The two men immediately focus on me, while the woman’s focus is raised to the sky behind me.
Icy-blue power rages around her right hand as she draws back her arm and flings the snowstorm she created into the air.
I duck instinctively, forced to stop running, the hairs on my upper arms and at the back of my neck standing on end, ashiver rocking my body at the freezing temperature of the energy that flies over my head.
The woman’s icy power storms across the air and collides with the fireball.
Crack!The two powers explode against each other, and I expect a dangerous fallout, but instead, the air clears.
The fire is gone, but so is the ice.
The woman snarls, “Fucking Ember Fae. Always causing a mess.”
The cold smile on her lips tells me she doesn’t care about the people who would have died in that fire, only that a blaze so close by would be an inconvenience to her right now.
Her focus on the sky gives me the seconds I need to identify the narrow alleyway between buildings to my right, a viable escape.
I launch myself toward the shadowed pass, but I barely make it two steps before a ball of snow shoots past my left shoulder, casting an icy burn across the air that draws a cry to my lips.
The snowball explodes against the nearest corner of the pass. Stalactites burst across the gap, jagged and sharp, and a wall of ice closes off the path before I can blink.
I seek safety in the direction I came from, only for another snowball to crash against the ground right in front of me, stalactites shooting upward, spreading in an arc, their sharp ends driving me back again.
Damn, damn, damn!
I’m forced to face my attackers. Both men stand with their arms raised in my direction, their power churning visibly around their hands and forearms, snowflakes building with every passing second.
The woman, on the other hand, seems unconcerned about my presence. Overly serene. Her demeanor is chillingas her focus remains on the sky, watching the battle raging in the distance.
The man to her left keeps his gaze on me as he grumbles, “Your intervention was reckless, Lilis. Our enemies will know we’re here now.”
The woman—whose name is apparently Lilis—shrugs. “They would have expected us anyway.” Her smile vanishes. “We’reallhere for the same thing.”
“The female Oracle,” the man says through his teeth.
My stomach sinks at the confirmation they’re here for me.
Technically, I’m not the Oracle yet. There is only ever one Oracle at a time. I won’t come into my power until the day of my father’s death.
Even so, it’s just as Father warned me. I’m the reason the highborn have attacked. It’s my fault this violence is tearing the village apart.
But…
Do these fae know I’m their target?
On the chance they don’t, I’m not about to give myself away.
Lilis finally gives me her attention, pinning me with her bright, purple eyes.
“It seems we have a plaything.” She clicks her tongue, sickly false pity dripping from her voice. “Maybe this wretched, ugly creature will tell us where the Oracle is hiding.”
It’s now clear she doesn’t know it’s me. I shouldn’t be surprised. My father chose our lifestyle well. Along with the dull colors of my hair and eyes, my skin is weathered from hours spent in the sun. I even have calluses on my palms from days of hard work. My appearance is a far cry from the flawless beauty of these highborn.
I attempt to back away from Lilis, but I’m only able to move a few steps before the chilling temperature of the icicles burnsmy back and freezes the droplets of sweat on my neck and arms.
I’m trapped. No way forward. No way back.
The woman steps toward me, fresh power sizzling around her fingertips. “You will tell me everything you know, pathetic lowborn, or I will freeze you from the inside out and enjoy your screams.”
