Without pausing a beat, I dropped my sword. My hands slung toward my hidden blades. I grabbed two in one hand, and one in the other. Closing my eyes, I let my magic pour through my veins. I could feel my enemy’s weapons whistlingcloser.
And then Ithrew.
The two in my left hand sank into thebodyguards.
And the one in my right slammed right into Fiona’sneck.
They all fell. Blood painted thefloor.
The sight of it made me sick, and my stomach turned. I shook off my dread and rushed over to Saoirse and Lugh. Within seconds, I’d undone their chains. Lugh’s dark eyes met mine, and my entire body hummed with the need to launch into hisarms.
But then something sounded from behindme.
Lugh’s entire body went rigid. His eyes darkened. A growl slipped from histhroat.
I turned. One of the enemies who’d fled wasback.
And he had Lugh’sspear.
21
The male fae’ssmile stretched wide as he held the spear up before him. “Don’t want to forget about this old thing here, doyou?”
“Give me the spear, Eoin,” Lugh growled, inching forward so that his front now pressed against my back. Just the feel of him this close to me made my body sigh with relief. And then I remembered we were staring down the enemy. And that enemy had Lugh’s soul in hishands.
Wait a minute. Eoin? My eyes widened. I knew that name. He had been the fae that night in the courtyard when I’d overheard Lugh asking about the cauldron. So, he’d been in on it, and that was how they’d gotten the cauldronfirst.
“What would happen if I snapped this thing in half?” Eoin snarled in his high-pitched, nasally voice, spinning the spear in his hands so that it now sat horizontal on his palms. His long fingers curled around the shaft. My heartstopped.
“Moira, get down on your knees,” Lugh ordered. “Saoirse,too.”
Eoin sniggered. “Yeah, they should get down on their knees where theybelong.”
I wanted to punch the guy in the throat for that, but I listened to Lugh instead. I didn’t know what propelled me to trust him, but I ducked down, knees and hands slamming hard against the rough, stone ground. Saoirse did the same by my side, even though she was practically unconscious at thispoint.
The spear hummed as soon as I hit the ground. Magic vibrated through the underground close, the walls rocking as deep tremors caused glasses and bowls to tumble from the shelves and crash onto thefloor.
I glanced up just in time to catch the flash of surprise on Eoin’s face. The spear ripped out of his hands with a deadly force, and Eoin’s body flew backward out the door. The spear landed in Lugh’s hands, the vibrating intensity knocking hard against myears.
I swore they evenpopped.
“Come on,” Lugh growled. “Let’s get out of here. The walls are crumbling. This place could cavein.”
To emphasise his point, another glass shattered right beside my foot, and shards scattered everywhere. One sharp sliver even dug its way into myarm.
“Ow.” I jumped up, wrapping my hands around Saoirse’s arms and pulling her with me. She stumbled a bit, her body still broken from the terror the enemies had put herthrough.
A chunk of wall slammed onto the floor beside us. Lugh pushed me forward, and I broke out into a half-jogging run, doing my best to support Saoirse’s weight. We rushed into the close, turning right to zoom straight for theexit.
But ten more black-clad figures whispered out of the shadows, led in frontby—
My stomach dropped. Imogen’s pink hair stood out from the rest. Her eyes flashed; her grin twisted in a way I’d never seen before. I glanced from her delighted face to the black-clad fae that surrounded her. They all held blades, including her, though hers was a bright, neon pink. I shook my head, taking a step back, still holding tight toSaoirse.
“Imogen, what the hell are you doing?” I demanded. “What did they tell you to get you to jointhem?”
She laughed, and then rolled her eyes. “They didn’t have to tell me anything. I’ve been one of them all this time. How do you think they learned everything they did about the Court? I can’t believe you thought my power had something to do with my love for pink. Myrealgift is the ability to blend into the shadows. No one ever knows I’m there. How do you think I became such a goodthief?”
She snapped her fingers, and she vanished before my eyes. She came back into view almostinstantaneously.
