Alpha Erased (Alpha Girl 9)

There wasn’t a chance in Hell that was happening. “No. No, I won’t. Because it’s gone, and what’s left in me is mine.” I squatted next to her. She wasn’t scary and powerful anymore. The power from the council pulsed inside me, and I would use it now. Because right now, the fey were in turmoil.

I had one chance to fix this. To fix everything.

I looked at the queen. “You took me,” I whispered. “You tried to slowly kill me. But it turns out, I’m pretty hard to kill. So, I’ll take what’s left of your power in my soul, and I will stop you before you destroy us all.”

I rose and looked at her court. Fey filed into the large room. The countless chandeliers were swaying. The walls were pulsing as they glowed. But everyone was quiet and still as they watched me. There weren’t just warriors, but all manner of fey. People looking to fight and people looking terrified of what I might do.

But I wasn’t going to fight. Not right now. Not today. I didn’t have the energy for that, and that wasn’t why I was here.

I strode to her throne and stepped up on the seat. I wanted all eyes on me. I was only doing this once, and then I was going home. The room was starting to go a little gray, and I knew I didn’t have a long time before the last of my strength ran out.

“Before your queen stole me, I spent months trying to play nice with all of you. You pointed the finger at me. It was my fault you were hiding. My fault that the humans knew about the existence of supernaturals. My fault that the fey had lost control of the portal between realms. But you failed to look inside

yourselves.”

I paused, waiting for anyone to speak up, but the room remained quiet.

“It was you who decided to hide from the humans. You who decided to close yourselves off. That wasn’t my fault. If you truly believe that you could’ve stayed hidden in the age of technology, then you’re stupider than I thought.”

I didn’t care that I was insulting them. I was over them.

“If you hadn’t forgotten about your vow to protect this realm from the one beyond, then the seals never would’ve broken. The portal to Hell never would’ve opened. I only fixed your fuck up. Not my fault. Yours. Your fault. The only reason I have this power is because of your failures.”

I’d tried to say that nicely before in countless meetings, but no one heard me. No one listened. But they were listening now.

“When your queen kidnapped me, she gave me some of her magic. And now, there’s not just witch inside me. Not just werewolf. Not just some archon power linking me with a lot of other powerful supernaturals. I’ve got a little bit of your queen’s magic, too.”

There were some murmurs, some gasps, and I was sure I’d shocked the ones who remained quiet, too. But I wasn’t done.

“Blaming me ends now. Blaming the werewolves ends now. You will be responsible for your own behavior. You will stop acting like spoiled toddlers. You start a fight, I will show up, and I will end it.” I held my hands out, pushing the queen’s ice-cold magic out of me. The light in the walls died. The chandeliers went out. And the room was plunged into darkness for a moment.

And then I did one of the spells I’d been working on with Claudia before I’d been kidnapped. I traced a pattern in the air, and light blossomed around me.

“If you test me, if you try me, if you want to come after me, remember that I have a bit of her magic now mixed in with all the rest. And I’m not alone.”

I spread out my hands to the side, and the glow around me extended to the rest of the new council.

The four fey stepped forward—Cosette, Van, Elowen, and Kyra.

The four werewolves stepped forward—Dastien, Lucas, Chris, and Blaze.

The four witches stepped forward—Beth, Shane, River, and Claudia.

“I’m not alone. You attack one of us, you attack all of us.”

I jumped down from the throne and moved to the edge of the platform. “Together, we can break through any magic. Even the strongest one of you. Even when you work with witches and werewolves. Even when you spend twenty-one months trying to weaken me. I’m still strong enough to take on the most powerful of you.”

I walked back to Helen and squatted again. “I win,” I whispered to her.

I rose and stared at her advisors who stood to the side of the dais. They were the ones I’d spent months trying to reason with.

Assholes. All of them thought they knew everything. They thought they were the only ones that mattered. But they were wrong.

“You wouldn’t listen to me before, but you need to hear me now. You will leave the humans alone. You will stop sending your monsters after us. Because if you don’t, I’ll come back here. And when I do, I’ll bring my friends, and we’ll be a lot less nice.”

The room started to spin a little, and I knew I was reaching the end of my strength. I needed to get home before I dropped.

I needed to eat and sleep and be with Dastien.