Page 18 of Forgiving a Fae Warrior

Good. Hopefully, she could flee and get out of harm’s way. If Katiya tried to go for her again, he’d stop her.

Katiya struck once more, and again Galen blocked her. As she leaped back and recovered, he spared half a second to scan the hilltop. The Unseelie stared down the guards from the Court of the Forest, neither side advancing or engaged, nor did it seem any tried to slip away.

A furious screech escaped Katiya as she jumped to the side and then attacked from a different angle. Galen was too slow to react, missing any projection of her planned move in his distraction. The tip of one blade cut through his tunic and into his bicep, stinging like a searing flame down his arm.

Galen gasped in pain as he stumbled back and tried to adjust his grip. He gritted his teeth as he clutched the hilt of his sword with both hands. Of course she had to injure his dominant arm.

A golden glow seeped from Katiya’s eyes, illuminating the vicious smirk twisted on her lips. “Trying to undo your crime?” she taunted. “It’s far too late for that.”

Galen snarled and rushed at her, trying to catch her off guard, but she anticipated his move and blocked him easily. Again, they met in a clash of blades, Galen’s injury roaring with the punishing force of her strikes.

A tornado erupted in the background, swirling up from the ground and consuming the two kings. Galen tried to ignore it as he blocked another blow from Katiya, but the sight of a woman rushing toward the chaos nearly stopped his heart cold.

“Wren!” he called for her, but she didn’t turn, possibly didn’t hear him over the roar of the wind given her human senses.

Of all the damnable places for her to rush toward.

“Fool.” Katiya rushed him. Her lead blade clashed with his, and he shoved her away, the motion sending them stumbling in opposite directions, but not before her second blade caught the back of his calf and cut deep.

Galen let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees. He shoved against the ground, trying to rise, but the leg wouldn’t support him. Katiya sauntered toward him, twisting one blade in a playful show. “It’s too bad,” she smirked. “When I end you, you won’t see the greatness in store for the Unseelie court.”

His pulse hammered in his chest. Sweat slid down his skin as possibilities raced through his head. His could still shift—maybe—but then no one would stop Katiya from retaking Wren.

I need…He searched the fae from the Court of the Forest with his eyes as he ignored the rest of Katiya’s taunts. The little golden leaf dangling from one ear was suddenly heavy. He couldn’t die, not without seeing Sylvie again, not without confessing everything to her.

And if he died now, he wasn’t sure he could rely on the others to keep Wren safe. They hadn’t jumped to protect her like he had—hadn’t shifted her away. Perhaps in the chaos, they didn’t even notice her.

“Oh well,” Katiya sighed. She was right in front of him now, barely a sword-length away. Blood painted her nails and the tips of her fingers on one hand—Wren’s blood. “So be it.”

Galen raised his sword, a last show of defense, but his injured arm had nothing left. He wouldn’t be able to block her again. Katiya raised her blades, ready to strike.

Chapter 10

Itwasnowornever. Shift or die. Galen reached for the magic tingling under his skin, ready to set it free, when a familiar feeling washed over him, and a new form appeared just to the side and in front of him.

Katiya’s blades crash down, but they never reach him. Galen stared wide-eyed at the blade that took the blows, held by the most beautiful sight imaginable.

“Stay away from him.” Sylvie flung Katiya’s blades back, sending her stumbling a few steps at the unexpected intrusion.

“Sylvie.” Galen nearly choked on her name, a sob of mixed relief and terror catching in his throat. For the briefest moment, he thought he envisioned her in his last moment, her golden hair somehow bright under the cloudy sky as she stood resplendent in her full armor—which she hadn’t been wearing when she left him minutes ago.

But she was real. When he needed her most, she came. Again.

Katiya jumped back with a frustrated cry, putting space between herself and Sylvie, who stepped in front of Galen.

Tears burned at the corners of his eyes, but he hastily blinked them away. There was no time for emotion, not when the woman he loved faced down the foe that nearly ended him.

Sylvie’s presence gave him a burst of strength, her spirit burning through him like a crackling flame that warmed rather than consumed.

“Another of the Forest King’s guards. How quaint,” Katiya replied. “As if either of you have a chance against me.”

Galen pushed himself upright, keeping all weight off the injured leg that still roared in agony. He could do little with his injuries, but he’d be damned before he cowered and left Sylvie to fight alone.

“You saved me,” Galen said to Sylvie, but he kept his gaze focused on Katiya, where she paced in a tight line a few feet away, eyeing them up and down and forming a new plan of attack, her tail swishing behind her.

“I always will,” Sylvie replied, her attention, too, focused on their foe.

That single phrase empowered him, cloaking the pain that tried to consume him.

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