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Stella
The Salien Castle, Schwarzwald
Annabell’s magical mind-melding was taking its toll on me, but her latest revelation flipped my world—and everyone else’s—on its axis.
“What do you mean Snow was the one who killed my son?” Wil Grimm asked, his hazel eyes flashing darker green than ever before. He was a bit scary when he was infuriated, but I wouldn’t be the one to admit that.
“I only know what Annabell relayed to me telepathically... or... however she does it. Cole is a concern, of course, but it was Snow who manipulated the prophecy and distorted Annabell’s memories to make her think she was the good guy when all along, she was as evil as you thought she was in the beginning,” I said.
Wil sighed and grumbled, then paced while everyone else filed into the dining hall. There was no point in gathering, not when we were on the brink of war. I had a good feeling the brink had just spilled over into reality when the earth shook, prompting everyone to either scream or scramble to grab something stable.
Outside, the dark sky lit with a flame I could only assume was Cole’s—but I was wrong. Guards sounded the alarm, giving us only seconds to prepare before all manner of chaos broke. Ari grasped my hand, his chest heaving as he fought his fear.
“I love you,” I said. “Be safe and stay with Kylie.”
“I love you, too. And you... just don’t die,” he said, then leaned down and kissed me before leaving to prepare with Kylie and the villagers trained in medicine. We had a small infirmary, but the majority of the library had been turned into a makeshift hospital we were sure to fill to capacity. I only hoped there were injuries and no deaths, but I knew that was unlikely.
“You ready?” Brant asked, gathering around me with my family. Denise and Andrew were already in fight mode, which reminded me there was a giant dragon outside that wanted to kill us even more than Cole... and I was ashamed that we never saw it coming. We were hunters, the ones tasked with fighting the darkest things in the world, but we never saw this twist coming.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.
The wall of the castle was swept away when a long, black tail swiped through the dining hall. Most people avoided the appendage, but some were smacked by the weight of it—including Marcus. I heard him shouting orders moments before he disappeared under the rubble.
People screamed all around, and things fell into disarray before they even got started.
“I’ll get him,” Brant said, then darted toward the last place we saw Marcus. Behind me, Nathan and Katie darted outside while Niyah, Denise, and Andrew darted in the other direction to scout the situation. I, on the other hand, was still assessing the situation from inside.
There was only one way to figure out what to do next. I reached deep into the recesses of my mind. Annabell... are you there?
I’m here, she responded. That’s not Cole. I think it’s Snow!
I assumed as much. What’s next? I asked, but Annabell burst through the door with Jack, Hayden, the missing Seven, and the four naughty people who’d snuck away to search for them. Larkin and Luzia blushed when my eyes settled on them, but Ulrich just shrugged. Kai grit his teeth and came to my side.
“Are you—” Kai began.
“Please don’t ask if I’m ready. Just tell me what we do next,” I said, offering my hand to Annabell.
“The stars are outside. All we need to do is—”
A screech interrupted Annabell, proving our trouble had only just begun. Cole had arrived, and he was angry. From inside, the fight outside sounded like a prehistoric cage match between equally weighted opponents, but once Larkin and Ulrich fled toward the gaping hole in the wall, it was even more disorienting. They shifted and took to the skies along with Kirsten, Isla, and Ethan.
“Well, I guess everyone knows their places,” Parker said, then shifted and went after them.
“What about the Seven?” I asked, but Annabell’s focus was outside. She dragged me out, where everyone either ran around screaming or was stunned into a frozen position as they watched dragons go to battle. I had been correct in my assumption about the chaos as the Austerlitz den merged into their single dragon, large enough to aid Cole in taking down Snow. The problem was what we would do with him after that.
“We have a plan... I think,” Jack said. “I don’t know anymore. Let’s just... fight.” With that, he ran to help Brant dig Marcus from the rubble while I assessed the situation from a different vantage point.
“We need to draw her away from the castle and toward the field. There, I will absorb the light from the stars then the darkness from Snow and Cole. If my calculations are correct and all things go according to plan, I can destroy the darkness,” Annabell said.
“Um... what?” I asked. “You think I can help you do all of that?”
“I think it was supposed to be you all along, Stella.”
The remainder of the Seven dispersed to take up weapons alongside their families, likely already past the point of asking questions. I wondered how Elizabeth managed to see her mother that way, as a fallen star, then remembered what Pieter meant to Parker and Dannie to the Vogel siblings. I shook my head clear again and jogged with Annabell toward the stars.
“I can create a distraction with the best of them,” I said. “Just give me a second. Kai, could you help me?”
“What’ll it be? A little blood rain? A field of frozen dragon-pops?” he teased but offered me his hand all the same.
“Nope. This time it’s just some good old Snow Queen magic,” I said and focused my energy toward Snow White, who had, by all accounts, leveled up into the most fierce monster the land had ever seen. When she learned the dragon trick, I would never know, but she systematically ripped apart the Salien castle stone by stone.
I felt Kai’s winter in my veins, washing through me with a comfort known only to those of us who were born of winter magic. Snowflakes fell over the land, blanketing it once again in thick fluff as it had been before Snow White ruined it. A peace fell over everyone then, even the dragons, but it was fleeting. My magic soothed the darkness for mere seconds before dissipating.
“I hope it’s enough time. Hurry!” I shouted toward Annabell. She clasped hands with Caroline and Dannie, who took Pieter’s. Between the four, the light of the stars seeped down their veins and into Annabell in waves. Soon, the fallen star began to glow with an ethereal light that distracted Snow White.
Annabell’s face was illuminated, her arms, her torso—her whole body absorbed so much light, I was sure she had become a star once again. Snow White screeched, but Cole tackled her again before she reached Annabell. Once the transfer was complete, Annabell broke the bond and ran toward the open field.
My trance broke, and the chaos resumed. This time, the villagers, soldiers, and everyone else fought to keep the monsters at bay while Cole focused on Snow. They poured in from all corners—trolls, hellhounds, and the Drool Monsters Caleb hated. The Austerlitz dragons scorched all they could, but they arrived in the kingdom in surges that were fast approaching unmanageable.
“Stella!” Ollie grasped my hand and dragged me away from the others. “Brant got Marcus free, but he’s hurt badly.” My brother’s wife didn’t seem the type to get worked up over minor things, so I believed her when she said it was bad, but I had to be with Annabell. The fate of the world depended on it.
“Get him to Kylie and Ari as soon as possible! I need to help Annabell!” I shouted over the noise of battle. Ollie nodded and rushed back toward the castle. Behind it, my brother’s army descended into Schwarzwald. It triggered something in me that had been dormant for days—the Huntress roared to life again, and with her, an insatiable thirst for the blood of anything evil.
I spied Cole shrinking from his dragon form into a human, which should have been a good thing, but I had a sinking feeling it meant he was ready to steal the power from the Seven before his sister got her claws into them. Snow was battling with Ulrich, who put up a good fight, but he was weakening fast. Once she was done toying with him, she would move on to the Seven. When she did them in, it was all she wrote for the forest... and the world.
“Now what?” Kai asked, still keeping up with me. I ran toward Cole, dodged an incoming hellhound by sidestepping it, then spun on my heel and concentrated on blowing it up. Much to my surprise, the hound exploded and rained down on us.
“That was... disgusting. Thanks for that,” Kai said as he wiped guts from his face.
“Sorry, still practicing. We need to stop Cole from absorbing the Seven. Hurry!” I burst into a sprint, followed by Kai and Zeke, who had just arrived with the rest of the Black Forest resistance army. Now the fight was more fairly matched as the angry villagers pummeled every creature Snow threw at them. Members of the Organization worked alongside them, but this was more than even they were prepared to manage.
Cole didn’t have the stones, no one did now, so I wasn’t sure how he intended to draw the Seven into a merge, but it didn’t take long for that to become evident. As he stood at the base of one of the last towers that remained erect, Cole let his darkness release in a fog that contained a red glow. It seemed, despite having lost the stones, Cole had a back-up plan to begin the merge.
As if called by a siren, Calla darted toward him, though her arms flailed as if reaching for anything to slow or stop herself. She was soon followed by Elizabeth, who put her paws forward in a futile attempt to slow herself, but she only dragged along until both she and Calla were side by side, advancing on Cole.
Sierra howled as she tried to run toward the forest, but he had her, too. When Sutton flew past, I tried to grab her. She whined when I pulled against Cole, but I had to try. Kai grasped her around the waist and pulled, but it was difficult to hold on to a wolf so large. The fog enveloped all three of us and dragged us over the field.
“Now what?” Kai asked as his feet dragged along the cobblestones.
I knew if Cole managed to force them to merge, then tried the absorption, I would have to kill them first. I didn’t want to, not even close, but I couldn’t ignore the reality of that scenario became more solid every second.
“Just... pull harder!”
“I don’t think that matters!” Kai said, his feet digging into the ground as his grip slipped. Sutton and I went flying across the field and slammed into Calla, Sierra, and Elizabeth. My own grip released, so I decided it would be easier to head off the next person. I had forgotten the rest were all bigger than the wolves.
Parker was already flying, but it was uncontrolled and disoriented, then he spiraled toward the others. Ulrich, giant as he was, was also sucked into the glowing fog. Losing her opponent redirected Snow’s attention just long enough that Annabell had time to get into position. If she didn’t hurry, it would be too late.
Finally, the Austerlitz dragon released a fiery screech as they were ripped apart. I could not imagine the pain that caused, but Ethan, the monstrous dragon, slammed into the other members of the Seven Sworn, causing a brilliant display of color that swirled in a tornado as the Seven all called out in howls and screeches and screams.
“Uh... call me crazy, but if you were supposed to kill them before they merged with Cole or Snow, I think maybe you missed your window of opportunity,” Kai said.
He wasn’t wrong. I had not anticipated the beast they would turn into, but as the swirling colors faded, it was clear it would take more than a few guns and swords to take them out if necessary. The size of a dragon, the new wolf’s mouth alone could swallow a hundred men, and its claws dug deep holes into the soft earth. It raised its head toward the moon and howled, shaking the foundation upon which we stood. Taller than the Salien castle, its fur glistened brilliant silver in the moonlight.
Kai grasped my arm as the earth shook, then everything went silent—no sounds of battle, no creatures shrieking, nothing. The inky blackness absorbed all light, leaving everyone on edge as we waited for the next thing to happen.
I felt another person beside me and turned my head to see, but I could not. Even the stars in the sky refused to shine, all hiding behind thick clouds. The moon offered a tiny sliver of light, but it too fell behind the clouds and waited.
Growling, at first quiet and low, soon erupted into a frenzied snarl that, admittedly, scared the snot out of me. Then I felt it—hot, warm breath against the front of my body. The creature stood in front of me.
Quiet chanting grew louder and louder until a faint light illuminated the face of the beast. It sniffed me, then nudged me. Was it rolling over in submission for me to kill it?
Kai leaned in close and asked as much. “Does it want you to... you know?”
“Maybe,” I whispered. “Where are Cole and Snow? And why is it so quiet?”
The chanting increased the illumination, but only enough to see that the entire field of villagers, organization members, royals, and the like were all on the ground fast asleep. The only people awake were those with magical ability—the fairies, the witches, and the fallen stars... and that one Jack Frost who seemed glued to my side.
“What is happening? Was this part of the plan?” Kai asked.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Annabell didn’t—”
My sentence was interrupted by an explosion of light that blinded me. I fell backward on top of Kai and elicited a groan from the other person who’d approached—Hayden. She shifted her weight and shielded her eyes, then helped me up.
“We need your power,” she said. “Both of you come on.”
“What’s happening? Annabell didn’t mention this part,” I said, thinking back over the plan we had devised once she realized I was the one who was supposed to help her all along.
“Yeah, about that... I might have planned this part myself. Come on. Annabell was right. We need your power to boost the spell and make sure she can manage the darkness.”
“But I have very little control over my own power,” I said, hesitating.
“It doesn’t matter. You are the strongest in the forest, even if you don’t know how to use your power to its fullest. Clara and Aline do, so come, please.”
I pressed my hand into hers and took Kai’s. We joined the likes of Heidi and Ravenna, veteran witches who could kick butt and take names while having a sip of tea. The fairies—Nikola, Petra, and Alorna, along with Fiona, who was likely seething with hatred toward Snow for using her to perpetuate the lie of the prophecy. Aline and Clara, though siphon witches, could project other people’s magic so that it was more concentrated. There were Rebecca and Jeanine and Julianna and a variety of villagers who were all blessed with some ability. We clasped hands around Annabell, who stood in the center of the circle with Caroline, Pieter, and Dannie forming an arc around her.
Cole and Snow were also inside the circle, both pacing like caged tigers. Cole had shifted into a wolf form, a downgrade from his dragon, but I didn’t know why. Snow had resumed her human form, likely so she might test her magic against those she’d fooled for so long.
And behind me, breathing down my neck like a nightmare, the wolf creature the Seven had formed. It did not appear to be a flight risk, which was a good thing because there was no way it would fit inside the circle we had formed.
“You think this will stop me? Puny magical misfits and that grotesque beast?” Snow cackled maniacally, but her lower lip trembled. She turned this way and that, but she was surrounded. Cole still paced, but he seemed less and less concerned with what was about to happen. Instead, he seemed to welcome it as he grew nearer to Annabell.
Annabell said nothing for a moment, then clenched her small hands into fists at her side. When she did, I felt every ounce of magic drain from my body and flow forward with such force I almost fell on my face. It manifested around Annabell in a ring of light that flowed into her until she, too, illuminated even brighter than she had when only the stars offered her power.
The process seemed mighty painful to me, but she did not utter a single groan or gasp. Instead, she focused on the woman in front of her, who was now on her knees trembling.
“No. Elfriede, please! I can change! I can be different if you only help me!” Snow struggled to stand again, but it was useless.
Annabell grasped her arm and forced her light into Snow. Snow’s body convulsed as thick, black ooze drained from her mouth and eyes. It flowed over her skin and down her arms toward Annabell’s hand, where it was absorbed by the light. Despite the brightness, one could see the ooze swirling with the light, fighting it until the light covered it and squeezed the life out of it, disintegrating it into nothing.
Snow could not scream or cry, nor could she escape. All she could do was bleed evil until Annabell’s light had its fill. Cole stared at the scene; his fur bristled as he watched his former love destroy his sister. I was sure I saw a smirk on his muzzle, but it was difficult to make out in the shadows.
“Hold a little longer,” Hayden said, but I was sure I had nothing left to give.
Annabell released Snow, who fell at her feet. She turned her attention toward Cole, who tried to back away but had nowhere to go. Instead, he shifted.
“You can’t do this,” he said. “Ellie, it will kill you! You’re already fading!”
“You promised, Cole,” she said, then offered him her hand. “I won’t kill you. I swear it. I will only take everything from you permanently.”
“And what would you have left to contain the evil in this world?”
“That’s just it, Cole. No one should have to shoulder this burden alone. The sin and evil in the world belong to all the people, not only to you. There will be a time of adjustment, but the world will go on. I will relieve you of your curse and eliminate dark magic from the land forever.”
“No! Not if it kills you!” he shouted, but the man had no choice. Annabell lunged at him and dug her fingers deep into the flesh of his upper arms. “No! Ellie, please. You can’t die again. You can’t.”
“I must,” she said, then sucked the man’s darkness from every thread of his body. His was different from Snow’s. It exited in a fog as if it were happy to leave him, but it was tricked when it entered Annabell instead. Once again, her light surrounded and swallowed it, leaving nothing but the lingering scent of burned... something.
Cole heaved a great sigh and fell to his knees but did not lose consciousness. Annabell, on the other hand, released him and fell backward. Her light died as she fell, and the forest was black again.