I stepped forward, unable to believe that I’d somehow got rid of two of them.Did I kill them or just send them back to the fae realm? What is that black fog?
A tendril curled in the air toward me. My fingers itched to touch it, to somehow discern its chemical makeup.I’m staring at something that has literally been formed in the multiverse. It’s astounding?—
The ground rumbled. I leapt back as more fae poured from the fissure – this time they were tall and slim and humanoid and wearing the green tunics of the Seelie, with curved bone knives on their belts and elegant recurve bows slung over their shoulders. Arthur sliced the head off one as soon as he reached for his quiver. Flynn and Rowan leapt on another one, Rowan flinging the bow away while Flynn stabbed at its chest.
“They’ve been baptised,” one fae yelled as he tried to push Flynn into the abyss. The crack closed up beneath him, and Flynn’s hands broke his fall against the hard marble. “Leave the witches. The others will make an adequate sacrifice.”
What the fuck does that even mean?
Those who were baptised seemed to be unable to fall into the cracks, but I knew for a fact that I was the only one of my coven who’d been baptised. Why didn’t Flynn fall into the hole?
Tears brimmed in my eyes as I realised how hopeless it was. Dead bodies littered the floor – some fae, too many human. Blood – both red and green – stained the pew cushions. The guys were tiring, their swings erratic, their breathing heavy and labored. More fae would keep coming. Eventually they would bring us all down.
You’re protected. They can’t get to you. Get to Jane. Save Connor.
I turned to run to the altar, but Blake’s voice froze me in my tracks. “Liah, what are you doing?”
The words trembled on his lips. I turned, fearing what I’d see.
A tall fae with white-blonde braids that swung almost to the floor faced Blake, her eyes cold and cruel. Her right hand was missing, and a barbaric wooden contraption had been tied to the stump and fitted to the nocking points so she could draw the bow.
But that wasn’t what turned my blood cold.
A green-tipped arrow sat in the bow, its vicious point aimed at my chest. The fae pulled back the string until it was taut against her cheek.
“Hello, Blake,” she said evenly, her voice as chilling as the ocean on a stormy day. “Hello, Princess. I hope you’re ready to die.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
BLAKE
My mouth dried up. The church and the Far Darrigs and the void and the cowering vicar and the clashing of coven and fae ceased to exist.
All I was aware of was that poisoned arrow aimed at Maeve’s chest.
The world stopped.
Liah’s lips turned up into a smile.
“You’re not supposed to kill her,” I said, a last desperate effort to reason with her. “Daigh will be unhappy.”
“Maybe the plan has changed.” Liah straightened her arm. “Or maybe I know how to wound the princess without killing her. Or maybe I just don’t care anymore. Which answer will cause you the most pain? Because that will be the truth.”
I didn’t even think. I stepped in front of Maeve, shielding her body with mine.
The act was pointless. Liah’s arrow would tear through my chest, and the poison would kill me even before the organ damage and blood loss could take me out. My corpse would fall over and Maeve would be exposed again, and Liah had many more arrows.
And yet, the act didn’tfeelpointless. It felt like the most important thing I’d ever done.
Liah lifted an eyebrow. “Feeling selfless for once, Blake Beckett? Your sacrifice will be in vain.”
I nodded, folding my arms across my chest. “I know.”
“Blake.” Maeve’s hand gripped my shoulder, her voice a knife tearing through my chest. My whole life she’d been a story told to me by Daigh, a mythological princess I was supposed to wed so that the fae kingdom could be restored on earth. She’d been my only hope for a life outside my prison. But now that I’d found her, I saw how much more she was. I didn’t want to ever leave her.
But her life mattered more.
Behind Liah’s back, Corbin dragged his dagger from a Seelie’s skull. He met my eyes. As soon as he noticed the arrow he leapt into action, shoving his way through the battling fae struggling to toss the last of the humans into the fissures.Maybe my sacrifice will buy them enough time to save Maeve.
