He strode over to the archers and handed the strongest ones two arrows each. “These are only to be used on Morgan,” he said. “This is your only job.”

“Understood,” the lead archer said, her expression direct and clear.

As Sophie joined them, Nikolas said, “Morgan doesn’t know we’ve broken through to Lyonesse. He doesn’t know about any of you. Let’s keep it that way until we strike. I’m going to hide you with a cloaking spell. We’ll open the doors, and then you’ll hit him with everything you’ve got.”

“Yes, sir.”

They strode over to the doors. Annwyn said to the troops, “Get ready.”

The troops drew their swords and readied shields, then silence fell in the great hall.

When Nikolas, Gawain, and Sophie reached the doors, Nikolas cast a massive cloaking spell over the five archers who took their places behind them. Then Nikolas fixed Sophie with a stern look. “You’ll stay out of it.”

She widened her eyes. “Oh, believe me, this is not my fight.”

They pulled open the doors. Morgan lifted his head.

Sophie surveyed the wreckage of landscape with tightened lips. She called out, “I don’t know if you’re a monster or if you’re massively misunderstood. But I do know one thing.”

Morgan stood. Even from the distance of twenty meters, Nikolas could sense him amassing Power, as Morgan asked, “What is that, Sophie Ross?”

“You need to get off my lawn,” Sophie said. She stepped to one side.

Nikolas whispered, “Now.”

Five arrows flew through the air. Morgan dodged, moving so fast he turned into a blur. Most of the arrows missed.

One didn’t.

It struck him in the arm. The Hounds to either side of Morgan broke into a run, hurtling toward the house.

Even as Morgan reeled back, he flung his hand out in the direction of the open doors. Nothing happened. Behind Nikolas came the distinctive sound of the archers drawing their bows. Raising his hand, he kept his eyes trained on Morgan and the approaching Hounds.

Morgan tore the arrow out of his arm. The archers loosened their arrows, and he blurred again as he dodged. Another arrow hit, this time in his side. He stumbled and fell to his knees.

Nikolas dropped his hand and roared, “Go! Go!”

Soldiers sprinted out the open doors and collided with Hounds. More and more poured past Nikolas while he drew his own sword. He lunged onto the field eagerly, looking for Morgan.

This time, centuries later, the Daoine Sidhe had not come too late.

Chapter Twenty-One

The battle was a complete rout.

Sophie climbed onto the Mini to get out of the way as troops streamed past. The sound of shouts, growls, and screams rocketed back through the open doors, echoing in the shattered great hall.

Robin had disappeared. Nikolas, she knew, would be in the thickest of the fight. He had lived for the eventuality of this battle. When the last of the troops had sprinted out of the manor house, she limped to the front doors to look out.

She’d been telling the truth earlier—she didn’t have another fight left in her. After running through every one of the shifts in the house, digging through to Lyonesse, and then coming back again, she couldn’t even imagine how to calculate how long ago it was that she might have slept.

She had jet lag on steroids. She had only eaten a protein bar in a very long time, probably in at least a day. The fight with Ashe had been short, but it had wounded her and knocked her around, and the wild ride to Raven’s Craig and back again had made every joint in her body ache.

Still, adrenaline coursed in her blood so strongly her hands shook. Just in case, she retrieved her gun from the micro vault and loaded it so she had some kind of physical weapon with her. The runes on her hands and arms were itching and beginning to crack and peel, but for now, she still had one telekinesis spell and one confusion spell left—she always counted her spells, just as she counted her bullets—and she watched from the doorway as the last of the Hounds was killed.

She could see no sign of Morgan, no sign of Nikolas. She saw Rhys and Rowan in the distance, and Annwyn strode across the clearing with two swords bloodied, looking fierce and magnificent. Finally, when the fighting died down and it looked calm enough to walk out, Sophie stepped outside and surveyed the full extent of the devastation.

Bodies littered the area as far as she could see. The nearby clumps of forest had been all but leveled. The small lake behind the house had drained into a huge crack in the ground. The cottage was rubble. One man had done this. One man had torn the earth apart, trying to get to them.

Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Fight or flight. Fight or flight.

She hadn’t seen Robin since they had returned to the manor house, but she wasn’t worried. When they had broken through to Lyonesse, the puck had been revitalized, and he had shone with a kind of Power that had been nonexistent when she had first found him.

She walked to the cottage ruins and checked for the scent of gas. She didn’t smell anything, so she shrugged, found a likely piece of wall to perch on, and watched the aftermath. The Hounds had been decimated, but there had been injuries and casualties on the other side as well.

After some time, Nikolas, Gawain, and Cael walked out of the woods. Sophie sagged in relief. They moved slowly like they’d been running hard and were tired. Even from where she sat, she could see Annwyn lift a hand in inquiry, and Nikolas shake his head in reply.

Shading his eyes, he paused to survey the scene. He looked in her direction and strode across the field to her. She stood as he neared, running her gaze hungrily over him. He was streaked in blood. Her hands clenched.