Page 58 of Kiss of Smoke

I looked up, my lip trembling, and as I watched a soft breath of wind rustled through their leaves.

They would be together forever now. No one would cut down these trees, and we could finally end this cycle of bloodshed, hatred, and pain.

I was shaking as I got to my feet, leaning on the entwined trees. I felt their happiness, their sleepy serenity.

Maybe some of the Fae would judge me when this got out. Maybe even my own men, to a degree.

Carabosse had caused so much damage, but when it came down to it, I couldn’t have her blood on my hands.

But I could do what I did best, and use my power to bring about tranquility.

It wasn’t over, though. I needed to find and help my men, and empty Avilion of the last of the Unstained Souls.

Only then could we set everything to rights.

I limped towards the tunnel mouth, pulling on the energy of the surrounding grove and bracing myself for the fight, when a figure stepped out of the tunnel. At first, in my exhaustion, I thought he was a Fae.

Ioin raised a pistol, aiming it at me. His lips had pulled back in an ugly sneer. “I saw what you did to them. You killed them, you hellish bitch.”

I stopped in my tracks, but there was no going back.

His hand shook, but his aim was sure when he fired.

20

It didn’t hurt at first.

The first bullet hit me in the stomach, knocking me backwards. I felt my shoulder shatter, an explosion of white light flashing behind my eyes.

The last shot hit me in the thigh and I stumbled, going down on all fours.

I watched almost disbelievingly as my blood poured over the grass, splattered across the trunks of the trees. Flowers sprouted from the crimson droplets, their petals as red as my blood.

The shock was so intense, maybe it wouldn’t hurt before I died…

Then it started to burn.

I realized the slugs buried inside me were cold iron, because I couldn’t even take a breath, my lungs locking up and refusing to inhale from the sheer mass of the pain building in me.

I looked up at Ioin, who had lowered the pistol, his mouth set in a grim line.

There was no remorse in his eyes. He curled his lip as he watched me bleed, and didn’t see the shadow detach itself from the darkness of the tunnel behind him.

Robin wrapped his arms around Ioin’s head, and the last bit of life I saw in the human man was the expression of fear and shock on his face as Robin dragged a dagger across his throat, cutting almost to the bone.

My boss dropped Ioin as if he was so much trash, staring at me in horror.

I tried to crawl forward, but my limbs refused to answer my commands anymore. Every breath of air I took was hard-won, a desperate sucking of that last bit of oxygen.

“Don’t move.” Robin was on his knees at my side, gently turning me onto my back.

I lost a bit of that precious air when a whine of pain escaped me, staring up at the sky, but this way it was a little easier to breathe, a little easier to cling to whatever remained of my life.

Robin tore off his jacket, already shredding his own shirt and cutting my clothes away.

He pressed the torn fabric against my shoulder, then my stomach.

I knew from the look on his face that there was no coming back from this. Not the easy way, anyway.

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