Page 137 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

Where was Demos… Where was he—

There.

He’d leapt toward the roof of the carriage. But his body slammed into an invisible barrier, which shoved himbackward with brutal force. Twisting in midair, he kicked out, clipping one of the guards in the face. Brinlor slipped up behind the same guard and slammed his dagger into the spot where the bottom of his head met his neck.

The ward around the carriage was one that actively repelled any who attempted to get near it. And I’d seen it before. Regner’s assessors often traveled with shield guards who prevented anyone from even getting close to them.

The only way to break it would be to kill the guard who was using his magic to keep it in place.

My eyes darted. Six guards left. But which one of them held the ward?

Horrison and Firion had ducked behind one side of the carriage and were using it to shield themselves from an unrelenting attack from a guard who was sending some kind of destructive power toward them. Firion leaned around one of the wheels, and the guard’s shoulders stiffened. Firion’s eyes widened, and he slipped back behind the carriage, just in time for the guard’s power to slam into a tree off the road behind him, blowing it to pieces.

He wasn’t the shielder.

Nocking another arrow, I waited, poised. A huge, broad guard with a thick neck was fighting Demos with his sword. I hesitated, my crossbow raised. But as much as I wanted to shoot him, that guard wasn’t the shielder either.

Shielders required concentration. Focus. Even if he’d been given stolen magic, it was unlikely that guard would be able to fight someone like Demos while keepingthat shield in place.

Elysanth raised her sword, guarding her injured sister. One of the guards lunged toward Elysanth, a wide grin on his face. My heart leaped into my chest.

Brinlor was there to meet him, and their swords clashed.

Relief coursed through me. I continued scanning. And my gaze caught on the guard toward the back of the carriage.

Smaller than the other guards, he wielded a sword that was awkwardly long for him, as if he was attempting to overcompensate. As I watched, he took several steps toward Horrison, who’d lost his sword and was fighting hand to hand with a guard who still had his.

He was going to attack Horrison from behind. I bared my teeth.

But he scuttled backward, closer to the carriage once more.

“I’ve got you.” I’d just found their shielder. And he didn’t exactly seem to be overflowing with courage.

The rough plan leaped into my mind, fully formed. I didn’t have time to second-guess myself.

Demos—

I caught sight of him just as he buried his sword in the larger guard’s gut.

“Demos!” I screamed.

He turned, wide-eyed. And his eyes sparked when he saw I wasn’t hurt or bleeding, but was instead distracting him.

My crossbow was in my hands, my bow poised, so I couldn’t gesture properly. I had to hope he would get it.

And so I exuberantly jerked my head toward the guard with the too-long sword. The guard who’d turned toward me as I’d called Demos’s name.

I gave him a dark smile that I hoped was dripping with ill intent. He swallowed, moving back toward the carriage. But he couldn’t go any farther without running into Firion and Brinlor, who had just killed another guard.

Movement.

Demos, prowling toward the amulet. I couldn’t risk looking at him.

And so, I widened my smile, letting my arrow fly toward the guard.

He did what I’d anticipated he would do. What almost anyone would do, even if they wouldn’t admit it to themselves.

My arrow came within inches of his face and was repelled so violently, it almost hit Gwynara as she fought hand to hand, her own power clearly drained.

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