Page 63 of A Song of Air
There was a beat of silence. Then,If you want to fix things between the two of you, maybe you should show him that you need him.
Bryson frowned, scrunching her nose and staring up at the sky, as if she could see her familiar past branches and leaves.He should already know that I do. After everything we’ve been through.
If her familiar had shoulders, she would have shrugged.I have noticed that humans like reassurance, especially when competing against the mating bonds of Mana.
Her familiar went quiet after that, and Bryson didn’t even know how to respond anyway. She didn’t bother because a familiar noise whistled through the air. Something similar to the screech of a hawk, though she knew it wasn’t her familiar.
It was Malika, giving the signal.
It was time.
Bryson notched an arrow into her bow and waited with bated breath. Ev tensed beside her, both of them glancing down at the opening from in between the trees.
Everything stilled, and the familiar scents of fear, the familiar sounds of clattering wheels echoed through the woods. Her eyes squinted from beneath the wooden mask, making out shadows and clonking wooden and iron figures. Her scent picked up the slack of her poor eyesight, and she gauged positions. But just before she could let an arrow lose, Ev did so himself.
She jolted in surprise. Shooting the first arrow and immobilizing the driver washerjob because she was the best shot among them. Those were the rules. Those had always been the rules.
Yet Ev’s arrow fired. Bryson knew the shot wouldn’t hit the target with as accurate precision as hers would have. And it didn’t. It struck the human’s shoulder. The man grunted and doubled over, startling the horses pulling the wagon.
Ev let out a hissed curse and slid from the tree, climbing quickly to the ground below.
“Ev!”
He ignored her.
He was ignoring their plan.
What the fuck is he doing?she thought angrily as she climbed down after him.
This wasn’t how they did things. They hardly showed their masked faces to the humans. It was supposed to protect them. They always attacked from a distance. Never up close. And they were never supposed to miss a shot, either.
Was Everette doing this because he felt he had something to prove? Because she’d embarrassed him and now he was trying to gain some of his pride back? Was that what this was about?
She couldn’t ask any of that, though, because Ev had already touched the ground and raced towards the wagon.
The horses pawed the air, frightened at the current disruption. The human shouted for backup, and several more burst from the wagon to meet Ev as her boyfriend pulled his sword from its sheath. He met the humans with a clang of blades just as Bryson’s feet touched the ground.
“Everette!” The arrow flew before she could blink, hitting its target far too wide. It didn’t stop the human from charging for Ev, but it slowed him down considerably. His sword lifted in an arc, ready to slash down against her parrying partner...
Someone appeared in a blur of metal and fabric, sword blocking the descent. The Seelie Prince. He was a swish of metal and dark hair as he shoved the human away, protecting Ev’s side. They parried, and Bryson notched another arrow in her bow.
“Ev, look out!”
Her warning was shouted too late. Even as the arrow flew, the sword came down against Everette, slicing across his chest just before the arrow pierced the human in the eye. He crumbled at the same time Ev did. At the same time the Seelie Prince finished off the other humans.
Then there was a beat of silence.
Right before everything burst into chaos.
Bryson rushed towards Ev with a cry on her lips as everyone Resistance and rebels alike burst from their hiding places, rushing around to do several things at once.
Some went to the wagons immediately, beginning to pry apart the iron to free the people from the inside. Bryson dropped to the ground beside Ev, her fingers pressing against the blood blooming against his chest.
Bryson felt the tears prick at the back of her eyes but kept them at bay. Ev groaned, his own hand reaching up to pull the mask from his face. His features twisted into agony, and she dug her fingers tighter against the wound, trying to block the flow of blood.
“Stupid,” she hissed, leaning over his body. Her hair slid from its knot, caressing his cheeks. “Why would you do something so stupid?”
Ev gasped, and it took Bryson a moment to realize he was laughing.
