"Evangeline?" I studied her face, trying to make out any other recognizable factors.
She smiled, then handed me the vial. "Hold this. If Terra comes for you, or we go down, use it. If we win, dump it off the roof."
I nodded, but Evangeline was already gone before she could have seen my response.
Looking up, I saw that the roof had turned into a battlefield. Though, this time, it was different. Terra, Mercy, and Pearl were surrounded by the members of the Rose Circus. They were glowing and beautiful. No longer tied to cursed forms, they now looked every bit the magical creature they were supposed to be.
Lightning shot across the roof, radiating in a circle from the center of the crowd. A few people moved away or dodged the bolts. A figure near me lit up like a sparkler, and I held my breath as I waited for the body to fall. As people moved away from the lightning-covered person, I recognized the leather jacket and blonde hair.
Tristan's entire body was crackling with lightning. My pulse quickened. I hadn't even seen him come up here. Tristan might not be my favorite person, but he seemed like he was trying to redeem himself, and despite his past actions, he was my blood. I wasn't ready to lose him without getting to at least ask him a few questions.
Without thinking, I pushed myself to standing. I wasn't about to let Terra take him down. Everything seemed to be moving slowly. Or I was moving faster than I should be able to. Iron dust clenched in my hand, I steadied my breathing, trying not to spill the precious cargo.
Terra was focused on the Rose Circus. Her gaze locked on Tristan as he flashed with light. With a scream, he fell to his hands and knees. A wicked grin filled Terra's face, and her eyes reflected the sparks I'd seen her shooting.
Nobody seemed to notice me coming around the battle from behind. Then, for a second, Tristan's looked up, his eyes locked on mine. He lifted his arms from the ground and brought his hands together, the electricity moving up his body until it seemed to be contained only to his arms, then through his arms, forming an unstable-looking ball of sizzling light.
Tristan stood, lifting the electric mass above his head, then he glanced in my direction briefly before turning back to Terra. He was channeling the lightning she'd thrown at him. Was that what I had done?
"This is why I hate Dark Fae," Terra said, raising her hands to throw another spell.
She was distracted. I moved closer to her, and just as I closed in on her, Mercy saw me, diving in front of Terra and knocking her to the ground.
Losing my balance, I stumbled, spilling the iron dust out across the ground. It covered a portion of the roof right in front of me. A deadly pile of powder, there until the wind blew it away.
For a moment, all I could hear was the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. Everyone was staring at me and the roof was silent, as if we were all holding our breath. And why not? That powder could kill most of us that were standing here.
From the corner of my eye, a flash of light streaked across the roof. I turned toward the light just in time to see Tristan's gathered lightning striking Terra. The blow knocked her off balance.
Then, without missing a step, Goldie and Joe threw themselves on Terra, landing right in the pile of iron dust. A cloud of the toxic powder blew into the air and I sucked in a breath, trying not to breathe in the stuff.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me back and I landed on top of someone, unable to tear my eyes away from Terra hitting the ground.
She let out an inhuman howl of pain when she landed in the pile of dust.
I pushed myself up to sitting, not caring who was holding on to me at the moment. All I could do was watch as Terra's body began to convulse, then it started to crumble.
Turning my head away, I pressed against the warm chest behind me. The arms pulled me in tighter. I didn't have to look to know it was Brenon who was holding me. As my breathing slowed, I noticed something different about him. With my head pressed against his chest, I could hear a heartbeat.
Chapter 31
I looked up into Brenon's familiar green eyes, and for a moment it was as if time stood still. It was like we were the only ones on the roof. Those green eyes, that dark hair, they were so familiar to me, yet now I was staring at a different face.
It was still Brenon, but the scars were gone. I reached my arm up and traced my fingertips along his skin. It was smooth, flawless. Inhuman.
Brenon brushed my hair away from my face. His expression had a sense of peace to it that I'd never seen on him before. "How did you do that?"
"I did like the book said. Like Kay said. Somehow, I was able to channel magic from both realms." Everything seemed to be a bit of a blur. I thought back the process I used and how I was able to channel magic from both earth and Faerie. It shouldn't have been possible, at least it had seemed like it shouldn't be.
"How do you feel?" Brenon asked.
Kay had alluded to how dangerous it was, yet here I was. I stretched my arms out in front of me. I didn't look any different or feel any different. I ran my hands over my hair and down my arms. I felt the same. Shouldn't something have changed?
"I don't feel any different," I said.
Brenon helped me to stand. "I don't know how you did it."
As soon as I got to my feet the rest of the world started to come into focus it was like a pair of noise-cancelling headphones were removed from my head I was suddenly hyper-aware of my surroundings.
The sounds around me were happy. Laughter filled the air mixed with cries of joy. Small groups were hugging, and people were holding hands and jumping. Others were running around or doing cartwheels. It was as if I could feel the positive energy running through me in waves.
I hardly recognized most of the people and creatures that filled the roof. It was hard not to get swept up in the pure joy of the moment, and I found myself smiling as I watched the celebration. Brenon wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. "You did this. We're free because of you."
"Almost," I said. "The curse might be broken, but you're still not home."
Before Brenon could say anything, somebody slammed into me pulling me away from him all I could hear was high pitched giggles as a flash of mousy brown hair bobbed up and down in front of me. It took a moment for me to realize who this person was.
I put my arms on her shoulders and stopped her movement. "Goldie?"
"Can you believe it?" She extended her bare arms in front of her, showing me beautiful olive skin, no longer covered with a permanent layer of gold.
"How did you do it, Ara?" She looks from me to Brenon and back again. "It shouldn't be possible. Should it?"