And don’t bring them here.
If I was going to die, which suddenly seemed like the only possible scenario, I didn’t want my friends to die too. I wanted them to kill the other royals and live.
I’d do my best with Ishtar, even if I had to go down with her.
“Fine,” Alice said. “But I’m not dropping you off right in front of her. You can sneak up on her and snipe a couple of those Shadows on the way in.”
“Er, cool.” I shook my head at the girl’s use of ‘snipe’. She was something else.
Alice landed twenty yards into the brush and released me. I dusted myself off, noting that the forest smelled more earthy here. My senses were heightened, prepared for battle.
“Are you sure you don’t want help? I’m great with a dagger.” As if to prove it, Alice pulled a blade out of its sheath, tossed it in the air, and caught it behind her back. “Not too bad at magic, either.”
“No,” I said, but her little performance had given me an idea.
I handed over the demon dagger that I hadn’t even touched during the fight. Black magic was just more effective.
“Take this as thanks. It will kill any sort of demon.”
Alice looked over the blade. “It’s been in Faerie. I can sense the fae on it.”
I furrowed my brows. “Are you aether-blessed?”
If she was, I didn’t know why she hadn’t been using aether magic the whole time.
She shook her head, and then, to my utter astonishment, twisted and hurled the hell blade into the woods.
Someone moaned, and I peered around her to see a daeva who had been sneaking up on us fall, its noxious gas cloud still streaming from its lips, but dissipating as it died.
I exhaled. That demon could have given me away before I was ready.
“You weren’t joking about being good with a blade.”
“Nope,” she said, walking over lightly and pulling the blade from the daeva’s sickly gray skin. “And you weren’t joking about it being deadly. Thanks for the piece, I’ll put it to good use.”
With that, she expanded her gold-veined wings, and lifted into the air. “Good luck. I’ll relay the message to your friends.”
The next moment, she was off, leaving me alone in the woods.
My stomach began to churn.What the hell am I doing here?
I’dalwaysworked with my friends. Everything we’d accomplished had been as a team. And now, I was approaching Ishtar alone? Why?
You’re not really alone,Tabitha reminded me.And I can tell you exactly why. You love your friends. Just like you love your parents. You’ve always taken great risks for those you love. I may not have liked you in life, but even I could tell that. And now, being in your head, I know it for sure.
I bit my lip, knowing she was right.
And now that I was here, nothing would change my mind about moving forward.
I sighed. “Guard my mind, okay? I need to be clear-headed when I fight her. All I need is one good shot, and who knows how many demons will die with her death.”
That’s what I’m here for,Tabitha said. It sounded like she wanted to say more. Probably to tell me that I was being an idiot and to turn around and gather reinforcements. But no matter what she wanted to say, Tabitha held her tongue.
I started walking toward the clearing, slowly, so as not to alert any of the Shadows. When I finally glimpsed a Dark Court fae soldier scouting the area, I unleashed a little demon magic.
It slithered through the underbrush, silent until the moment that it struck.
The fae, who hadn’t even seen it coming, fell.
