Page 92 of Courting War
QUEEN’S MIRROR
The foolish, charming human was going to die. He was a man. She should let him.
But she couldn’t.
Weird things were happening to her insides. Hideous emotions stirring. It was sickening. Theo scrunched her face. Being mortal was just simply awful. She was slow, bleeding, and full of useless feelings like compassion and fear . . . fear for someone else.
She missed the days of her monstrous heart.
Theo sighed. A belabored and grumpy sigh. She couldn’t let the human die. Because she liked him but also because Kellyn loved him.
“Hey, Charming, make sure you catch,” Theo yelled across the ravine. Either this would work, or she would die horrifically.
Perfect.
Theo backed up to the end of her island and jumped toward the gladiator arena. Using one of Cecile’s new islands as a middle point to land and continue her momentum.
“CATCH,” she wailed louder than a banshee, and Emmettturned around, clutching her by her warrior leather corset strings, which was good because her feet barely landed on the sand. Falling backward, he rolled them onto the island between the wolf’s feet and gaping jaws. “That shouldn’t have worked.”
“No, it shouldn’t have.”
“Can I borrow a knife?”
Emmett handed her one by the hilt, and she swiftly stabbed upward as the wolf tried to clamp down on them, but she’d lodged it between its teeth. Bella appeared from the steam and sat next to them, readying to fight. The cat couldn’t aid Theo, but she could aid Emmett.
“So we’re clear, I did that for him,” Theo said, jumping to her feet and grabbing a loose sword.
On the other side of the cave, Kellyn and Cecile jumped from island to island, finding the one they needed.
As they reached the island, the wolf disappeared, and nine harpies burst from the sand and took to the skies.
“Well, that’s fucking perfect,” Emmett said, wiping blood off his katana. He’d managed to put a gash in the wolf’s leg.
“Yeah.” Theo’s voice was thick with poison. Her gaze latched on the half-woman half bird, which decided to target Kellyn instead of them.
Nefeli’s revenge.
Emmett picked up a bow and quivered.
“Let me,” Theo said, holding out her hand. “I don’t miss.”
Emmett scoffed, unbelieving, but he handed over the quiver anyway. Possibly wanting to see the skill firsthand. “Unleash hell then.”
She released a volley of bloodshed. The Goddess of War did not miss; she quickly hit three harpies, aiming to take them down but not kill them—intentionally shooting them over the islands so they would fall on land and not into the boiling waters.
Cooked bird wasn’t on the menu. Birds were sacred to Theo and her country, harpies included. They didn’t eat birds.
Not to be outdone, Emmett threw a javelin, piercing through the air and finding a harpy by Cecile’s head. Butthe exertion forced him to take a knee. His body was wrecked from his sickness, working at ten percent capacity.
Theo had an awful urge to comfort him, but she didn’t have time.
Meanwhile, Bella lounged on the island and yawned as if she couldn’t be bothered to help. Truly, what was the point of her being on the island? As if she heard her goddess’s thoughts the cat gave a lengthy meow that said,I think you have it covered.
Theo shook her head and returned to her work. She loosed three more arrows and took out three more birds. Two hits remained. She loosed another.
Perfection.
Shooting was the one thing this useless human body was equally skilled at. Probably because it only required human strength, and the draw weight on her compound bow was only about thirty pounds.
