Page 130 of Crown of Briars
“You are a means to an end.” His eyes dipped to the rose jewel. “I only needed you to procurethatfor me. Now that you have, I can dispose of you so you don’t disrupt any more of my plans.”
What plans? What is he plotting?
I didn’t have time to ask. Without warning, he lunged for me. In that split second, I released the rose jewel and pulled outWraith Killer. Instantly, the shrill, piercing sound erupted all around us. Warwick sank to his knees, crying out as he clapped his hands over his ears. I gritted my teeth, pushing myself through the pain, and swiped the dagger. He jerked backward, but not quickly enough. The blade cut through his tunic and drew blood.
Hissing, he pressed a hand to his chest, glaring at the smear of black blood.
Over the ringing noise, he shouted, “You’ll pay for that, you little bitch!”
He dived for me, but I swung again, my dagger slicing into his arm. It didn’t stop him, though. One arm wrapped around my legs and tugged, bringing me crashing to the forest floor. I yelped, my fingers tightening around the hilt of my dagger. A surge of strength flooded me, and I snarled at him. I kicked and bucked, managing to free myself from his grip. Then I rolled before climbing to my knees and driving the blade straight into his abdomen.
He howled in agony, clutching at his side, but I wasn’t finished. I elbowed him directly in his wound, then turned and smashed my head backward against him. Something made a sickeningcrunch—his nose, most likely—and I jabbed my elbow backward into his chest for good measure.
I turned, prepared to drag my blade across his throat and be done with it. But his arms wrapped around my chest, trapping me against him. I struggled and writhed, but his body was so much larger than mine. I tried slamming my head backward again, but he ducked, his face peering over my shoulder to whisper in my ear.
“I was going to kill you quickly,” he rasped. “But now, I’ll have my way with you first. You’ve brought this on yourself, you pathetic human.”
He leaned in and bit down hard on my shoulder. I screamed as his fangs pierced my flesh, dragging through it and drawingblood. The ringing sound intensified, as if spurred on by our fight. I felt blood dripping from my ears, and my skull throbbed.
A roar echoed nearby, and something huge tackled Warwick, pulling him away from me. Blood soaked my tunic and cloak, but I forced myself upright as a flash of blue scales sparkled in the moonlight.
“No!” I cried. “Az,don’t!”
But it was too late. Warwick stared at her, eyes bulging as she pinned him to the earth. Her talons dug into his chest, which was already covered in his blood. She roared again, then clamped her jaws over his shoulder—the same spot where he’d just bitten me.
Warwick screeched, his body thrashing as Azure tore into him.
I stumbled forward, falling to my knees as the piercing in my skull made my vision swim.
The pain was too much… too much…
Sudden silence covered the wood, and my head jerked upward in alarm. I searched for the rose jewel and found it still resting in the dirt where I’d dropped it.
But the ringing had stopped. Why?
Azure made a snarling sound, jerking my attention back to Warwick. Coming to my senses, I hurried over with Wraith Killer in hand. Before I could sever his head from his neck, he managed to kick Azure in the stomach. She groaned, her body coiling from the blow. Warwick wrapped his legs around her, then rolled so she was underneath him, her teeth still buried in his shoulder.
“A dragon,” he hissed. “Agods-damned dragon. How you managed to find one, little human, I don’t know. But I’m taking this one with me.”
He wrapped his hands around Azure’s throat, undeterred despite her ripping out a chunk of his shoulder.
I cried out and rushed him, driving my dagger between hisshoulder blades. He grunted but kept his hands on Azure’s neck, as if getting impaled by my magical weapon was a minor inconvenience for him.
How the hell was he still conscious? I had stabbed him multiple times with an enchanted blade, and Azure was about to tear off his arm.
My dragon was growing weaker. Her eyes went unfocused, and she slumped over.
I elbowed Warwick in the face, then slammed the hilt of my blade against his skull. His head whipped sideways, his hands loosening for a moment. I managed to push him off Azure, then slammed my boot into his chest to keep him down.
I pressed my dagger into his neck. Black blood bloomed from the wound. I drove it deeper, but his fist struck my stomach, knocking the breath out of me. I slid sideways. Warwick shoved me fully off him, then climbed atop me, his knees pinning my body down.
“If that’s how you want it,” he growled, “then fine.” His hips ground into mine.
I screamed and wriggled, trying to free my arms, but I was trapped. His hand clamped down on my wrist before he wrenched Wraith Killer from my grasp. With a snarl, he tossed the blade well out of reach.
In an instant, my strength left me, and the intensity of my wounds pulsed with fresh awareness. My limbs groaned, and spots danced in my vision.
Without Wraith Killer, I wouldn’t last much longer.
