She was about to understand that the biggest mistake she’d made in the last few months was not swallowing the stone. Or stealing our memories. Or betraying everyone who had ever loved her.

Nope.

Her biggest mistake was not killing us all when she had the chance, because it was her day of reckoning, and we were the ones delivering it.

The light grew brighter around her, the heat as well, and I was so fucking jumpy that I almost pissed myself when Angel moved a millimeter beside me, her wings brushing mine. My tiny shriek and stumble forward broke some of the tension as multiple amused smiles crossed faces.

“You can take the woman out of Earth, but—” Lucien was cut off when an explosion of energy knocked us all back from the fortress.

My wings extended, stopping me before I skidded into the lava chasm, and then two flaps later, I was back in the circle, surrounding an extremely pissed-off-looking Dannie.

Dannie, who had changed again.

Whatever humanoid parts of her that had been there before were gone.

She was a full phoenix, standing as tall as me.

Her beak opened, and a loud screech emerged, which eventually turned into words. “You made a grave mistake,” she bellowed, flames shooting off her as the ground trembled. “It will all fall now, and when I rebuild, it will be a better world and future.”

None of the others seemed that concerned, moving in closer, their energy humming in the air as they prepared to attack. I did the same, but no lie, my gut was twisted in knots at what was happening. What the fuck were we going to do if she was still too strong for us?

Before anyone even got a chance to find out, Dannie did the opposite of what I’d expected and angled her wings to drop between us. It took me a beat to understand why she’d done that, and it was only when her clawed foot tapped against the land and the rumble increased that I figured it out. She was doing exactly what her son had attempted not that long ago.

Destroying the Shadow Realm.

Before any of us even had a chance to attempt to lock her down with our power, the chasm exploded, spitting out flames that would tear through almost everyone here. With those flames came a truly terrifying sight, clawing their way up from the lava below.

“She’s resurrecting the dead,” Alistair said, his hands clenched tightly in front of him. “All of those lost to the lava mists.”

“Fuck.”

That one word was from Shadow, and I knew that meant this was bad. No, not bad. Cata-fucking-strophic.

“How many beings have died in the chasms?” I asked, my wings the only thing keeping me standing as the ground tremors worsened. “Outside of all the creatures.”

“I believe it was a regular punishment here,” Angel said, having to lift herself off the ground now.