Page 85 of Beauty

It’s all over in seconds, the flames so hot theydisintegrate everything that stood in the ring.

Shim turns to the hag, a smile on his face. With a flick ofhis wrist, he sends a long line of white and blue flames toward her.

“Damn it. Get down!” Roan roars over the crowd.

I hit the deck, taking Duffy with me as Shim’s flames hitthe shield the witch has in play and bounce back toward us. Scalding heatbrushes over me, reminding me that I know what it means to be caught in mybrother’s power.

“Sorry!” Shim yells. “I didn’t know about the shielding.”

Bron steps forward, not seeming to care there’s still apowerful hag who was sent to ensure her death. “Did my uncle send you?”

The hag smiles showing perfectly even teeth that seem a bittoo sharp for her face. “The king sends his greetings, Princess Bronwyn, andpromises a glorious family reunion.”

“I don’t think I’ll take him up on that just yet.” Bronstands, her shoulders back. “You aren’t welcome in my village, hag.”

The hag sighs, her elegant gown moving with the sound. “Iknow when to take my toys and go home. By the way, I spent some time in thatone’s head. A dark thing he is. Be careful that he doesn’t eat you up with hisambition. He wants the crown. He’ll say he loves you to get it, but you don’tthink the Unseelie will truly accept a Seelie queen now, do you? Good luck,dear. Even if you get a crown, it won’t mean much when your head is separatedfrom your body. And, Death Lord, I have a parting gift for you.”

The air around the hag shimmers, and then her hands fly out,a visible cloud racing my way.

Just before it engulfs me, Duffy leaps, tossing himself intothe cloud. Horror overcomes me as darkness covers the gnome, enveloping hisbody until there’s nothing of him that isn’t black smoke.

Duffy screams. I start to reach for him, but Roan andDellacourt pull me back.

“Don’t you dare. You can’t help him now.” Roan has a stronggrip.

Shim tries to get to Duffy, too, but Bronwyn gets in hisway. “Please.”

The eddy cloud shifts as the hag disappears once more intoits depths. The sky clears and brilliant sunlight rains down.

Shim drops to his knees, covering his eyes. I squint, tryingto see my little brother, the truly fierce one of our clan.

The cloud is gone and Duffy remains. His body is still, sostill. I push past the vampires whose implants are safely guarding them fromthe sun’s bright rays. I struggle myself, but Gillian and Bronwyn shelter Shim.They haul him off, trying to get him under the cover of the buildings.

I put a hand on Duffy’s chest, praying for the beat of hisheart.

One eye opens. “Damn me, Lach, but that was something.”Duffy sits up, flexing his muscles. “I don’t think I like that hag. I’d ratherfight soldiers. A sword has got to hurt less than that damn cloud.”

I stare at my younger brother, letting my hand find Duff’sshoulder. For a moment we sit, acknowledging what we might have lost.

“Come along, Your Highness. You and Shim must both be fittedwith the proper devices to protect you from the sun. It won’t take long. Onepinch and it’s over. Well, one long, horrifyingly painful pinch and it’s over,but we won’t have to worry about ultraviolet light again.” Roan helps me stand.“Hurry. The hag will be back, and she’ll bring reinforcements. We have to moveand quickly. We need to make the forest by dark or they’ll find us for sure.”

I stumble toward the shade where Bron sits with Shim. Herchin comes up, a stubborn look on her pretty face.

She ran. She didn’t stay and discuss the situation with us.If she did, we could have fled the minute the eddy cloud showed up.

My bride and I are due for a very long talk. And perhapsit’s time I put the relationship on the proper footing, starting with thewayward princess feeling her husband’s hand on her ass.

In the background, I hear Dellacourt yelling at his wife andthreatening all manner of punishment.

Yes, it’s time my bride learns the meaning of discipline.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

Bronwyn

“Stay close to me, Duffy,” my husband says to thegnome. “But not too close.”

Duffy sits on a rock near the river, his face turned uptoward the moon. The gnome was quiet all afternoon. He simply shuffled alongbehind his brothers as we fled the village. The villagers all agreed that thehag will be back and she’ll bring another army with her. They decided toscatter, forming three large parties moving to the south, west, and north. Andour small group is moving toward the east, to the mountains.