Page 121 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

The lake creature made a sound that caused goose bumps to break out on my skin. But it lunged again. This time, it was Demos who slashed out, catching it across one of its red eyes.

Brinlor had reached the ward. It must have taken an incredible amount of courage for him to close his eyes the way he did, trusting that the others would keep him alive. He was murmuring something under his breath, and a white glow began to spread beneath the water.

The lake suddenly teemed with life.

It was as if Brinlor’s efforts to break the ward had woken every creature in the vicinity. I had to ruthlessly keep myself in check, suppressing the instinct to throw my crossbow aside and jump into the water in an attempt to save Demos from the creature that was now almost on top of him.

There was no intelligence in these creatures’ eyes. Regner had somehow tied them to his ward, and there was nothing left of them except pure rage and the desire to kill.

I fired again and again and again, the others doing the same. But eventually, we had to stop. The chances ofhitting one of our own were too high. All we could do was watch, guts twisting, hearts pounding triple time.

It was time for me to get into the water. I pulled my dagger from its sheath.

“Don’t even think about it!” Demos roared.

To everyone else, it likely seemed as if he was screaming at the scaled monster attempting to get past him to Brinlor. But I’d caught the furious glare he’d aimed my way.

Even while fighting for his life, he was attempting to prevent me from risking mine. I ground my teeth but focused, waiting for the moment I could do something—anything—except stand here watching.

Firion and Nyrik were fighting the same creature, attempting to lure it away from Brinlor. The ward glowed brighter, which sent every living thing in that water into a frenzy. Gwynara was aiming her power at them, while next to me, Amalra sliced her hand through the air, stunning the closest creature. It slid down into the water.

One of the other fae aimed a dark ball of something that terrified me. It hit the creature, which instantly froze, splashing down into the lake.

The ward was glowing brighter and brighter, and the others were managing to prevent Brinlor from being jostled too badly. I caught sight of Horrison continually diving beneath Brinlor, likely guarding him from anything that was considering grabbing him from below.

Perhaps we really could do this.

Someone screamed. I scanned the water. I’d been watching the others, and I’d lost track of Demos.

I’d lost track of him.

Dread threatened to drop me to my knees.

Please don’t let it be Demos. Please.

Nyrik’s arm was missing.

It was the first thing I saw as my gaze caught on the other man. He screamed again, the water darkening around him. And the creature was coming back.

My skin turned clammy, and I sighted my next arrow.

But it wasn’t interested in Nyrik anymore. His flailing had left a gap in the shield around Brinlor. And the creature dove into the gap.

I shot at it, missed, and almost hit Nyrik. Frustration burned through me. The others were using their power, but the creature was both larger and faster than those in the water. The attack on Nyrik seemed to have emboldened its little friends, and they attacked at once, the water churning.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand here uselessly and watch them lose their lives one by one.

“We need to go in!” I yelled.

“We die, and there will be no one left to get that amulet back to the others,” Amalra ground out.

Demos was already barreling toward Brinlor, his muscular arms slicing through the water. My breath caught in my throat as the largest creature aimed at him.

The ward lit up the entire cave.

And then it darkened once more.

“Got it,” Brinlor yelled, his voice hoarse.

---