Page 48 of Faerie Fate
“Gotcha,” he murmured.
His lips curled back from his brown, rotten teeth before Noren released a horrendous roar and clamped his fangs around the man’s neck. With a single crunch, he died.
But the damage was done.
I stumbled backward into Mike and he caught me, wrapping his arms around me to keep us both steady.
“Whoa, Tavi. What…”
His voice trailed off into the dull throb in my ears, my pulse racing and pushing more blood out through the gaping slice along my wrist. Distantly, I felt Mike turn me to face him, felt the gentle probe of his fingers before he tore off a piece of his cloak and wrapped it around the injury.
“That should hold until we get out of here.”
He took my face in his hands, cupping me between his palms. When I failed to respond, Mike snapped his fingers until I focused on the sound.
“Hey. Hey! It’s going to be okay.”
Bronwen grabbed me by the opposite elbow. “Back door,” she said. “We’re not going to find Oxana the Sightless by beating the crap out of these creeps.”
We weren’t actually winning, though, were we? Lezar might have the look of a meathead on steroids but his buddies used their magic well. The air-tightening thing was a new one.
Poppy squared off against Lezar himself, the clash of their swords constant backdrop music while the rest of the men surrounded us. They blocked the back door and Bronwen gulped audibly.
“I guess my escape route is out.”
“I don’t have enough magic to help. The trip back took too much out of me.” Mike squinted, scrutinizing the room. He pointed to the rafters. “But we can go up.”
“Noren.” I shook my head. “I can’t leave Noren.”
The air stank like cabbage left to rot, and half a second later yellow mist poured out through the floorboards. It dissolved everything it touched. Poppy yelped before she leapt onto one of the chairs. “I’d get to higher ground, if you’re planning on sticking around!” She didn’t even look winded.
For every slash of Lezar’s sword, she met him with one of her own, dragging out the fight. Almost like she wanted to see what he would do.
Some unspoken command kept his men focused on us, and Mike helped me onto the top of the nearest table. It wobbled underneath my weight and I flung out my arms for balance, regretting it immediately. The blood loss made me dizzy.
Bronwen clambered up beside me, Mike behind her, and Noren the last of our party. The wood groaned and strained withour combined weight, but with their help I managed to grab a ceiling beam overhead.
I pulled myself up, followed by Bronwen. Mike and Noren weren’t fast enough. The spell ate through the wood and sent them plummeting into the waiting circle of men, who were miraculously untouched by the noxious smoke.
We screamed for them and the sound drew Poppy’s attention. She groaned, breaking her next parry only long enough to whip the cloak off her shoulders. “Can’t turn my back on you for a second,” she griped.
Mike caught the cloak and stared at the fabric.
“Well? Put it over you!”
The wooden beam pushed into my lungs and I lost the feeling in my injured hand. Bronwen clung to my shirt to keep us both suspended in our overhead perch. Mike placed the cloak over both him and Noren, the fabric somehow growing to accommodate both of their forms, and the smoke curled around them without touching either.
A droplet of blood from my wrist reacted with sparks where it touched the smoke. The sparks drew Poppy’s attention.
“Shut your eyes!” Poppy yelled the command before she clapped her hands together.
The resulting boom of her magic shook Grove from foundation to rafters and Bronwen squealed, losing her grip on me. The whole building rattled. I saw the light clearly behind my tightly closed eyelids. Whatever magic Poppy used had turned the place into the inside of an exploding star.
It took another moment for the spell to dissipate and the building to slowly settle again. When it did, when I opened my eyes black dots sparked across my vision. The trailing yellow smoke dissolved but the stench of burned cabbage remained behind.
Mike flung back the black cape covering him and Noren. They were the only two left standing. Them and Poppy.
She hopped down from the chair and resheathed her sword, wiping her palms on the front of her tunic.
