I resisted the urge to jump away through the void, following the scent through the trees, knowing I was getting closer and afraid of moving too far.
But walking was slow. Walking over the frosty debris on the forest floor was even slower. No one had ever taught me to track. I was relying on all the fae abilities in my veins. It would be enough. That, and the cold rage inside of me, would be enough to find them.
I carefully maneuvered over a stream, extending my legs as far as they would reach. It took all of the muscles in my core to keep my balance and not go pitching forward into the icy water. The humans and their fae companions had not been so careful. They’d trudged through the stream, leaving deep tracks in the thick mud. I hardly needed to, but by now it was habit. I lifted my face and inhaled deeply—just as the wind shifted.
And my heart stopped.
One hand went to my ear, checking the amorite studs that lined it. Not that I was in any danger of possession, being female. They were a comfort nonetheless. But it was the blade I drew from my waist that would save me. In the filtered light of the pine forest, turned silver by cold and frost, I could just see the swirls of amorite blended into the metal blade itself.
The only thing that could slay a human taken by the darkness—the succubus—was an amorite blade. Fire could hold them back, but they’d rise again eventually. We’d learned that in the jungle clearing before Isolde had rescued us from the horde of death.
I moved in silence. I had no idea if they could smell or how they sought their prey. They’d managed to clamber through thethick vines and trees of the jungle, so they must have some sentience. But did they hunt? Were they searching for the same thing as I was?
Every instinct in my body screamed in unison—run.
I had spent twenty years learning to survive, honing my body into a weapon to ensure that no matter who or what attacked me, I would be able to face them. Now, I had my power as well. I could step though the void and escape them.
But the time to run had past.
I forced my legs to move forward, the muscles of my powerful thighs to keep me going in a steady, silent rhythm. Closer. Closer. Until the scent of that black bile filled my nose and the cold began to permeate my bones.
I was close. It had to be just behind the next tree, so close I started scanning. The trees above my head, the branches—I imagined I’d find a black demon of death, squatting above my head. But there was nothing. No unwieldly clambering through the frosty forest. Just cold and that awful, awful scent of death and decay.
My gaze traveled down, below my direct line of sight—
Every muscle froze. My fingers did not tremble, my heart did not beat. But I was too late. It had seen me or heard me or scented me.
At the base of another massive pine tree, the dark-shrouded form rose. Pushing itself up from the ground, a jagged bone poking out of one of the elbows, it turned those unseeing black eyes to me. The mangled jaw fell open in what might have once been a smile. But noxious black bile poured from its mouth as it hauled itself up. Tried to—and failed.
My eyes began to sort out what I was seeing. The legs were not just mangled—they were gone entirely. Only the upper torso of the fae male remained.
Fae.
But that did not slow it.
It began clawing its way across the ground, an unearthly strength lining those desiccated muscles that should have been unable to move. Whatever senses remained honed in upon me. That gaping black maw would tear me wide open, feasting on my flesh until there was nothing left to heal, nothing for my companions to find.
I did not have to think. A few yards of frozen pine needles separated me from the monster. I made use of every inch, digging in my heels and launching myself forward. I came down on top of it, the lines of the wolf carved into the pommel of my dagger digging into my palm. My wolf was with me as I slammed the knife into the creature’s neck, the tip lodging in the dirt below.
The succubus stopped moving immediately, but I did not. I pressed all my weight into my knee, pinned in its back, and sawed my dagger side to side. I did not flinch at the crunch of bone or the crackle of frozen pine needles as the succubus’ head rolled off of the remnants of its body.
I dragged in a breath, nearly gagging at the reek.
There was no trace of fae scent left on him. There wasn’t much left of him at all. The pointed fae ears were the only way I knew.
It wasn’t a fae I’d killed. It was a succubus. Not him—her. All the succubus were female.
It was time to start calling them what they were. No more nightwalkers, no more talk of possessions or being taken by the darkness. I’d killed a succubus. I suspected I would kill many more before this was all over.
I recognized the remnants of clothing beneath the black poison. One of the fae warriors who’d fought at Gorlois’ command. All of them had worn amorite pendants in the clearing. It was supposed to protect from this…
Even as new fear and alarm lit in my gut, I kicked over the remains, toeing around with my boot. There was no amorite pendant, no earring, anywhere to be seen. Maybe the amorite pendants had not been about the succubus at all. Gorlois had certainly known about the effects of the cursed clearing, the way it prevented healing and preyed on the mind. Maybe that was all he had known. And when the warriors retreated, when this one stupidly removed the amorite…
The shiver that snaked down my spine had nothing to do with the ice encasing my heart or the descending cold of late afternoon.
Taliya had spoken true. The succubus could overtake the mind of a fae.
If they had come to the human realm, they would come to Annwyn. I might be afraid to jump between realms, but the succubus was not. They had come for the human messenger sent from Eldermist, held in the bowels of the goldstone palace all those months ago. Now they would come for my kingdom as well.
