Ellie POV
With the first line of wards broken, Felicity was emboldened. Her assault on me was relentless, forcing me back further and further as she mmed herself bodily into my shield as if brute strength alone was all she had.
The look of madness in her eyes was only increasing. She was wild, pupils blown wide, and a rigid, too-wide grin stered on her face.
There was no denying it anymore.
This wasn''t jealousy. It wasn''t anger. It wasn''t even hatred.
At some point in the past year, Felicity had lost her mind.
She was driven now by a blind need for blood, for my blood, no matter what it would cost her to get it. I couldn''t reason my way out. I couldn''t convince her to leave the boys out of it.
I wasn''t even sure Nn could stop her now, not even if he renounced me on the spot and agreed to take her as
his Luna.
The part of her that had wanted to desperately to rule by his side didn''t seem to exist anymore. Now this hateful creature was all that remained.
The packhouse shook around me.
Not the distant tremor of battle outside, not the echo of thunder rolling across the mountains-but the deep, violent shudder of something fundamental giving way.
Stone groaned.
The wards screamed in protest, their light ring erratically, no longer a steady barrier but a series of frantic, failing pulses.
They wereing back.
I felt it before I saw it-before the sound of boots and ws and snarls surged up the stairwell again. More forces converging, more bodies flooding into the lower levels. Silver Fang. Pine Ridge. Moonstone.
ric.
Cassian.
The bond between Moonstone blood sang sharply in my chest as they crossed the threshold, a sudden, fierce awareness that cut through the fog of fear and exhaustion. Relief hit me so hard my knees nearly buckled.
They''re here.
Below me, Nn''s presence burned like a beacon-focused, furious, unyielding. He moved with brutal precision, shouting orders even as he fought, trying to manage too many variables at once.
"They''re still holding the border?" I heard him demand, his voice raw with strain.
"They are," came the reply-Cassian, breathless but steady. "Pine Ridge is reinforcing Lance. The rogues are breaking there."
Good. Thank the goddess.
But here-
Here was unraveling.
Felicity was no longer fighting like a strategist. No longer even like a cornered animal.
She was pure chaos.
She had already forced me to fall back to the second hold point, down the hallway. I couldn''t see the staircase anymore, couldn''t see what was happening downstairs.
I could feel Felicity through the magic now, her presence a jagged, poisonous thing scraping against the wards over and over again. Every strike she made sent a spike of pain through my skull as the goddess''s power rushed topensate, to repair, to hold.
Too much.
I was asking too much.
"Get back!" someone shouted below.
The distraction took my attention for a fraction of a second, but it was long enough. Felicity struck again.
The golden light fractured visibly this time, splintering like ss under pressure. Cracks raced upward, spiderwebbing through the barrier I''d poured everything into.
“No,” I whispered, pressing my palms t against the air. “Please-please-"
The goddess answered, power surging hot and blinding through me as I forced more into the failing structure. My vision swam. My heart pounded so hard it felt like
it might tear itself free.
I can hold it. I have to.
But then there were more. Two rogues managed to slip past the defenses and bound up the stairs. They joined Felicity, throwing themselves headlong into the barrier.
Felicity screamed-a sound so feral and enraged it barely sounded like it came from a living throat. Her rogues responded instantly, surging forward with renewed desperation, throwing themselves at the defenders with suicidal abandon.
They knew.
They could feel it too.
This was the endgame.
"Ellie!" Nn shouted, his voice cutting through everything. I felt him try to break away, felt the strain as he
fought to reach the staircase again. "How much longer-?"
"I don''t know!" I cried back, my voice breaking. "I-I''m trying-"
The wards flickered violently.
Then-
They shattered.
The explosion of magic knocked me backward as thest barrier between Felicity and the inner corridors disintegrated in a blinding sh of light. The bacsh tore through me, ripping a scream from my throat as I hit the stone floor hard.
20
Pain exploded across my back and shoulders. I gasped, struggling to breathe as the air rushed from my lungs.
COIN BUNDLE: get more free bonus
Support
Share
GET IT
Cede is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a ir for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cede''s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.