Avery didn’t hesitate as she let the axe fly through the air, striking the Hunter true in the skull.
The man let out a stilted groan as he crumpled into the blanket of snow. Black, tainted blood oozed and bubbled from his wound.
The guard sent to capture the man came running up to Avery, circling her in a protective stance until they saw the deceased fae lying in the snow.
The magic that had coursed through her veins drained as her adrenaline rush descended. She dropped to her knees in front of the man that she’d just slain. Her breath came in fast, desperate gasps. The man’s dark eyes glazed open at her and she knew she was going to be sick. She’d mercilessly butchered a man without hesitation.
She tried to clean herself up as best as she could in the snow. Savine knelt beside her, pulling her against his chest and she let out a long, mournful wail.
“I just killed him! The magic consumed me and I wanted him dead. I didn’t even hesitate. He nearly killed you and I couldn’t let him live doing that to you.”
Garnel rode up the flower-strewn path holding Jari’s reins. The elk threw his head up at being so close to another powerful bull elk, but Garnel’s grip was strong.
Savine took Jari’s reins and tugged Avery up before climbing behind her. He whispered soft soothing words in her ear as they began their ride back to the King’s Residence.
Eventually, he spoke. “What you did is natural, to strike back against someone who threatens your soulmate. It’s not something you need to be ashamed of—that Hunter wanted all of us dead. I’ll have the known portals watched night and day. There will be no more getting through. If they do, their life is forfeit. They are an enemy of the queen, and will not be allowed to live.”
“I don’t think I should touch the relic again. Not until we understand what the Goddess wants with it. Also, I thought the relic was supposed to be a bone, not a bowl.”
Avery felt Savine press his hand against the shape of a bowl in his coat pocket. “Perhaps there is more than one in Latiah.”
Chapter 37
Kyla
Kyla raced back to Orofine. The heartbeat of Rue’s fox form grew weaker with the beat of her elk’s hooves through the snow. While she could practice healing using tinctures, salves, and care, she couldn’t save someone through her essence. Sticky blood turned her white fur coat crimson. Rue had splinters embedded throughout her thick coat, but from what Kyla could tell, only a few of the wood shards punctured her flesh. It was bad enough for her to lose blood, but Kyla prayed that it wasn’t going to kill her.
Her prayers to the Goddess hadn’t come naturally off her tongue lately. She found herself daily praying to Mother Althealess and less as she watched her soulmate mourn the loss of his bear, and the shame of his house arrest. Yet now, she prayed with a fervency that she hadn’t experienced since Garnel was near death.
She couldn’t lose this young friend who’d become so dear to her over the course of a few short months. Rue brought laughter and light to her day that she hadn’t experienced many times in her life.
When she reached the hidden door to Hyacinth’s private rooms, she slid off her elk, telling her to find Jay as she carried the weakening bundle in her arms. Up the stairs she ran until she pounded on Hyacinth’s door.
Hyacinth opened it immediately, and Kyla walked into her cozy healing room to see the other Bayberry healer, Maud, joining Hyacinth for tea. In all that had happened over the weeks, Kyla had completely forgotten about the woman, and whether she’d been punished by Savine for not healing Avery properly.
Perhaps she, like many others from Jasper’s regime, had been quietly dismissed. She was proud of how her brother was handling the transition to power. Trusting Darby’s judgment on who was staunchly loyal to Jasper and who could be swayed into serving Savine. The interviews that Garnel and Raikin had conducted in the first month while Kyla was in Nephel seemed to attest to what Darby had said.
Hyacinth hurried to Kyla’s side, taking the small bundle into her arms. Her little friend hardly felt like she was still with her.
“It’s Rue. There was an attack on the King and Queen, and Rue got between the blast.”
Hyacinth jumped. “Oh dear! Maud, I’ll need your help when the other injuries arrive. Prepare the side rooms for patients.”
Kyla shook her head. “Rue was the only injury. Avery formed that barrier again to protect us and it shielded the others fromharm. I think Rue was too far ahead to be protected from the blast.”
“Would you like my assistance?” Maud asked.
Hyacinth shook her head, hurrying the fox to the bed.
“I will leave you to your patient then. Again, thank you for your time, Hyacinth.”
Hyacinth gave a quick shake of her arm, waving the woman off. “You’ll do well to return to our folk. It’s been too long.”
She turned to Kyla as the door clicked shut behind Maud. “I’ll try to heal her in her fox form. If she shifts with these injuries she could cause serious damage.”
Kyla knew a thing or two about injured shifter fae, after fighting side by side with them for twenty-five years. They had to heal in the form they were injured in, or shifting could lead to dire consequences. It was hard enough on a shifter’s essence to switch forms, but when their body was healing it could be a death sentence.
Kyla watched, always in awe of how the Bayberry healers worked. How they deftly handled tinctures and essence seamlessly at one time, bringing swift healing to an injured fae. She realized she was holding her breath as she waited for a sign that Rue was healing.
