But nothing happened.
Panic surged inside of me as my gaze flicked to the gun for a millisecond to see the black net had crawled up my hand and was holding the hammers back.
Shit.
When I looked back at her, she was already too close. With a maniacal scream, she slammed into my chest and knocked me backward.
I could only think of one thing as I fell backward and my head cracked the ground:How is she still alive with one arm and bleeding like that?
Pain exploded in my skull, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Bitch was coming at me hard. This was life or death, fight or flight.
My wolf wanted free, she wanted to show this demon what we were capable of. But I would have to do instead. The dark fey barreled at me and I kicked both of my feet right into her stomach as she tried to crawl on top of me. She grunted as my feet rammed into her gut, and then crumpled to the ground as I pushed her backward.
I popped onto my knees, using the shotgun like a baseball bat and swinging, cracking her upside her temple. Then I tore the black netting away from the hammers and brought the barrel to her forehead.
Bye, bitch.
I pulled the trigger and the gun kicked back into my shoulder as the force of the weapon blasted into her face. Bits of her brain exploded onto the ground. My ears whined at the loud bang and I stepped back in case she was going to pull some Terminator shit and regrow a brain or something. When the black netting started to disintegrate and fall to the ground in ashes, I knew she was finally dead.
Looking up to see if Sage and Walsh needed help, I was relieved to see their kills on the ground as well. Both looked at me, wide-eyed. No way would I have survived all three of those dark fey without Sage and Walsh’s help. Thank God I’d run into them.
“Are all dark fey like that?” I asked them both as I tried to get my heartrate back to a normal rhythm.
Sage shook her head. “Those were Munai, the dark fey high priestesses. It takes decades of dark magic studying to become a Munai.”
Well, that was horrifying, but also a relief. The Denai were the dark sect of witches, and the Munai were the dark sect of fey. The names were familiar, and I wondered if it were coincidence. Probably not.
I shivered thinking of the black netting and how it had flown from her mouth and seemed to be alive and connected to her. Gross.
“Get her fey blade and let’s move. Anyone within earshot will have heard that shotgun.” Walsh was human again and throwing his furs back over him.
Fey blade.
My eyes went to the dead body of the Munai. There at her hip was a small, dark gray metal dagger. It wasn’t a shiny silver, it appeared more like titanium; the hilt was heavily decorated and ornate.
Did I really want to use the dagger of a dead dark fey high priestess? No. Did I have a choice right now?
Also no.
Reaching down, I pulled the dagger from her hip and immediately felt the magical power from it. I could smell it as well, as if I were holding an electrical wire. The buzz of magic thrummed through it as the scent of hot wires reached my nose.
I swallowed hard and pulled out the incantation Sage had given me from Sawyer.
Please work.
Please.Fucking.Work.
My wolf surged to the surface in excitement and a jolt of electricity shot out from the cuff, causing me to whimper. She retreated and I felt her shame at causing me harm. I wanted to tell her it was okay, but mental speak would earn me another shock no doubt.
“We gotta move. Get those cuffs off.” Walsh doused the fire and hefted my pack as well as his own onto his back.
Without ceremony, I took the tip of the dagger and ran it down the cuff on my right arm like Madam Harcourt had that first day at Sterling Hill. It cut into the hard steel like butter and the cuff fell to the ground.
Relief surged through me at the site of seeing the broken cuff by the fire. I switched hands, slower this time, as it was not my dominant arm. My poor arms were so red and bloody, I didn’t want to injure myself further. When the second cuff fell to the ground, I half sobbed in relief.
Slipping the dagger into the back of my belt, I pulled out the piece of paper from my pocket that Sage had given me. I knew it was going to hurt, I’d nearly passed out when Eugene had held me in place when Madam Harcourt had removed them before, but I just had to push through a little bit more pain.
Without wasting any time, I rattled off the witchspeak: “Entora dilumin wolven forchesto.”I sucked in a short breath as searing pain wove through each limb. I clamped my teeth shut with a crack and swayed on my feet. Sage stepped closer to me as I panted, breathing through the sharp stinging agony, black dots dancing at the edges of my vision.
