"Jun!" I cried out in joy, even from way down here I could see her intense gaze as she shot arrow after arrow. Arden kept circling the group as her arrows rang true, in the distance–loud and thundering–were the cries of more men. I worried for a fleeting second that they were more Shadow Creatures to attack, but no.

Riding on horseback was Theodore, Celeste by his side on her own steed, leading the troops of her court. Late, but better than never. The fae came through fiercely, and with new encouragement I felt my strength renew. Left and right I took down Shadow Creatures, not allowing myself to think on who was Blair's and who was Beckett's.

Ahead of me I see Blair, when her eyes meet mine her lips curve into a grin. I felt the rage before I knew that I was sprinting. She deceived us, went behind Beckett's back and turned his people against him. Blair had probably been working with Nova this whole time, and I'd let myself not worry about her. I sliced throats as I ran, taking down whoever stood between me and Blair.

I felt my eyes glow with my rage, my power, I knew before I reached her that I would kill her. Blair would not leave this battlefield.

It was Beckett who reached her first, his rage making mine seem miniscule, and even from afar I could hear his intense cry as he shot her off the horse with a wave of his power. They rolled in the dirt, clutching each other's throats, each screaming their own slew of swears. She pinned him, a boot pressing his wrist to the ground as she slipped one of his own blades out of its hollister. I heard her laugh as she brought the blade to his throat.

The cry that came from me was feral as I dove, tackling her body off of Becketts. I threw her down so hard I knew that if she lived she'd have a concussion, I bared my teeth as I pressed my own kindjal to her bare pale throat.

"You bitch!" I seethed at her through my teeth, "was this your plan the whole time? Kill Beckett and take his place?" Blair smiled, blood on her teeth from how hard she hit her head. That was why she'd been in his office that day, why she disappeared before attacks, why she had slept with Hale. All for this.

"You're smarter than you look, too bad it took you too long to figure it out." I laughed, pressing the blade harder against her, reminding her who was on who. A crack of lightning, then the water erupted from the sky. With the rain, along the edge of the field, came the sprinting of merfolk–they came from hundreds of portals all at once. Beside them was Jax, Lendon, and the warlocks, capes flying behind them as they charged–balls of energy reeling. Jax seemed his nervous self as he fired arrow after arrow, it seems his talent was with a bow and not a sword.

The crowd of our defense attacked, they took to the crowd of Walkers before it even had a chance to reach us. Arden landed on the ground, Juniper sliding off his side and bravely charging into battle. Theodore pulled her onto his horse, and from horseback she allowed her arrows to take down creature after creature.

It was my turn to smile, I let her see my confidence as I pressed the blade to her once more. "Our reinforcements are here, we have thousands, you have less than a hundred. Either you're dumber than you look, or you know that you're going to lose."

Blair laughed, bits of blood splattering my face. "You're wrong. You've already lost, you've already lost everything." It took a minute, my brain slowly piecing the puzzle together. Beckett. I stood quickly, scanning the crowd for him. I'd left him behind when I tackled her now...now...

A fae dragged Beckett's unconscious body up the side of the broad mountain, pulling him into the entrance of Nova's domain. I stood and started a sprint, running for him. How could I have been so foolish, so reckless...I'd only been thinking about Blair. I'd let myself stop seeing clearly.

"Astra!" Jax came from behind me and shot a Walker I hadn't noticed. He was splattered with purple blood, his cheeks flushed.

"Jax," I breathed, tears burning my eyes at my own stupidity. "They have Beckett." Jaxon didn't need to hear anything else, his silver eyes narrowed at where they'd taken Beckett and nodded once.

"Then you'll need this," he took Ember's sword from his waist, shoving it into my hand with a grim look on his face. I strapped it over my back, taking cooling breaths. "I got your back, let's go get him." In that moment I was relieved I'd taken a chance on this stranger, who had my back.

I didn't need convincing, I grabbed his bronze arm and shot us through the air with a burst of star power–aiming right for the black cave. As we landed I wasted no time in grabbing my kindjals, gripping them tightly in my bloodied hands. I ground my teeth, fire begging to burst forth.

"I was wondering when you'd show your face here," Nova said to me, her voice dripping with venom. She seemed to be unhinged, her ringlet curls flying in a disarray, her eyes wild with insanity, in her hands was the purple power that had been behind all of this. Chained to the wall was Ember, alive and awake, her eyes wide as she struggled against her manacles. The chain was long enough for her to try to attack, but with her hands behind her back...

It was still a relief to see Ember, unscathed, like a piece of me that had been gone was placed back into place. By her knees was an unconscious Beckett, a small dagger jutting out of his abdomen.

Nova killed him.

Beckett was dead—except...no. I could still feel him, his life, I could feel it. Just injured. I glared death at Nova, the woman I'd considered my friend. "You will pay for this." I vowed. "You are not going to take my family away from me!"

Nova frowned, feigning genuine hurt. "You used to call me your family, Astra." It was pain that got us here, and she can blame me all she wants; but at the end of it all I know I am not the reason she lost everything. Parallax was.

"You lost that title the day you tried to destroy me." I ground out, flipping my blades. Enough talk. I stomped a foot hard into the ground, sending a large wave of flame her way. With the wall of fire to distract her I ran to Beckett's side, pulling his head into my lap. I'd have to heal him, or he'd lose too much blood and die.

"I knew you'd come." Ember told me, tears clipping her tone. I smiled briefly at her, too focused on healing him.

"Neither of you are dying today, do you hear me?" I pulled the blade free and set to healing him, letting my star power flow into his body and seal his wounds. Jaxon watched my back, shooting down SkinWalkers as they charged at me–but he wasn't fast enough.

Nova came from behind me, grabbing the back of my jacket and tossing me as though I weighed absolutely nothing. Ember screamed as I flew, my body hitting the opposing side of the cave wall harshly. I heard my skull crack, the ratting making my teeth feel loose. My body didn't even have time to hit the ground before she was there again, grabbing my throat and slamming my head into the wall once more.

"You have no idea how good this feels," she informed me, a malice grin on her lips. I grappled with her hand that threatened to take my life. She held me there, my feet dangling. Behind her I could hear Ember screaming, begging her to stop.

"I don't...think you're...completely evil–" she squeezed tighter and laughed.

"Oh?" Nova asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why's that? I have your life in my hands right now, dear." I tried to shake my head, but the pressure on my throat was so tight that I couldn't even manage that.

"Ember...she is unharmed–" Nova barked out a harsh laugh, pointing back at my friend who sobbed and struggled against the chain.

"I tried! That bitch has some spell on her that won't allow my magick to touch her pretty little face. I think dear old dad left a part of him in her to protect her, because he loved her!" Nova was seething, with her head turned I used my advantage, lifting my leg and kicking her straight in the chest. We fell to the ground, but I kept my foot firmly planted to her, and unsheathed Ember's sword. I pointed it at her face, looming over her–savoring the air that rushed my swollen neck.

"This ends now, Nova. I know you're doing this because you're hurting. Last chance, let me help you." There had to be some part, no matter how small, of Nova that still loved us.

"You all got your happy ending! What of me?" Nova screamed, her tawny skin reddening with anger. "If you're too much of a coward to kill me then fine! But I won't stop until I take everything from you!" Even then, even with that promise, I couldn't find it in me to press the blade to her throat.

"Don't let the outside pressure win," I whispered, tears burning in my throat now. That's what she'd told me, when she calmed me from a panic attack. My friend, that's who Nova was. Hurting, deranged, vengent–but my friend. This was the woman who saved me from infection, who laughed with me at the ball, who held my hand when I was afraid. Not my enemy–

She sent a beacon of her power straight into my chest, sending me flying once more. This time Jax caught me, both of our bodies crumbling to the ground.

"I am so over this therapy session!" Nova hollered, climbing to her feet. She whistled, and I heard them–another hoard.