Page 66 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

A man let out a sound like a squeak. “Bloodthirsty—”

“Don’t you dare!” I whirled on Rekja’s soldier.

Lorian’s arm came around my waist, and he buried his head in my neck. His entire body was trembling with obvious fatigue. But after one long inhale, he lifted his head.

I cupped his face until he looked at me. His eyes were wild in a way that made my heart thunder. But he didn’t need fear. Not from me.

Slowly, he came back to himself. His lips pressed to mine for the barest moment, and he inhaled again, as if my scent was clearing his head.

One of Rekja’s soldiers turned toward us, his face white. “They’re… Some of the creatures on the ground are fleeing.”

I followed his gaze, my breaths stilling in my chest…

He was right.

Some of the terrovians that had been clawing at the walls were turning to run, their instincts likely screaming at them after Lorian’s decimation.

But still more of them were digging their claws into those walls. And I let myself imagine—just for a single moment—what I could do if I had my power.

And then they began to howl.

The sound pierced the night, seeming to shake thestone beneath my feet. The scent of fear and sweat curled up my nostrils, and my entire body went cold.

“Their howls increase fear,” Galon said, plucking a crossbow from one of Rekja’s soldiers—a young man who was shaking too hard to hold it straight. Galon’s arrow lodged straight into the throat of the terrovian clambering up the wall, and the creature fell, taking several others with it.

Galon’s no-nonsense refusal to panic seemed to help the soldiers around us reach for their own calm. They launched arrow after arrow, taking down as many terrovians as they could before the creatures reached the top of the walls.

Lorian wrapped my hand around my sword, gave me a look that warned me not to do anything that might cause him a single moment of concern, and turned to behead the first creature that made it up to the top of the city gates.

Next to me, Rythos sliced a terrovian almost in two. On his other side, Marth shoved his sword deep, before kicking the creature to the ground and swinging once more.

Something barreled at me, and all I could see were long, vicious teeth. I twisted, and the creature slid past my body, but it was breathtakingly fast, immediately righting itself with a fluid, menacing grace.

I lunged forward, driving my sword toward the creature. It moved with terrifying agility, but Galon’s insistence on repetitive, never-ending drills had finally honed my reflexes. My sword found its mark, plunging into the creature’s side. It howled, and the sound sent shivers down my spine, urging me to release my gripon the sword. I tightened my hand instead, and the beast thrashed, its movements becoming erratic, desperate. I held on, pushing deeper as its hot blood gushed over my hands.

But I needed my sword free. Ripping my blade from the creature, I turned, coming face-to-face with a terrovian that snapped at me, just inches away.

I let out a yelp. The terrovian’s head hit the ground, and my eyes met Lorian’s.

He scanned me for damage, his eyes feral. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring nod, and he planted himself closer to me, turning to kick out at the next beast.

My breaths came in sharp pants, my hand slick on the hilt of my sword. It was heavier than anything I’d trained with, but I swung it again and again and again. One of Rekja’s soldiers screamed, falling from the wall, his chest a bloody ruin. I caught a glimpse of the king himself, closer to us now as he lunged at the terrovian, before I was forced to turn and meet the next attack.

The creature died with my sword buried in its gut, and I had a single moment to glance below us as the gates shuddered. Eprothan soldiers had followed the terrovians. The humans slammed battering rams into the wall, the gate, anything they could. To our right, several of them were clawing their way up a siege tower. Galon waited until they were almost at the top before unleashing his own power, the water slamming into the tower and washing away any soldiers or terrovians within his reach.

Lorian leaned down, beheading another creature before turning to Galon with a snarl. He wanted Galon to conserve his power to get us out. And I knew if I’d hadmy power, that agreement wouldn’t have been necessary.

The bitterness on my tongue tasted almost as bad as the terrovian blood that had sprayed my face.

Galon jerked his head behind us, and I followed his gaze. He’d bought us time. Time for oil to be brought from the kitchens. This city couldn’t have been less prepared for attack. We would have to use the oil sparingly.

The scalding liquid gleamed ominously, and Rekja waited until the exact moment the gates were almost heaving with creatures and soldiers.

He nodded to one of his soldiers, who lifted his hand. The huge cauldron rose into the air, tipping slowly. And then it moved across the entire width of the gate, spilling oil over anyone—and anything—beneath it.

The screams were chilling.

But the oil bought us a few desperate moments to gulp some water as the terrovians backed away from the wall below us, snarling. I surveyed Lorian, Galon, and Marth. All of them were covered in blood, but none looked seriously injured.

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