Darkness & Light (War of the Fae: Book 3) (53 page)

The anger welled up in me and took over.
 
I felt the power of the Ancient One pouring into my connection, filling me with a dark fever that rushed in and started burning me from the inside.
 
I turned my attention to Samantha and fixed her with a threatening glare.
 
I let the protective bubble drop completely.
 

She stood there for a moment, facing me with an arrow sticking out of the left side of her chest, blood staining the front of her clothing crimson.
 
Then she took two steps back towards the forest, looking down so she wouldn’t trip on any of the bodies littering the ground around her.

“Where are you going?” I growled at her, taking several steps forward.
 
“Running back to Ben?
 
Going to tell him how you killed your old friend Becky in cold blood?”

“It’s not like that, Jayne,” she barked out at me.

“Yes!
 
It is!
 
It’s
exactly
like that!” I screamed at her.
 
Then I lowered my volume, dropping my voice into its most menacing tone.
 
“But I’ve got some bad news for you, you evil bitch.
 
You aren’t going anywhere.
 
Your days as a Dark Fae end
here.
 
Now.”

The green light tinged with the old darkness of the Ancient One surged up out of my body and into my hands.
 
I held them out in front of me and turned my palms to Samantha.

She lifted her staff and started muttering words under her breath.
 
I felt a prickling along my neck, as if there was a lot of static electricity in the air.

“Jayne, stop!” yelled Tim, pleading with me and pulling my hair like crazy.
 

I didn’t even flinch.
 
I was beyond hearing or obeying.
 

I released a stream of green power out of my hands, and aimed it directly at her.
 
I expected it to blast her to kingdom come, and couldn’t wait to see it happen – but instead, a ray of red-lit flames came out of the trees behind her, intercepting my bolt of energy and sending both beams skyward in a swirl of red and green light.

What the fuck?

And then I heard his voice.
 

“Jayne.
 
Let it go!
 
You cannot win this.”

Motherfucker.
 
I’d know that voice anywhere.
 

Ben
.

Ben
, the guy who couldn’t seem to stay the hell out of my business and out of my life.
 
Always sticking his head in where it didn’t belong.
 
Now he was going to be sorry.

Even though the sound of our combined and battling forces seemed loud to everyone standing around us in the meadow near the trees, I knew that he would hear me perfectly when I said in a calm voice,
 
“She killed my friends ... my people.
 
An eye for an eye, Ben.
 
It’s you or her.
 
I’ll let you decide.”

“Jayne, I’m not going to let that happen.
 
We’re here to enter the compound and you’re going to let me in.
 
You’re going to let us in.”

My nostrils flared with the anger that continued to rise up inside me.
 
I drew two deep breaths into my chest, filling my brain with oxygen and preparing myself for what I was about to do.
 
Only once so far had I managed to combine the powers of the two elements that did my bidding.
 
I was going to do it again, right here in this meadow outside the gargoyle door to the Light Fae compound, and snuff Ben’s light out forever.
 
He refused to choose between himself and Samantha, so I was going to make the choice for him.
 
First he was going, and then
her
– a two-
fer
.

“Spike,” I said calmly, “take Tim and back the hell up.”

“
Jaaayyne
,” he said, “whatever you’re thinking,
you
might want to re-think it.”

“Spike!” I yelled, my tone brooking no argument.
 
“Get Tim
now!”

Spike said nothing in response, but I soon felt the weight of my small pixie friend leave my shoulder.
 

“Notch an arrow, Finn,” I said, my hands never wavering from their position, channeling the power of The Green out of the earth and into a stream that was still all tangled with Ben’s fire, both of them shooting up into the sky, separating the clouds that gathered there and lighting up the night that quickly gathered in around us.

I glanced over to see that Finn was doing as I asked.

He lifted his bow up and drew back the string.
 
“What am I
aimin
’ at?” he said, his voice slightly muffled by his shoulder.

“Samantha.
 
Kill shot.”

I watched as Finn’s eye squinted, putting Samantha in his sights.

“Jayne!” yelled Tim’s voice from behind me.
 
“Wait!
 
Don’t do this!”

“
Shhhh
!” hushed Spike.
 

“You’re going to get hurt!” Tim continued to whine.
 

“What do you want me to do?” asked Scrum at my shoulder.

“Carry my body back inside if I fuck this up.”

“You got it.”
 
I could feel his steady presence there, not questioning, preparing for anything.

And now I was ready.
 
I had my sharpshooter in place, my peeps at my back, and Becky off hopefully somewhere safe, no longer lying in the grass all twisted up and staring at the sky.
 
I began to draw it in – power not only from the ley line here, but several off in the distance.
 
The soil led me to the
roots,
the roots led me to the trees, and the trees to the leaves and vines.
 
I communicated through the living things and touched all of them that touched the water.
 
I pulled it all to me.

The stream of power that was coming from me changed slightly.
 
It went from pure green to a lighter green and then to a flow that changed and glistened, first green then blue then turquoise and back again.
 
I had to force myself not to get lost in the kaleidoscope.
 

The flow was thicker and stronger.
 
I had to physically control it now, not just mentally.
 
My arms felt like they were holding something heavy.
 
I tried not to let my arms shake with the effort because I still needed more.

I called out to the moisture in the air – the invisible sheen of humidity that the water sprites traveled in.
 
I brought it into my field of control and sent it towards Ben.
 

Slowly, slowly, the balance of power began to change.
 
My light was snuffing out the angry red of Ben’s.
 
I smiled maliciously, angry and exhilarated with the power that surged through me.

I felt the wind start to kick up near me.
 
The ends of my hair began to stand up, pushed by the currents of air that rushed around me and threatened to push me off balance.
 
What was first a slight breeze quickly became a gale.
 

“Jayne!” yelled Finn, “I don’t know if I can shoot in this!”

“
Mindseye
arrow, Finn!
 
Just imagine your target and I’ll take care of the rest!
 
Get ready to let it fly!”

I yelled out into the tempest of fire, wind, water and earth, “Last chance, Ben!
 
Walk away or die!”

I heard nothing in response.
 
I hoped that meant he was struggling to contain my onslaught like I was battling to contain his.

“Get back into the compound, Spike!
 
Take Tim with you!”
 
All I needed was my little buddy launched into this
maelstorm
.

“Are they in
?!
” I yelled to Scrum.

“Yes!”

“In five, Finn ... ready
?!
”

“Yeah,” he said, his bow up and ready, his eyes closed as he sent me the vibe of his signature through the mess of energy surrounding us.

I focused enough to find him, and once I had his signature, sent some of the green energy into him.
 
I saw him flinch as it hit – then I started my countdown.

“Five ... four ... three ... two ...
one!”
 
The arrow left Finn’s fingers at the exact moment I pushed the last bit of extra power I’d been holding back – directly into Ben’s body.

Elle Casey is an American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and Hercules the wonder poodle.
 
In her spare time she writes young adult novels.
 

If you enjoyed this book, please
please
leave positive feedback on Amazon.com, Goodreads.com, or any book blogs you participate in.
 
More positive feedback means Elle can spend more time writing!

Visit her at

www.ElleCasey.com

Thank you for your readership!

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