Faerie Warrior (Academy for Halflings #8)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Fairy tales were bullshit.

Fated mates? Sadists. Allies? More like backstabbers.

Werewolves? Real. And hungry.

My lungs tightened, gaze tracking the wolves pressing closer to cut off my path to them: to Kendrick Grimaldi and his accomplice, the ridiculously talented liar Selene Montrosse, who had abducted my mother through a portal to Faerie and vanished.

Leaving it open only long enough for me to memorize the terror in Livvy’s eyes.

He’d made sure enough of his men were left behind to ensure no one made it out alive.

One second. Two.

The walls of the headmaster’s office shrunk around us, and when more of Kendrick’s wolves cut through the open door, it clicked. We were dead; we simply didn’t know it yet.

And since I couldn’t follow them through the portal, since my attempt at ripping open Dorian’s world failed, I went straight into pure madness.

My own wolf rose up, the new depth of my unlocked powers only bolstering what was already there.

“If you’re going to make them pay, now is a good time to do it,” Mike barked.

An irritated flick of his wrists had magic pulsing around his hands, a shimmering green flame as if something inside of him had finally boiled over.

Fine by me.

I wasn’t going to be restrained anymore or let Kendrick bully me or tell me to lie down and take whatever crap he dished out. Not this time.

I reached down inside myself and pulled up the magic. Once I did this, there would be no taking it back.

Either the wolves died or we did.

I launched myself at the Grimaldi shifters, changing as I went, changing the way Onyx taught me. The change was much easier now than it had ever been before. My body responded instantly to unspoken commands.

One of the Grimaldi wolves hadn’t shifted yet. “Looks like the little bitch is trying to show some teeth.” A growl rumbled in his throat. “It’s time to teach her a lesson.”

I clawed the sneer off his face.

A hush fell over the room, as though they’d finally realized I was the one they needed to worry about.

Mike rounded off a blast of magic toward one of the mouthier wolves, and I ducked out of the reach of claws when the blinded wolf swung wildly at me. He cursed, distraction keeping him from fully shifting. I darted forward and punched him in the gut, sidestepping before he attacked.

It put me right into another wolf’s path.

There wasn’t maneuvering room in the office for my halfling form, not with so many bodies.

The magic inside me pulsed and strained to find the right outlet. I’d been trained, taught how to survive and how to fight, but not how to use this new combination of powers.

It didn’t matter. I rained fresh hell down on them anyway.

Mike brought his magic down like the blow of a blade and each eruption was measured. We flowed together until bodies dropped and his confidence built, his smile caught from the corner of my eye.

He didn’t reach for any weapons, only his magic, diverting offensive maneuvers with killing bursts.

Minutes ticked, a pendulum swing, and the attackers went down, one after another.

Mike followed as instinct pulled me out of the headmaster’s office and into the hallway. Familiar pale stone arches climbed toward the ceiling in tiers, with faint runes etched into their faces, pulsing with magic.

The heartbeat of this castle remained. I breathed it in and jogged past doors made of enormous slabs of dark wood and banded with iron.

A phalanx of wolves greeted us at the bend in the hall. Kendrick had left more behind than I’d thought. For a second, terror flashed through me, signaling to the predators like a beacon.

Mike staggered back from the shifters and their sharp teeth and claws until his back hit the wall.

“Tavi—”

He wanted to protect me but I knew he was afraid, and if I could see beneath the false courage he steeled himself with, then so could the pack.

This fight was my responsibility. “Let me handle this, Mike.”

The wolf at the forefront of the formation crept forward with a growl, hatred clear in the glint of its eyes.

Power strained inside me, still reaching for something temporarily out of reach. I had more practice as a wolf.

Then the lead wolf charged with a howl of rage and I jumped, landing on the balls of my feet. I dodged out of his way until the others took up the charge.

Their growls cut through the stagnant air of the academy and the angle of their strike kept us trapped against the wall.

I shifted my arms, muscle and fur growing almost instantly. I didn’t stop to think before I swiped claws at an enemy’s neck and streams of bright blood jetted out from his throat. He staggered down to his belly with a whine, morphing back to human and clutching his open neck.

Anger claimed me, wolves circling us.

This wasn’t the time for mercy. Or guilt. This room would be a tomb of shattered bones and fur. But as I searched for more power, my blood slowed, as stagnant as the air. My heart rang against my ribs with a dull thud.

Not now. Not the zombie curse when I needed—

My vision reddened with rage because how fucking inopportune.

The tendrils of power I’d searched deep for now were cast outward, those slender searching threads clicking into place. Finally. There. They found the path, and a portal bloomed to my right.

I spared a glance over my shoulder. Coral was the first one through.

Without hesitation my cousin threw her hands out to the side and magic pulsed, her halfling change rippling out from her core. Mouth open, she roared at the wolves, who didn’t expect a pretty girl like her to be a halfling. Maybe that was the rub of it.

She wasn’t supposed to be anything other than pure Fae.

They certainly didn’t expect her to cut them down, her hand wrapped around a severed limb quickly morphing back into a tattooed arm.

“She ripped off my fucking arm!” the man screeched.

“I’ll have your head next.” Coral spoke through a mouth of crowded teeth.

She threw herself at the wolf reaching for my neck and tackled him to the floor.

And now the rest of my companions barreled through the portal. My friends. My family. Pure-blood or not, it meant nothing.

Melia came through next with her arms already lifted in front of her face and magic erupting out of her. It bowled over our enemies.

The air in the hallway pulsed with the clash of power. I pushed exhaustion aside and leaned hard into the rage inside my heart. It came easily.

The curse might try to take me down, but that didn’t mean I had to hold back anymore. Not when our entire school was infested with wolves, all there on Kendrick’s orders. They hadn’t counted on the portal, though.

They hadn’t counted on how bloodthirsty we actually were when push came to shove.

A sharp cry sounded from directly behind me and a flash of black flickered at the edge of my vision.

Bronwen, in crow form.

She darted toward a half-shifted man and his eyes went wide. He brought his arms up to protect his face but it wasn’t enough. Bronwen dove at his head.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I rounded. A human fist punched me in the face. I blinked away stars and the man changed, calling on his warrior form without retreating an inch.

I called my own change. My skin shifted, claws curling thicker from my nailbeds. We met, claw to claw, each of us knowing what would happen if we lost this fight.

The man lunged to claw at my neck. I spun at the last instant and then brought my elbow down and crashed it against his skull until bone broke.

A wicked smile split my lips.

Without waiting, I sent power down through my nails, lengthening the claws and driving the sharp tips between his ribs. He crumpled to the floor in agony.

Harsh stings of pain peppered my shoulders and neck. I turned and slapped the offending wolf away with a backhand stroke that sent him into the wall. Mike stepped in as I dropped and tucked myself smaller, slashing the nearest wolf across the ankles.

My claws found their mark and the wolf went down.

I rose, the change spinning through me as I faced Mike. He stepped closer, and from the look in his eyes, I wondered if something was wrong.

“Are you okay?” He didn’t spare a second of concern for my shifted arms. Not one hint of revulsion from him.

“I’m fine.” I was starting to flag, with a horrible sick sensation curling around my insides. “Go help the others. Melia needs backup.”

I jerked my head toward the portal where Melia stood, her silhouette lit by the glow of the doorway and golden power arching like lightning between outstretched fingertips.

I had to show Mike, adept at his magic and moving freely to take up position as protector at Melia’s side, that I could do this.

I’m not damaged goods.

Bronwen cawed out a warning and I pivoted in time to avoid the swipe of claws. A blast of musky scent beat me over the head, a scent I recognized. One eye. Dorian’s pawn, Kendrick’s wolf.

My chest heaved and I struggled to breathe against the horrid rush of sound in my ears. The air danced with magic as I stared at the one-eyed man in front of me, his long dark hair painted with blood and other unmentionable things.

“I didn’t think you’d show up,” he said, his tone cool.

One-Eye snapped for my throat, face shifting with the movement, but I dodged what would have been a killing blow amd lashed out with a fierce kick toward his stomach.

He danced out of the way, sneering. “I’ve never understood your value. What Kendrick sees in you,” he said flatly. “You’ve always seemed too much hassle for your worth.”

I threw magic into my fist for a roundhouse punch, but he grabbed my wrist, clamping down and twisting. Keeping my balance, I dug in my heels as he dragged me closer.

“This school is infested with rot. The best thing you can do is die with the rest of them. It’s easy, once you decide.” He spat.

Another wrench had me losing my footing. He snarled in my face and tossed me to the ground.

I landed hard on my shoulder and rolled, out of the way of his foot but smashing my head against the stone wall.

My vision slowly cleared and I sent up a shield of thickened air to stop him from kicking me in the face. He brought his fists down on the shield until cracks spread.

Exhaustion seeped away the potency of any magic I might have swung at him like a blade.

So much for the warrior of EverRose. One-Eye grinned, no doubt sensing victory.

Like an animal caught in a trap, I pushed up, crouching behind the thickened-air shield and smashing my entire bodyweight into his legs.

We clashed together and tumbled, and all he did was laugh. “Poor little girl. Don’t you get it yet? This isn’t the part where you win. This is the part where you cry.”

He closed both hands around my neck and rolled me onto my back.

Panic burned a hole in my gut, overwhelming me for too long to be useful. Then something black darted between us and buried itself in the man’s remaining eye.

One-Eye screamed, a feral sound, his grip loosening.

My throat was raw, and metallic blood coated my tongue where I’d bitten it. But Bronwen pulled free with the man’s single eye clasped in her beak and more hot blood spilling down onto me.

One-Eye staggered back, both hands covering his face.

Bronwen shifted and spat out the eye, holding a bloodied hand out for me. “Are you ready to stop fucking around and actually do this?”

I slapped my palm to hers as fire erupted from my head where I’d hit it. “Let’s go.”