One of the females twisted, readying her spear. Daisy jumped and thrust, missing but forcing the woman to push higher into the sky. Five yards.
Almost…there… Tarian thought, and Daisy could hear the fatigue in his tone. He must be putting everything into his magic to keep the stronger beings away.
The opening loomed, the vines and briars clearer. They twisted within the space. Feelers reached farther out as though looking for someone to grab.
“This is the least treacherous opening?” she asked, forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to speak. Though she supposed it didn’t matter. The Celestials already knew where they were.
Yes,Tarian said, slamming his knife into its sheath and using both hands toward the sky.
More Celestials descended, hovering over them, weapons at the ready. The opening was right ahead of them. They were nearly there.
A large male dropped in front of it. His feet hit the ground, and he readied to fight, blocking their way.
17
Usually, an attacker thought their prey would hesitate, startled into freezing. Daisy didn’t. She assumed Tarian would handle the sky, so she sprinted for this new foe. Her weapon quickly shrank into a switchblade, and her manic grin would’ve been plenty to make the average person nervous. She reached the Celestial as he was pulling out his blade. Pivoted as his brow crumpled in confusion. Stabbed him in the upper thigh as the sword swung out in front of him.
She dodged it and struck again, in his ribs. Anticipating his reaction, she hit the ground and rolled, slicing his wing with the knife as she avoided his staggered sword strike. He really should’ve pulled those in. Right behind him, she went to work, slicing with one hand and ripping with the other—a shame to hurt those beautiful wings, but survival wasn’t pretty.
He called out in pained panic as his wings finally pulled into his body. Tarian slowed as he met the Celestial, his eyes hard but his weapon still put away. He was keeping the others off him with magic. He needed both hands.
She cleared her mind so that the Celestial wouldn’t know what she would do and kicked up. Her foot connected from behind, crunching his nuts. She was a human Chester—fighting dirty was her right. Then she stabbed him in the back right after her blade turned into a dagger. She loved this fucking weapon.
Tarian dove and rolled as the Celestial cried out again, bending. Staggering. She lifted her weapon for the kill shot as Tarian jumped up. She brought the blade down, only to have his hand catch her wrist. He pushed her farther back, into a cavernous darkness. A sheen, like the surface of a bubble, draped over the opening, showing the wilting, bleeding Celestial kneeling to the ground just outside.
Tarian breathed heavily, the front of his shirt slick with sweat. He’d put a lot of effort into that magic. His mouth was open as he labored, but his eyes were shuttered. He looked at her for a long moment.
“What?” she asked, adrenaline still coursing through her body.
“I’ve never seen a creature attack a Celestial so aggressively,” he finally said. “So thoroughly. So…masterfully.”
Pride welled up, and she tried to tamp it backdown. “Why not aggressively? What do fae do? Wait to die?”
“In some instances, yes.”
“What’s the point in that?”
“So the Celestials won’t hold a grudge against their kin, usually. Once a fae is on the correct side of the fringe, past discretions concerning the fringe are forgiven. Hurting or killing a Celestial typically is not. Not socially, at any rate. It is lawful, but it is…frowned upon. As I said, they hold a grudge.”
“Oh.” She shrugged. “Well, they can hardly blame me. It wasn’t my choice to come through here. I’m just protecting myself. And anyway, I’m human. Surely they’ll be more embarrassed than pissed that I bested that one.”
He studied her for another long moment. “Very likely.” He glanced back at the mouth of the opening, and she belatedly realized the vines and thorns had pulled away, leaving most of the space bare. She mentioned that as the Celestial beyond the sheen straightened slowly, two more dropping to his side, before turning to look in at them. Except…it didn’t seem like he could really see. He looked to the right of where Daisy stood.
“I chased away the opening’s deterrent. They’ll crawl back in as soon as I pull away my magic.” Tarian looked at the side of his arm where the spear had glanced off. Dark veins spread from the wound, as though his blood had been poisoned. He glanced ather, straightening. “It hasn’t been. It’s my magic fighting the magic coating their spear. I’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve been struck by one of their weapons. I have the power necessary to thwart it.”
He ran his fingers through his unruly hair, wilder with his loose curls than any of the Celestials, and a few shades darker. It wasn’t cut straight across the shoulders like theirs, either. It made him look more rugged. Fiercer.
He looked out at the three Celestials still gathered at the barrier’s opening. They leaned toward each other, speaking, but the words didn’t reach beyond the sheen.
“How do you usually get past them without help?” she asked.
He turned to look deeper into the cavern. “I’ve never seen so many descend. Not since I’ve been coming through. Not even when they more thoroughly populated the fringe. If they’d come at me like this in the past, I wouldn’t have gotten by. Not a chance.” He shook his head, glancing behind again. “They don’t usually guard these entrances, either. They don’t land.” He ran his bottom lip over his teeth before looking at her, his expression dark. Grave.
“What?” she said again.
“Nothing,” he finally replied. “It’s a good thing I have what I need, because I’m not sure I could make my way back out. We surprised them this time. Theyaren’t often slow to compensate. They’ll come up with a new strategy, and next time, they won’t fail.”
Her heart dropped. That didn’t bode well for her future attempt to get out of this place. Then again, maybe they wouldn’t be so hostile if it was just a human trying to go home.
