Corbin.
He lay crumpled at the foot of the stake, the wood piercing his chest. Charred skin peeled from his bones, and his head slumped against his shoulder like he was sleeping. Blood smeared the stake where he’s slid down its smooth surface. Adeep wound in his side still trickled with blood – likely the wound that killed him.
At least, I hoped it killed him. I hoped he hadn’t been alive when they did this.
Dead. Corbin’s dead.
The news hit me like a cold shower, shocking my body. Corbin was a force of nature – as strong and immovable as the walls of Briarwood – and to see him reduced to this degradation was more than I could bear. I didn’t want to leave him here to suffer further humiliation, but I was out of time. I had to get Kelly away from the fire and the fae, or we’d both be joining him.
Numb with grief, I scrambled across the shuddering earth, and made it to where Kelly lay.
“Untie me,” she begged. I sliced through her ropes with my sword. Black fog licked my shoulders, searing my skin with every caress. I threw Kelly over my shoulder and ran up the meadow, looking for a good spot to jump back over the crack. My eyes watered from the smoke and pain, and I stumbled as my foot caught the edge of the fissure.
“I’ll take her,” a voice yelled. Jane crashed into me. Through the fog and smoke all I could make out of her was two eyes blazing. I flung Kelly at Jane, who drew her arms around her neck and hobbled up the hill toward the circle of witches.
I made to follow her, but fresh rage bubbled inside me.
Corbin.Was I just going to leave him there on the battlefield?
Like fuck I was.
I turned back to the carnage. The inky blackness obscured much of the battle, but from the shouts and cries I knew the others also had use of their magic. A fae sprinted from the darkness, falling on me with bone blade raised. I stepped forward and opened a deep wound in his belly. He fell to his knees and collapsed in the dirt as I jerked my blade free.
I plunged into the blackness, ignoring the sting of the fog as it slid over my skin and tried to draw me in. I knew it couldn’t drag me down with it because of Aline’s baptism. I stumbled blindly in the direction of the stakes. I wouldn’t dishonour Corbin’s memory by leaving his body in the hands of the fae. I would give him this last honour, for everything he had given me.
A body brushed against my arm. A fae yelled out. I twisted my body and felt my sword slide home. Fire boiled in my veins as I took another life. Red welts circled in the blackness.
The fae killed Corbin. I wouldn’t rest until I bathed in their blood.
I swung wildly, not caring who or what I hit, living for the screams and the acrid scent of their blood in the air. I didn’t even stop to watch them go down. I hacked and slashed and burned my way through their ranks as I fought to reach my friend.
My arm brushed against a hard object. A stake. No longer able to see, I felt down its length, but it was empty. I stepped over it and moved to the next one.
Here he is.My hand brushed Corbin’s head. Cold, dry skin flaked away in my fingers. I lifted his body up, sliding it off the stake. The wood pulled at his flesh, trying to keep him. But I was stronger. I slid his body off the end, lifted it over my shoulder, and ran.
No one stopped me. Fae leapt out of my way as I barrelled through their ranks and vaulted over the gaping fissure, no longer afraid of it’s murky depths. My boots slammed into the earth, and I kept on running, Villagers screamed as I sprinted past them. My sword arm itched for more blood.
I’ll make them pay. I’ll make them all pay.
CHAPTER THREE
THREE: MAEVE
The fae moved through the panicking villagers, slicing them with their vicious bone knives. Behind them the black fog swirled. Dark tendrils curled toward us, seeking new victims.
Flynn tugged at my arm. I knew I had to get to Blake, but my body froze as the black fog swirled higher, completely obscuring the fire and the stakes behind it.Corbin’s back there.And Kelly.The numbness settled over me, pinning me in place.
“Maeve, we have to…Mother Mary,” Flynn breathed.
A huge shape barrelled out of the fog. Light from the fires flickered across it, illuminating black clothing torn and splattered with green blood, and features twisted in wretched vengeance. A dark shape like a backpack hung over its shoulder, and above its head, moonlight caught the edge of a steel blade.
Arthur.
He moved like a giant from mythology, crushing his foes beneath him. Sparks trailed from his sword as he swung at the fae, and an orange aura encircled his body – his rage manifesting as blazing skin.
Never before had I seen a person look so out of time, so not of the earth.
“Get everyone behind the wards,” Arthur yelled, lunging forward on one knee to slice through a fae’s arm. Screams followed in his wake as he cut down the fae with one hand, the other holding that bloody lump over his shoulder.
