His cry rang out like a death toll—all for us—attacking right in our direction, a physical blow of Fae power.
A horrible shiver ran down my back as I felt a death sentence imprinting upon my chest,claws of death and unimaginable heat mashing into my very being. I blinked lethargically and fell to my knees, unable to stand, with a fever searing me from inside.
A distinctive thump landed next to me.
And suddenly, the skeletons started to fall to the ground, becoming piles of bones once more, just as my soul mate reappeared in my vision before me on his knees, panting and blinking blurrily and shivering as I was. The shifterhuffedand lunged forward, wrapping me in his massive arms as we slowly crumbled to the ground, covering me with his massively muscled frame and knocking the hot air from my lungs.
“Well now,” Father snarled furiously, his attention snapping from us as he jumped forward, directly between the howling Fae and our collapsing forms. He twirled his daggers as the last skeleton tumbled to the grass, along with Bishop and me landing on the unforgiving ground. Marlon rolled his shoulders and grinned the smile of a killer at the beast. “It appears that it’s just you and me. How about I make you shimmer in Fae death so you’ll quit that confounded howling?”
I grabbed at my chest where the imprint of death was burning me up, gasping in great gulps of oxygen that didnothingto help. I barely whispered the one word I knew for certain, “Punisher.”
Father’s smile grew as he took a defensive stance, his violet eyes trained on the barking and manic monster. “Now…that does make sense.” He chuckled as he held back on his attack. “Those rules where you cannot attack without a Fae crime must be a real fucking riot when someone’s standing in your way. That’s a bitch of a leash the king and queen put on you.”
The punisher’s three heads snarled between my father and us, lying on the ground, slinking ever closer to our prone positions.
“I do not think so,” Father whispered, moving with him, keeping the bloody creature back. “Why don’t you take your leave and try this another time? You won’t win this battle today.” He leaned forward and flashed his fangs. “Look around you, Punisher. You are surrounded.”
The Fae slowly stopped moving, snarling softly and quietly, as his three heads lifted from his targets—us—and scanned his surroundings.
I choked on a gasp of air, unable to get enough oxygen, as I squinted into the lemon-yellow sunlight.
Royal guards.They wereeverywhere.
My gaze dragged back to my soul mate.
Honey-brown, dazed eyes captured mine.
We were unable to move.
…but we couldn’t look away.
The punisher flicked his heads back and forth between us and the royal guards, sidling closer, judging his chances for survival, before he threw his head back andhowledwrathfully.
Then he raced away.
I groaned softly as the burning fire inside my chest started to lessen. Then, with each of the Fae’s paws hitting the ground, jarring the very realm beneath me and moving further away, I sucked in my first breath of air in what felt like forever.
But I was Fae damneddrained.
Father instantly lowered and grabbed me under my arms, yanking me out into a sitting position from under my soul mate. He squatted behind me, holding up my limp body as he barked orders, “Someone follow that Fae! And get the shifter inside.” My father inhaled deeply as he glanced about the castle grounds. “And get these skeletons littered about out of sight.”
I blinked slowly as my head thumped back on my father’s shoulder. I slurred almost drunkenly, “You have some explaining to do, shifter.”
Bishop peered up from the ground, his shifter eyes hardly open, just as weak as I was. “If you want to explain why bones are all over your king’s backyard…I’m willing to talk.”
I stared for a long second and then snorted. “Apparently, neither one of us has anything to say.”
“Quite so.” The shifter closed his eyes and garbled a truth under his breath, “It’s part of the white power. Nothing to worry about, even if you miss seeing my handsome face.”
My delirious chuckle was winded as overtiredness sapped the last of my remaining energy, my entire body sagging against my father as the day finally decided I was Fae fucking done.
Confines of an elf:
To be defenseless against a greater foe is not something I am used to, nor do I particularly like it.
It requires asking others for assistance when I have been self-reliant for hundreds of years, the elf that people go to for help.
This is all rather…humbling.
