I took chase, letting him see exactly what he’d made me into as he fought to burn the vines free of his flesh and the stolen magic continued to rattle through my body.
We collided once more, a furious crash of fists and magic and hatred which set bones cracking and blood flying, and made the entire hillside tremble beneath the might of our power.
Father cried out in alarm as I managed to hook the vines around his throat, the flames burning him as once again he failed to pass the fireproof hide of my Dragon while golden scales armoured my flesh.
I dove on top of him, darkness swirling through my skin as I threw my fist into his face and tightened the hold of the thorns on his throat, his lips turning blue and eyes widening in terror as he finally saw his death in me, and it felt so fucking good that I wanted to roar my victory to the heavens already.
But just as I was certain I had him, the dark magic I’d cast burned out, my hold on the stolen earth Element falling away and the vines which were choking him turned brittle before shattering entirely. I lurched forward, tightening my hands around his neck instead, baring my teeth and driving him down beneath me as I fought to end this with a desperation which matched the frantic pace of my heart. But just as I was certain of my victory, Father drew a sun steel blade from a fold of his cloak, slashing it across my side and forcing me to throw myself off of him as blood spilled and the perilous metal cut me open.
I rolled away from him with a curse, snatching my axe back into my hold as I leapt to my feet and he regained his too. I threw a hand up to deflect the air strike he shot at me with more water, causing him to drench the hillside as our power collided and was sent off at an angle, drawing my gaze to the raging battle once more.
The Nymphs kept chasing after the rebels as the retreat continued, more and more of them making it below ground and away from their enemies, though I had no idea where they planned to go from there.
Father tried to strike at me with his air magic once more, whips snaking around to slash at my spine while I blocked him with a barrier of ice that cracked and splintered behind me under his assault, the sound reminding me of Roxy trapped beneath that pool.
A snarl escaped me at the thought of the man I’d almost become because of this demon, and I bellowed a challenge as I ran at him once more, swinging my axe with a brutal strike aimed to cleave his head from his body.
The axe slammed against an air shield which he held close to his skin and his eyes widened in alarm as I heaved it back and struck him a second time.
Again and again, my axe slammed against his shield while his muscles bulged with the tension of trying to maintain it, his face reddening and veins looking ready to burst.
He looked into the eyes of the beast he’d created and I knew he saw his death in them, the Dragon in me peering out with a hunger for his end more potent than I’d ever felt before.
He was here. Right fucking here and I could feel his shield breaking beneath the assault of my weapon as the Phoenix fire coating it made the air between us ripple with heat.
“All of this because of some whore?” he shrieked as he fought to hold me off, his composure slipping and the cowardly man I knew him to be at his core revealed to me. Because this wasn’t a Fae who had stood up and fought to claim his power, this was a cheat and a trickster who was as unFae as they came. But here and now I wasn’t giving him a choice. He was going to have to face me man to man, and I could tell by the terrified look in his soulless eyes that he already knew who would win.
“Roxanya Vega is no whore,” I spat, my axe cracking against his shield with such force that I felt the vibrations of it rolling down my sweat slicked spine.
“I should have killed the Vega twins the moment they returned,” he hissed, that hateful look in his eyes never wavering. But I knew what it really was now. Jealousy. He hated them for the very same reason that he had hated their father, his own brother and even me. Because he could see that we were more powerful than him and he would always just be a small man when he stood beside us.
The wedding band on my finger seemed to burn just as hot as those flames as I thought of all the things this man had done to the girl who owned my entire soul, my mate, my wife.
“I married her,” I taunted as I swung the axe once more. “And when I return to her with your head hanging from my fist, I’ll bow to her too.”
My father’s eyes flashed with unyielding fury at that suggestion and with a roar of his Dragon, he let the air shield between us shatter, lunging towards me to get beneath the strike of my axe and sinking his shadow hand into my side, his claws piercing the skin and stealing my breath from me.