Shadow Dash glared at the human. “Lock him in the dungeon for now.”
“No! Not again!” Fort whined.
Marthen moved toward them and held the parchment out to Naomi. “There’s something not right about this spell.”
Dove hesitated with Fort.
“What does that mean?” Tanis asked.
“These aren’t the right items to kill him.”
Ryper pulled out Renata’s wand, then paled. “This isn’t a golden wand, either.” He held his hand up for them to see the gold that had come off in his palm. “It’s a fake.”
Tanis’s stomach shrank at the sight. “It’s a white horn.” Hopefully one taken from a dead unicorn and not an innocent child.
The human paled. “He double crossed me?”
Dove smirked. “You’re surprised?”
His eyes darkened with fury. “He’s after the king’s horn. Said it was more powerful and for me to distract you while he cut it from the king’s head.”
That news hit Tanis like a slap.
Dear gods! She turned toward the Shadow Dash, but he was gone. Terror consumed her as she ran back through the palace to Dash’s bedroom.
As soon as she reached it, she threw open the doors.
To her complete horror, there was an imp on the bed, sawing through Dash’s horn with a dagger.
“No!” She ran at the grimy little varmint. “Get away from him.”
The imp turned on her with a hiss. “You want to fight?” He motioned her to come at him as he held his dagger out toward her.
Tanis backed up...
Until she remembered the armor she was wearing. With a fierce roar, she ran at him. He slashed at her arm, but her armor caught the weapon and kept it.
Gasping, he tried to run, but she wasn’t having any of that. She caught him and was planning to toss him on the ground. Instead, he flipped up and the spindles on his head slashed her across the face.
She hissed in pain.
He pulled out Renata’s horn and plunged it deep into her shoulder. Unlike his dagger, it penetrated her armor. Koji screamed in pain.
Honestly, she felt like crying out, too, as her shoulder throbbed.
But there was no way she was going to allow this creature to leave this room with that wand. Not when it meant so much to Dash.
The imp twirled it in his hand. “What’s the matter? Afraid of an imp?” He lunged at her.
Tanis caught his wrist and stepped into arms, using her weight to knock him off balance. The two of them went crashing to the floor. With both hands on his wrist, she made sure to keep him from stabbing her again while she wrestled him for that wand.
The wretched bastard wrapped his other hand in her hair, jerked her head back and bit her in the neck.
Furious, she headed butted him as she twisted his hand and finally wrenched the wand loose.
The moment she did, he shrank in size and ran toward the window.
Turning into a hawk, Ronan scooped him up with his claws. The imp immediately grew large, causing Ronan to fall.
