Page 69 of Ruling the Green

I’d only ever had it protect me before, but if I willed it, couldn’t it possibly protect Nira?

It was worth a try.

I squeezed my eyes tight, ignoring the pain as the redhead’s fist collided with my cheek, and focused on my lake.

Save her, I begged. Save her. Kill him if necessary, but save her.

There was one moment of horrifying stillness, save for the hand that wrapped around my throat.

Then, just as I felt my lungs tighten and my vision go hazy around the edges, I felt it, heard it, then saw it.

The water rising up, gathering strength, looming over the back of the troll.

He glanced up, face twisting in surprise, then dread, as he came face to face with his fate.

Then the water crashed down, swallowing him whole, but merely drifting under Nira’s still body, gently cradling her as the troll’s scream died on a choke.

That was it.

It was done.

She was safe.

The fog closed in tighter around my eyes.

“You bitch!” the fae snarled, releasing my throat.

I gasped for breath, but each swallow felt like glass scratching down my throat.

“Vrad!” he yelled, rushing over toward the water.

But there was no use.

The wall of death was gone.

The troll was swallowed up in the water’s depths.

Nira floated in the water, her hair dancing peacefully across the surface.

I could have commanded the water to help me. But before I could form a thought, the fae whipped back around, grabbed that limb he’d been carrying to hit Nira with before, cocked it, and swung.

Everything went dark.

—

I woke with a gasp, pain screaming through my shoulders and something biting into my wrists.

What was going on?

What hurt so bad?

It took a long moment for the unconsciousness to fade and the memories to return.

The lake.

Peace.

Enjoyment.