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  The day wore on through the afternoon and into the night. Finally, Jagger declared that they should stop and camp, and the party gratefully put down their packs. A fire was built, and food was passed around. Bane had been hunting and had caught a fat turkey and several rabbits. The group needed fresh meat in their bellies to continue the trek.

  Sid butchered the game and cooked them over a spit. The smell of roasting meat made Kayla's stomach rumble, though she had no real appetite. When the food was done, Quinn encouraged her to eat, and she took a portion reluctantly.

  They ate their meal in silence. Even Oksana seemed low on insults and smears. Kayla took first watch, listening to the strange sounds of the forest at night. How she longed to go home to Mist Valley. Her heart ached at the thought of never seeing it again. But she forced those thoughts from her mind. It would do her no good to dwell on what she had lost.

  "It's time for your watch," she said, waking Riddick in the night.

  Kayla settled into her bedroll, wanting the dark embrace of a dreamless sleep. Luckily, she was granted her wish and soon fell into oblivion. When she woke in the morning, it was already late, and the others were packing their bags.

  "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked.

  "You seemed too tired," Riddick said.

  "Aw, isn’t that sweet," Oksana mocked.

  "I swear to God…" Jagger growled.

  "Just leave it, Jagger," Kayla said, touching his arm. "It will all be over soon."

  Chapter 40

  They trekked on through the mountains, and the higher they went, the colder it became. Soon, the ground was covered in a thin layer of snow, and flurries drifted around them. Kayla shivered. Her clothing was unsuitable for the climate.

  "We go this way," Oksana said. "It's right through here."

  The group grumbled, their breath blowing out before them, and they wordlessly followed their guide into the mouth of the cave. Inside the cave was warmer than outside, but the darkness required a lantern. Kayla pulled one off her pack and held it aloft.

  "There is a passage through here. It will save us a week's trek," Oksana said. "Unless you want to go the slow way."

  "The gods forbid we take any extra time getting rid of you," Jagger said.

  "The feeling is mutual," Oksana muttered.

  "What's that?" Jagger snapped.

  "Nothing," the girl said.

  "Could we please be done with this bickering?" Kayla said. She was cold and hungry and irritated to the bone.

  "It's not much farther. We're almost there."

  Kayla had the oddest sense of foreboding as they continued deeper into the darkness. A strange musty smell filled the cave.

  "What is that god-awful stench?" Riddick complained.

  "It's nothing," Oksana said. "The exit is just around the corner."

  "I think I'm going to vomit," Felix said. Kayla had the same sensation.

  "We'll be out of here soon, and then it's all downhill," the girl said enthusiastically. She seemed more cooperative than ever, which gave Kayla pause.

  Kayla stopped Jagger at the back of the group. "Be ready."

  "Believe me, I am."

  She gripped her sword in one hand, and the other held her lantern. The moments ticked by, and nothing happened. She saw daylight on the other end of the cave.

  "The exit's right there," Oksana said.

  "Thank the gods. I need to get out of here," Riddick said, charging toward the exit.

  He was just about to walk into the sunlight when a giant spider the size of two men jumped in front of him. He fell backward with a shout. Oksana giggled with glee. Kayla searched for the spider’s heart with her alpha power but could not locate its life source. The monster skittered angrily but continued to block their escape. Felix shot off several rounds. Jagger drew his sword, Sid hefted his new hammer, and the two warriors attacked. Bane lunged at the monster, snapping at its legs. Not so easily intimidated, the spider reared back on its hind legs and snapped at the men with its giant fangs. Kayla nocked an arrow and drew her bow, searching for the light inside her.

  "Enough of this," Quinn said. A shot of light broke through the cavern ceiling and fell into Quinn’s hand. His lance at the ready, he pulled back his arm and let loose. It hit the spider in the stomach. The creature screeched and stumbled.

  Kayla shot again, adding more arrows to her first shot. The creature screamed in an eerie high-pitched tone, stumbling across the floor. It fell to the ground, its dark blood soaking into the cavern floor.

  "I knew she was laying a trap for us," Jagger said, sheathing his sword.

  "Where is she?" Kayla said, looking around. The group had been so occupied with fighting the spider that no one had been paying attention to Oksana.

  "The brat is gone," Jagger said. “Good riddance.”

  "Malik, can you get a fix on her?" Kayla asked the chaos mage.

  He pulled out his divining rod and lifted the fork into the air as Kayla held her lantern to help him see. "She's gone back the way we came."

  "Of course," Jagger said. "But at least we don't have to listen to her anymore.”

  "There's a silver lining," Quinn said.

  "If you're willing to let her go, Kayla, maybe we should try to find a way out of here.”

  "I have to face him, Jagger. I have to respect Oksana's free will, but I came here to face the darkness, and that's what I'm going to do. You don't have to come with me, but I am going to see this thing through."

  "I'm coming with you. I'm just trying to talk you out of committing suicide. There's still a chance we could have a normal life. With your power, you could protect the shifters from vampires and witches. You don't have to sacrifice your soul."

  "Whatever happens, I'm prepared for it. I'm not afraid, Jagger. This has been coming all along. I didn't know it before, but facing the darkness, even without Oksana—that is my destiny. I've made it about her since before we left Mist Valley. But it's not about her—it's about what I was put on this earth to do. I have learned what it means to be of the light. It doesn't mean getting my way or forcing people to do what I want them to do. It doesn't even mean directing my grown daughter. Her life is her own, and our destinies are not the same. And neither are ours if you don't want them to be."

  "I'm not leaving you.”

  "We should go," Malik said. "The signal is growing faint."

  Kayla nodded at the chaos mage, and the party followed his divining rod through the cave and back out into the daylight. They followed the signal back in the direction they had come. Everyone was tired and weary, but not even Jagger complained or asked if they should find another way out.

  They followed Malik's divining rod down the mountain. The winds picked up as they approached a craggy bluff, and high-pitched screams filled the air.

  "Harpies," Felix yelled.

  Dozens of bird-winged women swooped in toward Felix, cackling and squawking. Felix fell on his behind, grabbing for his guns. He shot at the first beast as he crawled backward on the snowy ground. Kayla took out at least a dozen of the horrendous women, using the crushing grip of her alpha magic. But another dozen harpies flocked in behind the last. Even as the party valiantly fought them, they knew they would soon be overrun. A harpy grabbed Felix and started to fly him away.

  Frustration and anger raged inside Kayla. "Not today," she whispered, lifting her hand.

  She felt the power of the light flow through her. Wings erupted from her back, and her sword was replaced by the sword of truth. Airborne, she dove toward the winged woman and sliced her talons, freeing Felix from her grasp. The harpy shrieked and started to retreat. Kayla landed.

  Riddick walked toward her, a sly smile on his lips. "Time to kick some demon butt.”

  Chapter 41

  The dark lord's tower loomed in the distance. Kayla had not let go of her wings the entire trek back. She was ready to meet her fate with the bravery of someone worthy of the task.

  Kayla no longer felt any fear. She knew what the fa
tes had intended for her all along—why she'd been given both strength and sensitivity. She was here to set herself, her child, and her mates free, not in the way she'd originally believed but with a new understanding of how to accomplish it.

  The red sun beat down from above, and the black waters crashed against the shore. The smell of fire and sulfur tinged the air, but her heart was light and free.

  The party approached the gates, expecting to have to surmount them. But they slowly slid open. Their footsteps echoed on the obsidian floor as they walked through the dark king's palace. Shadows flickered in the torchlight, and silence consumed the hall. They stepped into the throne room. The king of darkness sat astride his throne. Oksana, the beloved child who had become the princess of demons, stood beside him, a sneer on her lips and a smile in her eyes. When she saw Kayla's glowing sword and white wings, she blanched and took a step backward.

  "I see you found yourself," the dark lord said.

  "I've come to say goodbye to my daughter."

  "You're leaving?" Oksana asked.

  "One way or another, this is going to end," Kayla said, holding her sword lightly at her side. Her mates were all around her—she could feel their love infusing her with the strength and courage she needed to complete what she'd started.

  "I have come to tell you, Oksana, that you are free to decide your own fate. I may have borne you, but I cannot choose for you. You have your own mind, and if you decide to follow the dark lord and remain in hell, that is your choice to make."

  Oksana was silent, as were Kayla's mates. Quinn took a shuddering breath—the only sound in the room—and then the dark lord began to laugh. He clapped, the sound echoing off the black walls of his fortress.

  "Well done, Kayla Redclaw." He stood, taking the form of a regular human man, tall and handsome, wearing black robes that flickered darkness as he moved. Then he stepped down from his throne and started toward her. Her mates gathered around her, drawing their weapons and preparing to fight.

  "Easy," she said in a low voice. "Wait."

  He approached and stopped a few feet away. "And what do you suppose you will do now?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

  "Now?" she asked. "Now I will end you."

  Kayla jumped into the air, lifted by her wings, her sword of light glowing in her hand. She began to descend toward the lord of darkness, gathering the power of light in her heart. She was within inches of striking him down when Oksana, in the form of a young wolf, ran into her path. Kayla stopped short, landing on her feet. The dark lord had moved back in the blink of an eye. He laughed as he took his seat upon his throne.

  "Take care of them, Oksana.”

  Her daughter grew, becoming a giant, snarling hellhound. Riddick screamed in anger for her to stop. Jagger and Bane charged in defense of Kayla as Oksana snapped and snarled at her mother.

  Quinn began to chant, drawing down the power of the goddess. Sid ran at Oksana from the side, barreling into her with his shoulder, which sent her reeling away. With a loud yelp, the young wolf skidded across the floor on her side.

  "Don't hurt her," Riddick yelled, rushing to his daughter.

  Kayla continued to gather the light in her heart. Now that she knew what love really was, she had full access to all her power. The darkness had asked for this fight—it had never been what Kayla wanted. But it was her destiny, and she was no longer running from what the fates, the gods, and the powers of good and evil asked of her. This was her moment of clarity.

  While her mates were busy defending against Oksana, some trying to protect her and others trying to defeat her, Kayla focused on her target. He was fast and powerful, but he lacked something that she had in spades—love. She felt love all around her. Jagger's love for her. Riddick's love for Oksana. Bane’s eternal loyalty. The power of her heart blossomed with the intensity of the light glowing through her. Every ounce of strength, every moment of triumph and despair, and every mile she'd walked until this moment culminated in the flow of her power straight into the core of her being. The dark lord saw her and was anticipating her movements. He smirked as she rose higher into the air toward the obsidian roof of his fortress.

  "That is an interesting trick, little wolf," he said. "But I'm afraid even a half-angelic hybrid cannot defeat me. You don't have what it takes, and you never will."

  "I have everything I need right here," Kayla said, placing her palm on her heart.

  He laughed and began to shift out of phase. He was so fast that his being flickered out of existence. No one else in the party would have been able to see it. But for Kayla, time seemed to stand still. His movements slowed to a halt. She opened her arms wide, directing all her power into her heart. She brought her hands together, clapping them like thunder. The shockwaves reverberated through the throne room, knocking everyone off their feet. Even the dark lord fell.

  In that instant of distraction, Kayla swooped down, sword in hand, full of the power of the light. She sliced the sword through his black heart. He gasped and tried to keep himself standing as he gripped the arm of his throne. His mouth dropped open. Light cracked through him. Kayla withdrew her sword and watched as the dark lord's body turned to stone. She glanced up at her mates to see if they were okay. They were all climbing to their feet.

  "What's happening?" Quinn said, throwing a healing bubble at Kayla.

  Oksana lay panting on her side, still in the form of a demonic dire wolf.

  "It’s over.”

  Taking a step back, Kayla watched in awe as the gray stone figure cracked and crumbled, dust falling to the floor. Within the stone shroud, a light glowed like ten thousand candles with the heat of the morning sun. Kayla took another step back, shocked to the core by what she saw.

  The form of a man emerged, angelic and beautiful. He stepped toward her with his hands open. This was a being of light. How and why he'd been inside the lord of hell, she had no clue, but everything in her said she had just released the light that had been kept prisoner by the dark for so long.

  "Well done, Kayla Redclaw, my daughter," the figure intoned.

  "Who are you? Why do you call me 'daughter'? And why were you inside the dark lord?"

  "I made myself vulnerable to the darkness by coming to earth to conceive you, and I’ve been trapped ever since. For now, the darkness has been vanquished. But the dark will regain its strength in time. This is the way of balance in your world. Neither light nor darkness can be the sole force. With his death, balance has been restored. The gates of hell may be closed, and you may return home."

  "And where will you go?" she asked, her mind whirling with confusion. "I've just found you. I don't want to lose you again."

  "You can never lose me, dear daughter. I will be with you from now until the end of time. Our souls are linked. I'm afraid I am not meant for your world, and you must rule it wisely—but I will always be a thought away. All you must do is call on me, and my council will be there. You have come far in your understanding. And now I must go, and you, my daughter, must continue to restore light to the world."

  A tear slid down her cheek. She felt a sense of loss and sadness trickling through her entire being. But she knew that his words were true. He had to return to his own world, and she had to return to hers.

  He stepped forward and took her in his arms. "I am proud of you, my daughter. You have done well. Your mother watches over you from the afterlife, and I will watch over you from the angelic realms. There is still much to be done on the surface. Time has moved by quickly, and life has gone on without you.”

  "I'm ready for what lies ahead," Kayla said, holding him close. "I'll do what needs to be done."

  He let her go, and iridescent white wings emerged from his back. Slowly, her father began to ascend. He rose through the ceiling of the dark fortress until all she could see were the tips of his toes, and then they, too, disappeared.

  Kayla turned, finding her mates watching in shock and awe. Riddick was holding a two-year-old child. Kayla's heart throbbed with
awareness. She ran to him. Tears were streaming from both their eyes.

  "She changed when he died," Riddick said, barely able to speak. "It's our Oksana. It's our baby."

  "The darkness is gone," Malik said. "I can sense it. The child is full of light."

  "You saved her. You brought her back, Kayla," Riddick said.

  The roof above them began to crack. Dust filled the air as the dark fortress started to fall apart around them.

  "We need to get out of here," Jagger barked.

  "I'm opening a portal," Gloria shouted. The black shimmering portal opened in front of her.

  "Here goes nothing.” Sid was the first to charge through.

  The others walked in after him, Riddick carrying the baby. Quinn glanced back at Kayla, the last to leave. She gave one final look at the dark lord's fortress, the place that had haunted her dreams for so long. It was hard to believe the fight was over, but she had conquered her fears, death, and darkness. There was nothing left for her here. She took a deep breath and walked through the portal.

  Chapter 42

  Kayla stepped out onto the other side. The first thing she saw was her family gathered together above the rift. Riddick held Oksana, who cooed with delight. Kayla's heart leapt with happiness as she ran to her mates. They gathered around her, hugging and kissing her.

  "It's them," said a familiar voice from behind the swirling dust and smoke that came from the rift. Out of the smoke stepped Willa and Mackenzie.

  Kayla ran to them and hugged them. "I'm so happy to see you."

  "We’ve been watching," said Willa. "We've been waiting for this day for five years."