Page 94 of Blood of the Stars

Gaeren licked his lips, his mind racing as the other sprites crowded in. Riveran shifted his stance, no longer facing Gaeren but the sprites that were hemming them in.

“If Enla’s life is forfeit, and crossing the barrier can’t change it, what can?” Gaeren asked.

The sprites all paused in their advance.

You have a different request? The one he’d been speaking to shifted, its face bulging as if it had cheeks for a smile. Usually these sorts of deals require one life for another.

Riveran shook his head so violently his neck cricked. “No. We need to go. Now.” He shifted both daggers to one hand like the X on his forehead and used his free hand to yank on Gaeren’s arm, but Gaeren held his ground.

“How does it work? Whenever she would have died, I die in her place?”

The sprite bent in close, and both men held their breath, their fear reflecting back at them from the shiny bulbous eyes.

Something like that.

It appears he does seek an early grave. The second, higher, voice came from behind them, and both men turned. It was impossible to tell which of the new sprites had spoken. So much for crossing the barrier.

This is my deal. The first sprite’s voice rose while it fluttered around the men as if shielding them from the others, then it turned to face them once more. Which will it be?

Gaeren shrank back, realizing the question was directed at him.

Your life for Enla’s? Or access across the barrier at a high cost to Enla?

It wasn’t much of a decision when the sprite put it that way.

“Neither,” Riveran said, dragging Gaeren around the sprite’s side, but the sprite shifted, hovering in their way.

Neither is no longer an option. Its wings beat faster, and the other sprites came even closer, the sound of all their wings almost deafening as it echoed through the cave. If Gaeren didn’t take a deal, he and Riveran wouldn’t leave the cave alive. Besides, he had to protect Enla. She would always come first.

“Take my life for Enla’s,” Gaeren said.

The sprite’s cheeks rose again, making Gaeren wonder how a smile without a mouth could feel so sinister. So be?—

“No!” Riveran lunged, driving his dagger into the sprite’s chest. Its wings faltered, dropping it a foot, then another. Squeals erupted around the room, like pigs being slaughtered. When the sprite finally fell, the color drained from its skin starting at the tips of its wings and appendages and ending at the center of its chest, where the dagger still rested, drawing life from the creature’s body.

Gaeren unsheathed his sword and cast a furtive glance at the other sprites, but all their eyes rested on the dying sprite, their wails of mourning still echoing off the cave’s walls. The sprites were so caught up in their grief that it was like Gaeren and Riveran no longer existed.

This time Gaeren was the one to tug on Riveran’s sleeve, pulling the other man from his shock. They slipped between two sprites, and Gaeren was surprised at the tears tracking down the creatures’ faces. As they rushed to the cave’s exit, a hiss erupted from behind them, like steam being loosed from a valve. Gaeren turned, and despite the algae being the only source of light, a clearly defined blackness rose from the now dead sprite, the stretching of a soul, filling the room and blocking their view of the remaining sprites.

It swept past them, through them, taking the exit before them, stealing their courage along with it. It left Gaeren’s chest cold and his fears magnified, and when the blackness abated, a dozen pairs of livid eyes focused their filmy gazes on him.

As one, Riveran and Gaeren turned, running through the tunnel. Gaeren hoped the creatures’ wings would hamper their progress. Screeches exploded from behind them, the echo making it impossible to tell how close they were. At any moment, Gaeren expected a claw on his shoulder, a yank on his foot. Maybe this was how it had gone for Daisy. Maybe the sprites were just waiting for Riveran and Gaeren to reach the mouth of the cave so they could push them off the edge.

He reached out, tuning in to the mind of the closest sprite. The memories were a blank wall, just like the other’s had been, but its mind buzzed, like the hivemind of a colony of bees.

The gravel Gaeren had hardly noticed beneath his feet on the way in now felt like a slippery death trap. When Gaeren skidded, Riveran practically lifted him off the ground with one hand to right him. A glance back proved they’d made some ground, but the shrieks confirmed it wasn’t enough. What would happen when they left the cave? Surely the sprites could fly faster than the men could run.

When the space widened again and distant moonlight lit the way, Gaeren’s hope momentarily soared. Except the sprites could now use their wings more easily. This time when Gaeren turned, a deep orange sprite barreled down on him, hands spread with talons extended. Gaeren stumbled, falling on his hip, then backside, and before he could right himself, the sprite’s claws raked across his chest. The pain didn’t come at first, but it quickly turned to a debilitating burn, like acid that ate at the edges, then sank deeper and deeper.

By now Riveran was dragging him out the cave’s opening, the dozen sprites still bearing down on them.

As a rainbow of arms and claws reached out for Gaeren, Riveran mumbled, “Sorry, friend.”

The ground flew out from under Gaeren as Riveran yanked him up. Before Gaeren could get his bearings, the other man’s arms were wrapped around him, pulling him over the edge. Together, they choked on water as they fell.

CHAPTER 39

“Do you ever get the feeling that we’re being followed?” Cyrus asked, glancing over his shoulder. After a week of riding through rainforest, they were finally sloping down toward the grasslands. “Or watched?”

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