A volley of arrows filled the sky, raining death on the enemy fae. Many of the arrows made contact. Blood sprayed and screams erupted as they fell.
“Again!” Kalen shouted. “Nock! Loose!”
More arrows sprayed into the enemy, but there were too many of them for us to slow down their advance. Soon, they were upon us. Bows were cast into the mud. Swords, spears, axes, and daggers quickly replaced them.
We tried to hold a tight formation, but the overwhelming rush of enemy fighters quickly scattered us apart. A storm fae sloshed toward me, his neck tattoo and blank eyes giving him away as one of the fae in the thrall of the gods. I swung my sword at his head. He clashed his steel against mine with impossible force. It threw me back. I slammed into the side of another enemy storm fae.
Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of silver caught my attention. Fenella had her back to the ground, pinned by an enemy fighter who blew wind into her face.
“Fenella!” I started toward her, fear thundering through me.
She managed to kick the fae in the gut. He flinched back, releasing his grip on her, but—
A hand grabbed me by the back of the neck and tossed me into the mud. My sword slipped from my fingers. I rolled over, my cloak sticking to the ground and wrapping wetly around my legs. I tried to scrabble back, but I was stuck there.
Distracted, I looked to where I’d seen Fenella fighting, but a thick press of bodies was in the way.
The storm fae walked toward me. He dragged the end of his bloodied sword in the mud, leaving behind a trail of red. The first one I’d fought now joined him, like a predator drawn to prey. They walked slowly, methodically, circling me as if they were relishing the moment. All around us, chaos reigned.
I pushed against the sucking mud and stood on shaky legs, casting my eyes toward where my sword had fallen. It was gone.
“A human amongst the fae,” one of the combatants said, his voice strange and rotten. “We will be greatly rewarded for killing you.”
He rushed toward me. I tried to move out of his way, but my boots were too engrained in the mud. He grabbed the back of my head, his fist taking a chunk of hair through my cloak. Pain lanced through my skull as he tugged me toward him. The second storm fae put a dagger to my throat.
I spotted Fenella’s horns through the crowd. She was surrounded now. Four against one. And she had a gruesome gash on her neck.
Tears burned my eyes. I ground my teeth, threw out my hand, and touched the fae who held the dagger. Right on the cheek. “Death.”
His eyes widened as he fell.
Silver suddenly found me. He sloshed through the mud and yanked the second fae away from me, throwing him toward the chasm. I rubbed my neck and shot him a grateful smile, then started running toward Fenella.
She was still surrounded. Two fae had grabbed her. Each had a shoulder. She kicked and screamed and fought like hell, her beautiful face full of fury.
I screamed, desperately sloshing through the blood-soaked mud, my heartbeat so thunderous I could barely hear anything else. My vision tunneled as the third fae smiled and swung his sword. The fighting around me vanished. A ringing filled my head. I couldn’t feel or see anything but my friend.
Fenella felt my eyes on her. She looked at me as the sword hurtled toward her neck, and she smiled.
My queen, she mouthed.
And then the fae chopped off her head.
The world stopped.
My knees buckled.
I fell as if an arrow had shot me in the heart.
“No,” I moaned. My voice was still all I could hear. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”
Arms wrapped around me, surrounding me like a cocoon. I tried to knock them off, so I could crawl toward Fenella. I had the power of life in my hands. I could bring her back. The wound didn’t matter. I could still find a way to fix it.I had to.
“Shh, pet, shh,” the voice of the woman who held me whispered. “Sometimes death is the only way to protect life.”
I froze. It was not Kalen or Gaven or Nellie who had found me crying in the mud. I ripped out of Andromeda’s arms and whirled on her. She stood in the midst of battle without a single fleck of mud on her glass-like skin. Her eyes gleamed with hate.
“How curious this is,” she said. “I felt your death.” She pressed a hand to her heart. “Right here, deep within me. How is it you have regained your life?”
