It all happened so fast that, for a moment, I have no idea what I’m looking at.
Then the ice spreads downwards in a flash, quickly encasing the knife and the hand that is holding it.
Reality snaps back into me as more ice shoots through the air, trapping the would-be assassin in place.
Orion lets out a humorless huff of both amusement and disappointment. “Damn. Almost worked.”
Fury flashes over Bane’s face as he stalks across the ground towards Orion. Jessina is still staring wide-eyed down at the knife that is frozen in ice just a hair’s breadth from her heart. Because of the ice that is now encasing his body, Orion remains frozen in place as well. As if time has stopped moving.
I shift my gaze from the knife that almost killed Jessina, down to Orion’s hand, which is holding the blade, along his arm, and then over his body.
One moment, he was down on one knee with his head bowed. Then, right in the middle of his own sentence, he yanked up his arm and rammed a knife straight at Jessina’s heart. And because he was so close, it almost worked.
Almost.
“You slippery little snake,” Emperor Bane growls as he reaches the three of us.
With rough movements, he shoves his hands out and snaps an iron collar shut around Orion’s neck. The Unseelie King sucks in a hiss between his teeth, but Bane’s ice is still keeping him immobile. And after the contact with all that iron earlier, he barely had any strength left to begin with.
Stunned, I shift my gaze up to Orion’s face. “You…”
“How easily you all doubted me,” he replies, an exhausted half-smile on his face. “If I had a heart, I would be wounded.”
A pang of guilt hits me straight through the chest, but before I can respond, Bane grabs Orion by the collar and makes the ice vanish. With a harsh yank, he throws the Unseelie King to the ground and shoves his boot down on Orion’s wrist, forcing him to press his naked palm flat against the massive pile of melted iron underneath us.
Another sharp hiss rips from Orion’s throat as the strength of the iron, due to its sheer massive size, sucks every drop of energy out of his body again.
“As untrustworthy as all fae,” Bane grinds out while removing his boot and straightening again. “We should?—”
“Hold her,” Jessina interrupts.
The utter coldness in her voice makes dread explode inside me and ice crawl down my spine.
To my left, Grey and Hana are stirring. They probably still won’t be able to use magic. At least not yet. But if we can just stall the Icehearts until then, maybe we have a chance.
At her words, Bane looks up at Jessina in surprise. But then he just moves to my other side, slides out a blade, and presses it against my throat while taking a firm grip on my upper arm.
Across the ash-covered ground, Draven flexes his hand and clenches his jaw. Murder shines in his eyes as he looks at Bane, and lightning still crackles along his arms and across his massive black wings as he begins to take a half step forward.
“I grow weary of watching your little lightning show, Shadow of Death. So you’re going to have to decide,” Bane taunts as he presses his blade harder against my throat. “Shoot that lightning at us, or extinguish it and stand down. If you attack, you will most likely succeed in killing at least one of us, and then you might have a shot at winning this war and freeing this world from our rule. However, the moment you shoot, I slit Selena’sthroat. You can’t have both, Draven.” A vicious smile stretches his lips. “So, what’s it going to be?”
The lightning immediately disappears from Draven’s body, and he stops trying to move forward.
“Draven,” I breathe.
His eyes are grave as he holds my gaze. “If it’s a choice between you and the world, I choose you every single time.”
Emperor Bane snickers. “Exactly. So stay where you are. Because if I see so much as a single bolt of lightning dancing over your fingers, I will slit her throat without hesitation.”
Fury burns in Draven’s eyes as he drags his gaze to Bane, but with the threat to my life, he can’t do anything about it.
Once Bane has me entirely at his mercy, Jessina releases my other arm. Ruthless fury, cold like the space between the stars, burns in her pale gray eyes as she stalks over to where Orion is lying and grabs him by the collar of his shirt.
With a firm grip, she yanks him up from the ground and deposits him on his knees instead. Orion, still dazed from the contact with so much iron, can do nothing but let her move him around like a limp doll.
“You thought you could kill me?” Empress Jessina demands, her voice tinged with insanity. “You thought you could put your filthy fae hands on me?”
On the iron ground a short distance away, Isera is still lying on her side. Her cheek remains pressed against the melted metal, draining her energy and making her unable to move. But rage flares up like hellfire in her eyes at Jessina’s words.
