This is Emmorta

26 This is the End

Nyx

Collectively, we share the same thought in the moment Therese rips the wing from Iris's spine: why is Rune just standing there?

For a moment, she seems to hesitate, and if we weren't tied down by this smoky rope, I'd charge that little asshole tearing my little niece apart. But if Rune is anything, she's a bag of tricks—even if they're questionable ones.

"If you truly believe that hurting the child will motivate me, Therese, you're demonstrating how unaware you truly are. Just five minutes ago I contemplated killing her myself to prove a point."

Nes is my fairy best friend and Iris's mom, and beside me, she screams and fights this bondage that only fights back and shoves itself past our teeth until we gag on ghost chains. They came out of nowhere, and by the time we all turned around, it was already too late.

I'd like to believe Rune didn't mean what she just said, but Iris screams again when Therese drops the first wing to the ground. The light inside her wing fades, and the tips curl in. And still, Rune doesn't flinch.

I painted this girl's nails and fell for the sick act only to find out now that she was one of these people. She's something I've never seen before, now that we're seeing more of her form.

Blood pools around Iris on the ground, mixing with the pained tears. If Rune doesn't do something fast, she's going to die. Iris shakes in the pain just before she collapses. Her body jolts once, twice, just before the seizure begins and the foam spits out from between her pale lips.

I've heard of what happens when the wings are pulled out, but seeing it is a completely different experience.

Therese eyes Rune while Iris's muscles spasm, and twists her mouth around with a confused look on her face.

Charlie—well, her shifted self—rolls and twists on the ground, fighting this smoke that sprung from the ground at Therese's command. It coils around her, and tightens like a snake until the wolf yelps in pain. Bones crack while her claws extend as far as they can. The more she resists, the more they tighten around her.

Rune is cold as ever, and I still think she's one of the scariest people I've met. She takes a step forward and stops when Therese holds a bloody finger up.

"You take one more step and I'll take the next one out. Give me Phantom and you can leave here breathing."

"I shouldn't have let you live," Rune says. "And for that, I'm sorry. But I am here now, and I'm here to save you."

Her words don't make sense to me; Therese doesn't seem like one asking to be saved.

With a dismissive wave of Rune's hand, Iris's seizure ends, and the chains around us disappear. Nes pushes up, and runs straight for Iris while Rune charges forward—a blurry streak of terror dressed in black—and pins Therese up against the side of the mountain by the neck.

The granite cracks where Therese's head slams into it, spider-webbing from behind her.

"In his name," Rune whispers.

A warrior's cry booms from the right.

"Oh shit."

An army charges this way, like a giant wave about to crash over us and swallow us whole. At least 200 of them fly, sprint, and gallop in our direction, zeroed in on their targets.

Therese cackles, and I turn my head just in time to watch her spring into the air while Rune's head is turned toward the army coming after us. She whips her head back and curls her fists when Therese smiles from too high up. A dark gray cloud of smoke beneath her feet carries her, and limbs matching the chains around us moments ago creep out from behind her.