Chapter 42 #2
“No!” The archer dives, knocking Steinn’s aim skyward.
Zing.
The arrow flies free, soaring up and lodging in the wood shutter on a nearby house.
A blast of heat soars my way.
I fall to the ground.
The attack flies over my head, missing me by inches.
The archers wrestle on the ground, but it’s the second archer who lands on top.
Straddling his friend, he holds a dagger to his throat and barks, “We have orders, Steinn. We must take her to the ship!”
“She killed my brother!”
My heart seizes.
Images of Ferria flood my mind, and the thought of losing her makes me want to vomit.
A masculine shout interrupts, “No, please!”
My eyes dart left—toward the building where Hali and her friend were being corralled—just as Hali jabs a dagger into one pirate’s stomach.
She jerks the blade up. He falls back. Blood gushes and organs bulge from the wound.
My stomach heaves.
I turn and empty its contents onto the pavement.
“DUCK!” the second archer shouts.
I dip down, but the warning wasn’t for me.
A stone crashes into Steinn’s back from the crumbling building above, sending the pirate sprawling across the blood-soaked pavement.
I leap back, heart in my throat.
Hali’s enraged scream steals my attention.
The earth wielder has disarmed another pirate. The other two are gone. They must’ve fled after she gutted their friend.
Hali throws her arms out wide. The ground underneath the pirate opens. He shouts as he falls, but the sound is cut off when she reassembles the earth above, sealing him in.
Gods…that’s incredible.
And horrifying.
“Elara!” Hali runs to me.
Her friend stays cowered against the wall, face pale, splattered with blood that isn’t hers.
Movement flickers in the corner of my eye.
The second archer draws back his arrow, aiming for Hali.
“No!” I throw my hand out.
Another bolt of dark power flies free. It soars through the air in the blink of an eye and strikes the archer’s chest. He crumbles, and his skull hits the pavement with a sickening crack.
My stomach twists again, but this is not the time for guilt. We have to get out of here.
“Elara?” Hali crouches in front of me. “Are you all right?”
Assessing eyes trail over my hair, face, and clothes, dimming when she sees the red on my skirt and hands.
“I’m okay,” I croak.
“Well, thank The Mother for that.” She holds out a hand.
I wipe my palms on a clean section of my gown before taking it.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Rian left to find you. Why aren’t you with him?
“After the sirens went off, all hell broke loose,” she says, pulling me to my feet. “Everyone started running. I tried to meet up with my friends, but I only found Nance.”
She gestures to the woman still huddled against the wall and continues, “I saw the others follow Draven out of the ballroom. We were on our way to meet them at our hideaway in one of the dock warehouses when these bastards found us.”
I follow her glare to the disemboweled pirate and then avert my gaze before I throw up again.
Hali nudges the boot of the second archer with a huff. “Looks like you have enemies.”
I release a shaky breath. “I didn’t realize pirates were so powerful.”
“They aren’t.” Hali hikes a thumb over at the dead men who attacked her. “Those filthy pieces of shit are pirates. And their magic is below average, at best. But those guys behind you? They’re dressed way too nicely to be criminals from the fishing isles.”
My mouth dries.
The males who attacked Darius and Silas on the beach…they weren’t pirates.
Then who were they?
Velmira, forgive me. Who did we send to your gates?
I sway on my feet.
“Woah!” Hali catches me, slinging an arm over my shoulder. “Easy.”
I try to swallow, then croak, “W-we need to get to the beach.”
We need to find the Shadow Fae.
We need to find Rian.
The darkness slithering inside my chest titters in agreement.
Hali’s grip tightens. “It’s okay. Our rendezvous point is well hidden. We will be safe while we wait for the others there.”
Instinct screams that she’s wrong, insisting we go back to the beach.
But I’m too weak—too tired to argue.
My legs tremble as I struggle to keep them underneath me. Hali half walks, half carries me to her friend.
Nance shakes more than I do.
She’s in shock.
I wish I could help her, but I don’t even have enough magic to help myself.
We move at a sluggish pace into a dim alley between two buildings. My pulse pounds behind my eyes. My head aches from the growing pressure.
But we don’t stop.
I don’t know how Hali expects to escape Virendrell without finding the Shadow Fae, but I pray to Olyra, the Goddess of Fate, that she sees fit to keep us safe until we do.
Hali’s knowledge of her city reveals itself as we duck through alley after alley without catching anyone’s attention.
My vision starts to blur.
Just as I think I’m going to faint, we reach a warehouse with a lone lantern hanging next to a forest-green door that blurs in and out of focus.
“We’re here,” Hali whispers.
Nance whimpers with relief.
I can only blink.
The hinges of the door swing open without a sound. Hali takes on most of my weight and leads me inside the pitch-black space.
Cool, musty air greets me, clearing the cloying scent of smoke and death from my nostrils.
The grip around my heart loosens just as an “oomph” billows into my ear, and Hali’s grip falls away.
I teeter to the side. “Hali?”
A glint of metal sparks out of the corner of my eye.
I barely start to turn before—
“I’m sorry,” Nance mutters.
The butt of a jagged dagger strikes my temple.
Pain explodes through my skull, and the world goes black.