Page 77 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“Only come out if things get bad,” he told me, holding one gun while he kept his in its holster.
Bad? Things were already bad.
While the fae weren’t outnumbered, these creatures were not only strong but also looked like they were born to be a weapon.
Elias was mid-swing when a bird shot fire straight at his chest. He flew backward onto the ground, where he didn’t move. The same black smoke Leanora had shot at him now circled him. It seemed to tug at him, taking strands of his silver magic.
No.No.
Nalari let out an earth-shattering roar that I felt in my own chest.
I pushed off the window and crouched in front of Victoria while I kept shooting glances toward Elias, who still hadn’t gotten up.
“You’re gonna stay here with Everly,” I told her.
Eyes wide with fear, she shook her head.
“No, Teddy,” Everly told me. “Absolutely not.”
“Elias. . . she’s killing him.”
Impossible as it was, I believed it to be true. Believed my fictional character was moments away from tearing Elias’s magic and soul from him.
“He’s fae,” she said as if that meant anything to me when the man I was starting to care for still hadn’t moved from the snow-covered ground while his magic leaked from him. While monsters flew and stomped around him. “He’s fine. Let him heal himself, and you’ll see he’s fine.” She said it with such certainty.
I wanted to believe her but couldn’t. Not when my heart screamed at me with every hard pound, demanding I go to him.
I stood and ushered Victoria toward Everly. Everly grabbed my hand and refused to let go when I tried to shrug her off.
I looked out the window again at the fae who circled Elias like a shield while Everly wasted valuable seconds.
The black smoke that circled him fell before it too disappeared.
“I need to go out there, Everly,” I pleaded with her while I continued to fight her hold. “I can bring him back here so he can heal himself.”
“I’ll go.” She moved toward the door, and it was my turn to grip her arm.
“Stay with Tori,” I demanded.
With that, I ran out the door while Everly yelled my name. Just as I reached Elias, Everly came beside me in a jog. I looked over my shoulder and thankfully didn’t see Victoria running after us.
“She’s safe,” Everly huffed out. “Together, we can get Elias and bring him back into the store.”
Once we reached the fae that had formed a circle around Elias, Everly commanded them to move. I was surprised when one shifted enough to let us in.
I dropped to my knees where Elias lay with his blood soaking the otherwise pristine snow. His breaths came out in wet rasps, and his fingers dug into the snow while blood streamed from his nose and mouth.
He was alive. Hurt but alive.
“Elias,” I called out.
His eyes immediately found me. With one hand across hisstomach and the other still in the snow, he shifted but fell back to the ground, his eyes closed.
I grabbed his hand, and when he opened his pain-filled eyes, I said, “You’re not dying today.”
He pulled in a raspy breath that rattled in his chest. When he wheezed, I helped him drag himself up. His face paled to a sallow gray.
I lifted his hand and ducked under his shoulder while Everly did the same on the other side. We lifted him, and his head drooped forward.
