I surged forward, maneuvering Silverhoof to fight by the prince’s side, figuring the aether and shadows would be an unbeatable combination.
I was almost there, when a fae popped into existence literally out of nowhere and tackled the prince, throwing him off his horse. Before my eyes, the creature shifted forms into something more beastly, and sank fangs deep into the prince’s chest.
The metallic tang of blood filled the air as Prince Halad loosed a scream, and the inky blackness inside me attacked. It soared around the Shadow shifter, encircling his neck and squeezing. Ice slithered across my nape as the fae thrashed and screeched, but I didn’t let up. I pressed harder, and waved Alex over to care for the prince.
He was there a second later, falling to the prince’s side, and shoving aside the body of the shifter who’d attacked him.
As if I had a target on my back, five more fae encircled us. While Alex assessed the wound, I took them down one by one. My lips trembled as the last Shadow fell. He had survived five witch spells before my demon magic sucked the life out of him.
Too resilient . . . That’s not good.
A scream cut through my revelation, and I whirled to find that my friends were still battling ferociously.
Swirls of darkness floated around Eva as she struck down her opponent. Andre and Sam had made good use of their demon daggers, pausing in their attacks only to pull the blades from the fallen fae. Hunter had been struck and was bleeding from his arm, but he didn’t stop fighting. He used his totem in conjunction with his magic to great effect, slaying three Shadows as I watched. Prince Halad’s cousins had taken down their fair share too.
A growling voice came at my back, snapping me back into the moment, and I twirled to find a fae behind me. It lunged, and without even a second thought, I flicked my finger, and demon magic surged. It slammed the creature in the face and dragged the shadow fae to the ground, where my magic smothered the monster until its last breath.
When I looked up next, only our group remained standing. Though we’d been outnumbered two to one, we’d made fast work of the shadow fae.
Someone moaned, and Alex murmured something in reply. I twisted to find the prince still on the ground. Alex was pouring his energy into Halad to help stop the bleeding from his chest.
“Prognosis?” I asked as I fell to my knees next to my boyfriend.
“Not good,” Alex replied, his gaze darting up to mine for only a moment. “We need to get him back to the castle, and fast.”
“You can’t fix him here?” Lyon asked, his blue eyes misty.
“I’m doing what I can, but I’m not as familiar with fae physiology. Particularly that of the aether-blessed. You guys have a whole different type of magical energy running through you. Aether magic changes things.”
He chewed on his bottom lip, visibly upset by his limitations. “To be honest, the prince was lucky. Two inches higher, and that beast would have sliced through his carotid.”
Alex’s fingers fluttered over the gaping injury, at least eight inches long and four inches wide. Smaller tears spiraled off the main injury, turning the surrounding skin a sickly gray, nearly necrotic black, color.
“I can keep him alive, but I’m not sure that I’m capable of healing the wound,” he finally admitted. “Fae healers will surely be able to help.”
“There are many healers at the castle,” Grahn said in affirmation. “What can we do to assist until we get there?”
Alex looked at me. “The aether-blessed fae we seek might not be able to help us any longer . . .” He trailed off, clearly not wanting to say that she might not be able to help because she was likely dead. “You should go check her home. Take one of the fae too, just in case.”
My stomach sank. No doubt he was right. If the Shadows had infiltrated her cottage, it would be a miracle if they’d left her alive. Still, we hadn’t traveled all this way for nothing.
Flynn volunteered to go with the rest of us, and we approached the cottage.
Absolutely no one was surprised when we found the home in shambles. There’d been a struggle—a massive one, if the singe marks and exploded furniture was any indication. The home smelled dirty, uncared for, with the telltale beginnings of rot hanging in the air.
We discovered a body curled up in the far back corner, covered by a tattered blanket. The fae we’d been looking for, dead. I pulled the blanket off to look at her face. Dried blood crusted her nose, and bruises bloomed beneath her eyes.
“The poor woman,” I said. “I wonder why they attacked now? Do you think it was because they knew we were coming?”
Sam stepped forward. “No time for speculation. We need to bury her and get moving.”
I nodded. She was right.We might never know why, but that didn’t change what we needed to do next.
As a group, we lifted the fae and took her outside. Just off the cottage was a small, lovingly cared for garden. We found only two shovels, so everyone except Hunter, who was still bleeding a lot from his wound, took turns using them.
In less than an hour, the hole was dug. Once we nestled the fae inside, we covered her up and stood over her. A few people shuffled and darted unsure glances at their neighbor as unease mounted.
Feeling as if someone should say something, I bowed my head. “I’m sorry that this happened to you. I’m sorry that you waited for your son, and he never came back. I’m sorry that your life was hard, and we came too late to help.”
