“You motherfucker,” Malik snaps. If looks could kill, the fae man would already be a pile of bones on the ground. Kaiden, Malik, and I drop our swords while Rhett lets his arms fall limply at the sides of his body.
The fae man narrows his eyes at Malik before glowering at the other fae knights in blatant disgust. Judging by the lion head on his golden chest plate and the ornate armor he’s wearing, he must be their commander. “Bested by human rats.” He spits on the ground. “You’re all a disgrace, not worthy of serving the crown. You’re to clean the latrines for the next six months.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldiers collectively murmur, their shoulders slumped.
He tilts his chin toward the cottage. “Bring me the oracle,” he orders. While six more soldiers march our way from the forest, I chance a quick look at Kaiden. Aside from a few cuts and the giant bruise already forming on his jaw, he seems okay.
The relief is short-lived, though. “No! Please! Stop! She’s only a child,” Yana howls as she’s dragged out of the cottage by the hair.
Then a shaking Thalia is pushed out with the tip of a sword between her bony shoulder blades. Despite the silent tears streaming down her face, she holds her chin high. She suddenly looks ten years older. And braver than us all.
My trembling fingers unconsciously reach for one of thedaggers I normally carry at my belt.One, two, three, four,I count in order to stop myself from running toward them and pummeling the asshole behind her until he’s six feet under.
The fae commander’s arctic gaze finds Thalia. There’s no trace of sympathy in his eyes—only a thick sheet of ice. “You are charged with high treason against the Imperial Court of Seelie. You’re to be executed in front of the king and his loyal servants, the Seelie fae.”
“No! Please!” Yana begs, crawling toward Thalia. She lets out anoomphwhen a soldier plants a boot in the middle of her back, flattening her to the ground.
“Kill the big-mouthed one. She’s becoming a nuisance,” the commander snaps.
Before I can blink, the soldier has already thrust his blade through the center of Yana’s chest.
“I love you,” are her last gurgled words to Thalia. Blood paints the ground in crimson streaks of violence. I can feel her soul—a ball of blinding light—clinging desperately to her body. It’s useless, though, because her strained breaths fade with brutal finality.
“Yana!” Thalia launches herself at her sister’s lifeless body. The soldier grabs the back of her dress, halting her momentum.
I’m grinding my teeth so hard, I’m surprised they haven’t turned to dust. The only thing stopping me from moving is the fear that Sam will meet the same fate at their callous hands. And I can’t have that, however painful it is to hear Thalia’s whimpers. Somehow, they slash deeper than the most deafening wails ever could. I might not be able to do anything right now, but I make Thalia a silent promise that I will find a way to avenge her sister’s death.
“Should we kill the humans and the traitor, too?” one of the soldiers asks. I’m assuming the traitor is Rhett for aligning himself with us.
Tilting his head, the commander contemplates his decision. “No. We haven’t had a good spectacle in months, so we will execute them all in the square as an example. Bring the chains.”
“And Evander?”
The commander’s upper lip curls in revulsion as he casts a withering glance at the fae I knocked out earlier. “Weaklings have no place serving the Seelie court. Leave him here for the beasts to feast.”
38
Iris
The carriage—or better said, the prison on wheels—rattles as it hurtles over another pothole. I grunt when the metal bars dig into my lower back. It feels as if the rapidclip-clopof the horse’s hooves is stomping on my brain rather than the grass. I don’t know if it’s because of what has now become normal migraines or because of the blow I received to the temple.
To top it all off, I don’t remember ever being so tired in my entire life. It goes further than bone deep. The chains they shackled us with are not only spelled to tighten at the slightest attempt of removal, but they also suck the energy out of you. And it’s all made worse by the way my stomach is sticking to my spine. They only gave us small portions of water—enough to keep us alive but not to satiate the thirst in this sweltering heat.And why would they feed us? We’re going to be executed like the human rats they think we are, anyway.
They can all go fuck themselves.
Especially their commander.
“If we somehow manage to escape, and I ever tell you again that I’m going on a diet, you have my permission to stab me. Multiple times,” Sam half mumbles–half whispers from beside me because Thalia is finally asleep, curled up between us, her head resting in Sam’s lap. She has been in a state of shock since they shoved us in here three days ago and hasn’t said a word or slept. Understandably so.
“How’s the eye?” I ask in the same low tone while I squint against the glare of the broiling sun to scan her face. At least she can open it a smidge. But the area around it, aside from being an angry deep purple, is still swollen.
Fuck me. I’m regretting the decision to wear my hellseeker gear after we bathed in that creek. It feels as though I’m cooking from the inside out on high heat.
“Not much different since you last asked twenty minutes ago. Seriously, I’m okay. Stop worrying about me.” She blows out a weak, frustrated breath. “Your hand?”
“Eh, I’ve had worse. But it still hurts like a bitch.” Those accelerated healing abilities would come in real handy right now. Being reduced to nothing more than a human sucks ass. I guess I never realized how good I had it before because my injuries would never last this long. The gash on my cheek is starting to scab, and the itchiness is driving me up the wall. It’s incredible how something so small can be this annoying.
Raising both of her shackled hands so she can wipe the perspiration beading her forehead, she adds, “Gah, I would kill for an extra-large pepperoni pizza right now.”
