“She can’t,” Reyna whispered, watching Tarrah’s every movement like a hawk and motioning for Wingallock to do the same. She’d finally gotten another arrow nocked, and Reyna did not doubt she would try to kill Nollaig again. She was past seeing reason now. “It’s Unseelie. This isn’t her fault.”
“How can we stop this?” Lorcan asked in a low voice, pressing a firm, steady hand against her back. She wanted to lean into him, to give in to the strength she felt when he was near. But she couldn’t. Not anymore. She had thrown their future away, and it wasn’t right to let him believe that nothing had changed when everything had.
“We need to dig it out of her,” Nollaig said. “Just like we dug the mark out of Lorcan’s skin.”
“Tarrah doesn’t have a mark, and making her bleed out the poison will only leave her dead,” Reyna said sadly, while still keeping her eye locked firmly on Tarrah’s fingers.
Nollaig leaned in close and whispered into Reyna’s ear, bringing with her a whiff of fire and smoke. “You said Unseelie’s power is in her blood. But what’s inyourblood, Shieldmaiden? If you took Seelie’s power, could you pass it onto her by giving her some of yours?”
Reyna cocked her head, considering.
“You cannot expect Reyna to cut herself open like that,” Lorcan said in a low growl. “We’re in the middle of a bloody forest with no help in sight. If we’re unable to staunch the wound, she could die.”
Reyna did not know how to tell him how very wrong he was. All she could say was, “That won’t kill me. Few things can now.” She turned to Nollaig to avoid the shock in Lorcan’s eyes. “Even if we try this, there’s no guarantee this will work, or if she’ll even let me close enough to do it.”
Nollaig spoke with enough strength to bring down an entire mountain. “We willmakeher take it. I don’t care if she fights us or not. It is time to release this god’s grip on her mind. Look at what it has done to her.”
Reyna pressed her lips together. She did not disagree, but she did not believe it would be as simple as that. Unseelie would not want to relinquish his hold on Tarrah. She’d been a loyal servant for years, always pushing his agenda one step forward. Unseelie wasn’t done with her yet.
“I know what you’re saying!” Tarrah trembled, the arrow quivering in her tense hands. “You’re going to kill me. The three of you are plotting my death.”
“We don’t want to kill you, Tarrah,” Nollaig said gently. “We want to help you.”
“You don’t. Your minds are being bent by the Seelie servant’s whispered words.” Tarrah swallowed thickly, her eyes darting from Reyna to Nollaig and back to Reyna again. “She wishes me dead. That way, you will never know the truth about her power.”
Reyna’s heart twinged. In truth, Tarrah was partly right. Shedidn’twant the others to know what she’d been forced to give up. It was just as she’d guessed. There was always an undercurrent of truth in Unseelie’s lies. He’d done it to Tarrah over the years, showing her visions that would come to pass so that lies were less noticeable when he needed to use them. Now, when it mattered the most, his words were impossible to resist.
“How should we do this, Shieldmaiden?” Nollaig murmured. “She seems to be growing more frantic by the moment.”
“We need to disarm her first. Otherwise, I fear she will turn the both of you into pincushions with her arrows.”
“You paint quite the pretty portrait,” Nollaig said dryly.
Lorcan lowered his lips to her ear, his breath hot on her skin. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I. But I’m not going to fight her, and Unseelie will not let her give up until I’m dead.” Reyna finally drew her eyes up to meet Lorcan’s. He gazed at her with such fierce devotion that it made hidden tears burn her eyes. Why had Seelie made her give him up? Why did the sacrifice have to be so astronomical?
Because the power you now yield is even greater than yourself, and so is the kingdom you wish to save.
Reyna let out a shuddering sigh and pulled away. Perhaps one day she would find the words to explain what she had done, but right now, they had a murderous shadow fae ready to kill them all.
Taking a slow and steady step toward Tarrah, she drew her dagger and slashed it across her arm. The pain was nothing compared to the ache in her heart, the loss she felt from letting go of her future life with Lorcan. And it would heal soon enough, within moments now that she had the power of Seelie singing through her veins. She doubted her heart would ever heal.
“What are you doing?” Tarrah hissed, flicking her eyes from side to side as Reyna drew closer. “Stay back. I’ll shoot you with this arrow.”
“I’ll just dodge it, Tarrah.” Reyna spread her arms wide. “If you wish to fight me, then face me with your sword.”
Tarrah swallowed, her knuckles white from her death grip on her bow. “Only if they stay back. I want to fight you and you alone.”
“They’ll stay back,” Reyna said.
“All right.” Tarrah nodded, still trembling, and slowly lowered her bow to the ground. She dropped the arrow and reached for her sword, but Reyna was on her before she could draw it.
Reyna raced forward at an impossible speed, drawing from the strength of the newfound power in her blood. She knocked Tarrah off her feet, pinning her to the ground. Tarrah screamed and writhed beneath her with murder in her eyes.
“I have her!” Reyna shouted.
Lorcan and Nollaig were right behind. They dropped to either side of her and each grabbed an arm, holding down the shadow fae. Tarrah screamed, loosing an inhuman shriek that pounded against their ears. Wincing, Reyna shifted her weight to Tarrah’s thighs, holding down her bucking body.
