upon the city. Buildings are in tatters, rubble lies at our feet, and scattered throughout the streets are those of whom we have lost.

We may have won this battle, but they destroyed Azalea in the process.