“Go for the bow. It’s his weakness. He’ll defend it like a limb.”
Three things happened simultaneously.
Isanara flapped through the air—she could, in fact, fly—landing in front of me in a flash of iridescent wings that reflected the diluted gray sunlight and transformed it into a shimmering combination of purple, emerald, and sapphire. She was even more beautiful in flight. But I had less than a second to appreciate it, because at the same moment, I spotted the owner of that haughty voice.
Alize’s golden skin should have marked her out instantly. Her fae speed and the wind she commanded were the only reasonable explanations for how she’d managed to get so close. She leaned against a tree where the stone cliff edge jutted away.A good shove, and she’d go right over the edge. Just like she fucking deserved.
Power flowed uncontrolled from my hands, frost coating the slate beneath our feet, reaching for the fae. The frost thickened, solidifying to ice. Spikes rose up, encircling Alize from every angle and penning her in against the tree. She did not flinch at the display of power.
Isanara threw back her head and roared, a terrifying, feral sound much bigger than a dragon her size should have been able to make.“She is stained.”
“What does that mean?”I took a step to come stand beside my familiar. She countered with one of her own, keeping herself firmly in front of me.
Isanara turned her head and snapped her jaws at me over her shoulder.“Got it. Stay behind you. Message received.”
“She has committed the ultimate crime.”
The Justice Gate. It had nearly driven me to flee the gates to be reminded of my crime. But what of Alize and Garrick? I had been so focused on my own misdeed, I had not dwelled long on theirs. One of them was an attempted murderer, the other a successful one.
The latter had moved slowly but steadily to angle himself between the three of us. One under his protection, one from his past, and one teenager with fangs. Even I felt a bit bad for him. But all other emotions lost out to my anger.
Garrick the Red was a bounty hunter. I’d known from the outset that he had blood on his hands. But Alize was worse. She was fae. Her kind was responsible for every terrible thing that had happened to my family.
I hated her. For my sisters, for my mother, for myself. And even for Garrick. He hated the fae blood in his veins. Why wouldn’t he? I understood what he did not say—that his motherhad been raped by a fae male, that he was the outcome of that brutality. He had as much reason to hate the fae as I did.
But it was not hate shining out of his eyes. Nor was it the snarling mask he’d tried before. I knew him too well now. I recognized the crinkle around his eyes, the slight divot between his pale brows, and the thrumming pulse in his throat. He was worried.
Fuck. That.
I was through being protected. “Get out of here before I unleash the rest of my power.”
A slow smile climbed Alize’s mouth, a joyless thing that rounded her cheeks but kindled no warmth in her features. She traced the path of my ice across the cliffside and up to my hands before skimming right over me, past Isanara, shockingly, and on to Garrick.
The frost in my veins solidified into icy shards.
“She is a witch. The Dark God gifted her with power. She should use it,” Alize said to Garrick.
“I am right here. Speak to me directly,” I seethed.
“Should I burn her?”Isanara growled.
“Can you breathe fire?”
Isanara remained silent. I’d suspected as much from my observations, but it was a little concerning to have them confirmed. She was more vulnerable than I’d realized.“My fangs will do just fine.”
She snapped those fangs in Alize’s direction, advancing several steps. My power moved in tandem, the spikes of ice that encircled Alize lengthening by several inches.
Alize made a show of removing one of her pale leather gloves and reaching out to touch the pointed tip of a spike with her finger. A tiny pinprick of blood formed. She lifted her hand to her lips and sucked the blood away from her fingertip.
The rich, noxious scent of her fae blood attacked my senses, anyway. The wind that swirled around us could not be coincidental. My power surged again in response, and I did not reach for any of the techniques that Tomin had taught me to leash it. I unfurled my palms and let the power?—
“Don’t.” Garrick’s hand curled around mine.
My power immediately responded to his touch, even as my mind struggled to catch up. He wanted me to spare her. He’d spent more than a month training me to protect myself, but when I was finally confronted with the opportunity to kill the fae bitch, he protected her.
Not me.
I jerked my hand away.
