I patted the gun at my back. “Not entirely. There’s one last iron bullet in here. I just would have had to go through a few rounds to get to it.”
“That was,” Connor paused, considering his best choice of words. “Impressive.”
He meant impulsive. Reckless. Dumb. All of those words fit.
“Who were those guys anyways?”
Over the year that I’d known him, it had slowly become clear that Connor was a bit of a badass. His fighting skills among the best I’d ever seen. They shouldn’t have been able to give him as hard a time as they did.
“They’re called the Luigseach. Elite agents of the Summer King.” At the sharp look I gave him, Connor nodded. “Yes, I agree. It’s a cause for concern that they’re in this city.”
I’d say.
There were a lot of reasons to be worried that the Summer King’s influence had reached all the way to my doorstep. The least of which was because I’d played a major role in his daughter’s death. The other one—the one that would destroy everything if it ever got out—was that I was the biological daughter of his greatest enemy.
Oh yeah. And I was a magic breaker.
Any one of those were enough for me to pack my bag and head for the hills to hide out for the next few centuries.
“What are the chances they’ll make good on their threat and return?” I asked.
“They don’t make threats. Only promises.”
Great.
I nodded at the ravine. “In that case, what do you say we go take a look at whoever they were after? I’m curious as to who they’d risk offending Thomas over.”
Our master wasn’t a being you trifled with lightly.
“I’m curious about that as well.”
Together, we walked the short distance to the ravine where the Fae’s quarry hid. From the traces of green and yellow magic that I could see in the air, I had a feeling I knew who I would find.
A few seconds later, we stopped at the edge of the ravine and stared down into its shadows.
I focused on the remains of a fallen tree where the magic was the strongest. Someone had cast a powerful illusion spell to hide whoever was there.
“You might as well come out. I know you’re there.”
three
Tree branches creaked fromthe light wind while we waited for what felt like an endless moment.
When the spell finally dropped so did my jaw.
“What the hell happened to you?” I scanned the pixie standing on top of the fallen tree. “Is that blood?”
Red was smeared on Inara’s clothes and across her face. Her hair was disheveled and there were scrapes all over the exposed parts of her skin. The normally brilliant greens and yellows that decorated her wings were muted. A side effect of her magic being expended.
“Where’s Lowen?” I asked, glancing around for her consort.
The resulting silence and the sudden grief crowding the lines of her features made my stomach sink.
I moistened suddenly dry lips, fearing the answer to my next question “Is he dead?”
Inara’s expression threatened to crumple before it went flat. “I don’t know.”
I nodded, trying not to react to that admission. I had a feeling if I showed any emotion Inara might break. She was barely holding it together as it was.
