Chapter Eleven
W e follow Midori through the halls to a heavy wooden door.
When the clipped orders of a female elf echo from behind us, my brother stumbles a little.
I didn’t miss that brief glimpse at our fellow escapee’s ear when she moved her hair. Well… what she was left with of it anyway. A tiny little stub of a thing that is only about one-third the size of her other.
If these bastards do that to their own people, I don’t even want to think about what they did to an escaped slave they deemed important enough to track down across realms.
Oh, the bastards will pay.
Midori reaches for the door, but before she can flip over the first locking mechanism, we hear footsteps behind us.
Invisible or not, a door unlocking and opening itself is going to be a dead giveaway.
Midori freezes and begins trembling.
And then the bubble begins to dissipate.
How do I know this when I can’t actually see the bubble myself?
Oh… you know… the guards screaming behind us was a bit of a hint.
“Fuck! We gotta move guys.” I try for urgency, but Midori is struggling with the door.
“I need more time with this lock, and there is not another exterior door on this level.” She sounds just as panicked as I feel.
“You focus on those locks. We will run interference.” Damn, I love when Forsythia takes charge. She’s a born leader, even if she will never think so herself.
Almost as if we are a conditioned military unit, Forsythia, Lucian, and I turn as one to face the guards approaching us. There are three, but two more files in behind them, as a female pushes to the front of the group. The same elf that held a knife to Lucian’s throat only hours ago.
I glance over at our giant and discover that he has gone uncharacteristically pale. “Hey Lucian, maybe you can help Midori with those locks? I have a feeling even if we hold these guys off, more are just going to keep showing up. Getting out should be a big focus.” He looks at me and gives a curt nod before turning to help with the door. I’m not sure what has the big guy so spooked, but he won’t be much help when he’s frozen in fear.
Once Lucian is out of the way, the first guard rushes at me. The guy is a joke, and I manage to knock him out with a single punch.
He was clearly a decoy, though, because the next one smacks me against the wall with his magick. I stay pinned for a second before the magick pulls back. When I’m able to turn around, I see my mate holding the guard in the air by his throat. She pulls his dagger out of the sheath and sinks it into his gut.
Well, well. It looks like the gloves are off. I can’t blame Forsythia for not wanting to hold back. These fae are monsters.
I rub my hands together as a tiny bit of excitement rushes through me.
Hey. I have been locked up for weeks by these assholes. I am more than ready to dish out a little bit of payback.
Another guard heads at me with his own dagger drawn, but as he passes Forsythia, she turns and slices the proffered weapon across his neck. He falls, and the dagger clammers its way towards me. Seizing the opportunity, I snag it up and stuff the business end into the next guard that attempts to rush me.
These guys have lost touch so deeply with their magicks that they have no coordination with them at all. A few errant spells have hit the wall near me or the floor in front of me. The female elf draws my attention as Forsythia struggles with one of the other guards who made the mistake of trying to grab her by the hair.
Don’t touch the woman’s hair dude. Just don’t.
The lead elf smiles nastily at me. “Well, aren’t you an appetizing morsel? I think I will make you my new pet. I will take pleasure in breaking you. Maybe I will let your mate watch as you pleasure me? After the headache you have all caused, though, I promise that I won’t be as kind when I break you… as I was with him.” She points to Lucian.
I hear the snapping of bones and a moment of silence. Then the elf woman hits the ceiling and crashes back down. Forsythia snatches her up as if she weighs nothing at all and holds her close to her face.
“What did you do to my mate?” Forsythia asks the question, but we all know the answer. She just needs to hear it. That confirmation. Or condemnation, rather.
The elf chokes on a laugh. “Mate?” She laughs harder. “I didn’t do anything to him , child. But he did so many delicious things to me .”
Forsythia screams in rage before flying back to the ceiling with the elf and slamming her into the stone. Again and again. Crunching and squelching sounds fill the hall. Even when the elf stops fighting and coughing. Or breathing. Forsythia continues to scream and slam the body into the ceiling.
The final remaining two guards watch in horror, and when blood begins raining down like a mist, they turn heel and run.
And still, she screams and continues to smash the mangled body into the ceiling. Bits and pieces begin to join the blood rain, but no matter how loud I am, I can’t get Forsythia’s attention.
I turn and grab Lucian’s shoulder. “I can’t get her. You have to. I’ll help with the door.”
He looks behind me, and his gaze turns wide with horror, and yet… I see relief in his eyes.
For some stupid fucking reason, that look on his face makes me even prouder of Forsythia.
That elven trash will never have a hold on him ever again.
He’s finally free.
Sweet vengeance for my brother.