Page 120 of Faerie Fate
I forced myself to stare unflinching at Kendrick rather than show any surprise that he’d taken Livvy. A tiny sliver of fear remained however, ingrained in my psyche from too much abuse. It was an automatic and gut-clenching reaction because Kendrick Grimaldi cut a terrifying figure.
The black magic he used might make him look younger than his actual years but his face showed strain. His eyes were old and vicious. The tattoos and piercings branded him a bad boy but I recognized the rot straight down to his soul.
I shoved the alarm aside. He had nothing on me now. Not even the bond he’d forced. I met his gaze without blinking and after a time, his expression shifted. His eyes widened slightly, the dark pupils expanding. I caught a glimpse of his fear before his scent changed, as though my senses were finely attuned to him now.
But my careful composure fractured when the wolves brought a second hostage forward.
Shock flared my nostrils. “Selene?” I stepped closer.
He held up a hand. “Stop.”
My eyes narrowed to slits. “What game are you playing, Kendrick?”
He shrugged eloquently. “No game. Just more insurance that you will obey me from now on.”
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” I purred. “Afraid of the big bad wolf?”
“Ah, if only your re-branding were successful. What, my leverage means nothing to you, Tavi?” he asked with forced levity.
Power pulsed inside of me, ready to be used. Ready to blast this motherfucking wolf into oblivion where he belonged.
“Let them go.”
“I expected that,” Kendrick growled. “You’re notoriously easy to predict, baby.”
“Then you know what I’m going to do next.”
We held each other in a gridlock. He might have my mother and my mentor as hostages, but he didn’t understand what was actually happening inside of me. He had no idea what I could do and that any chains I’d kept on myself were gone.
I acted before he had a chance to move, transforming in an instant and swiping my claws across his face.
Kendrick reared back with a growl as blood spurted from the fresh furrows on his cheeks. I followed with a blast of power, the witch magic bubbling up and mingling with my fae power until it became an arrow shot right at his black heart.
He raised his arm and blocked the hit but the rest of the room refused to stand still. Refused to stay in a circle around the two of us while we duked it out.
Selene. She was always an opportunist. Or maybe she’d been a traitor from the start.
She shrugged off her bonds and the spell sluiced away from her like rainwater. Not a prisoner, but a partner.
Selene was never my friend.
From the corner of my eye I watched her use her key to open a portal. Kendrick held firm against my attack, and with a snarled command, his wolves all rushed me at once.
The portal was open. Selene had pushed Livvy through the portal in an instant. She flashed a last victorious grin at me before stepping over the threshold herself. And there in the distance?—
Dorian Jade shot me a salute from where he waited for them.
Panic seared my veins. I could so easily unleash the full might of my power, as I’d done at EverRose, but I had yet to learn to control it. For all I knew, my magic could not only devastate everything around me, but travel through the open portal as well. I couldn’t risk killing everyone. My own mother included.
“Stop!”
The nearest wolf shifted and nipped at my heel, dragging me backward before I made it to the portal. I fought through the pain and punched the wolf in the eye, caving in his skull.
His death barely fazed me. Kendrick had bolted toward the portal. Dorian reached out and clasped him by the forearm, helping him through into Faerie.
So that was how Kendrick did it. How he’d been able to get in and out of Faerie all this time.
“No!” Blood dripped from my torn ankle as I struggled to my feet.
