Page 113 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

Demos caught my hand and gave me a look. I’d been stroking my crossbow, I realized. He shook his head at me,but amusement gleamed in his eyes.

Likely, he was fantasizing about his own attack. While he could be patient when necessary, he preferred to act quickly.

Already, I was learning just how much of war involved anticipation. Long hours of boredom on sentry duty or spying or waiting for someone else to do their part first. The boredom was occasionally broken by moments of heart-pounding, palm-slicking terror that dumped adrenaline into my bloodstream and left me shaking afterward.

Sometimes, I wondered if there was something wrong with me—because I was beginning to prefer those moments over these long hours of waiting.

With nothing else to focus on, my mind continually returned to our friends. If Madinia and Rythos couldn’t get the fleet…if Prisca’s cousin was strong enough to kill her…if Telean was discovered at the tiny inn where we’d left her writing messages and organizing escape routes for the hybrids, based on the information Demos’s spies had smuggled to us.

Finally, at Demos’s signal, we melted back through the forest, far enough away that we could have a short, hissed conversation.

“I say we wait until just before the next shift change,” Amalra said, flicking her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “It’ll mean another few hours, but they’ll be tired and slow.”

“We don’t need to wait,” her sister Elysanth muttered. Where Amalra was lithe and dark-haired, Elysanth was curvier and blond. “As long as we make sure we’ve taken out all the sentries before we attack, we can use those hours to strike. By the time the next shift arrives, everyone herewill be long dead.”

“The problem is the other guards,” I said. “The ones above us. Demos said they have a relatively good view of the camp. If one of them happens to be looking, they’ll see what’s happening, no matter how quiet we attempt to be.”

“Asinia is right,” Nyrik said. “We need to take care of them at the same time, before they can alert anyone else.”

Demos was quiet, his brow furrowed. My hand itched to stroke over the strong lines of his brow, and I shoved it into the pocket of my tunic.

“We need a distraction,” Demos finally said. “And I know where to find one.”

18

Asinia

The horses were wary of us from the moment we approached. We were strangers, and we didn’t have time to croon into their ears or stroke their fears away.

Besides, in order for our plan to work, weneededthese horses to be spooked.

Demos had already taken care of the guard nearby—silently slitting his throat and leaning his body against a tree. I’d glanced away at that part. I could kill without a second thought during the heat of battle. But I still hadn’t reached a point where I could kill in cold blood.

Horrison untied the horses, and Gwynara stepped forward. Her main power was similar to Madinia’s. Except when she cupped her fire in the palm of her hand and then blew on it, the fire spewed from her hand, the warmth drifting close to several of the horses’ rumps.

As expected, the horses were unhappy about this turn of events. Two of them bucked, one reared, pawing the air, and several shot forward, driving into the other horses, who immediately bolted.

More fire—close enough that a few of thehorses could see it—and there was no holding them back, even if we had wanted to. They galloped at breakneck speed, dangerous enough in a forest that I was worried a few of them might really break their necks.

But we had no time to waste. The others would be killing any remaining sentries while Brinlor and Nyrik made their way to the guards who weren’t on shift. Turning in the opposite direction of the horses, we cut through the forest toward the mine entrance, not even attempting to be quiet.

My blood pounded in my ears until it drowned out every other sound.

The guards had drawn their weapons by the time we got to the edge of the forest. One of them pointed up at us, but it was too late.

Gwynara had driven the horses into such a frenzy, several of them hurtled down the steep embankment, straight for the guards.

One of the guards whirled, raising his hand, but it was too late. The horse rode straight over him.

“Nice,” one of the fae whispered. I winced.

Another guard turned to run, clearly following his instincts. But there was no hope, and he likely died the moment the horse’s hoof smashed into his head.

A guard with gold thread wound into his uniform finally used his power, slamming it into one of the out-of-control horses.

The horse went flying, rolled, and stumbled to its feet. It stood there shaking, its head low. My chest clenched, but I couldn’t take the time to feel sorry for the poor thing. Demos and the others had already made itdown the embankment. I nocked my first arrow, sending it straight toward the guard who’d pointed at us. He ducked out of sight behind a rock. My teeth clenched until it felt as if my jaw would crack. This had to be quick, before they sounded an alarm.

I waited until Gwynara aimed her power at one of his friends and he lifted his head to use his own power on her, and my next bolt hit him between his eyes.

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