Page 98 of Soul of Thorns
My eyes refocus on my most pressing enemy. Kill the manticore, then I can get Rev out of here. If she can’t touch me... it would be a matter of maneuvering the right pieces. First step: kill the manticore. Step two: get Rev in my grasp.
Step three: flee.
“That will work, right?” I mutter to the book.
It is possible, yes.
I pull in a breath, recentering my focus. Rev’s limp body swings from the manticore’s grip. He doesn’t move. Is he unconscious?
Save Rev, that’s my goal now.
I slide my feet wide, muscles clenched and eyes pinned to my target. “Does a backpack still count?” I ask the book.
That will do just fine, shadow fae.
I swing my backpack from around my shoulder and quickly stow the book inside. Placing the bag snuggly to my back, I clip the front straps.
“You’ve come bearing gifts, I see?” The Night Terror’s voice sends chills down my spine.
You will never be free,my magic whispers.Either she will kill you or I will.
I curl my lip, exposing my teeth—pathetic compared to hers. But I don’t care. I will kill anyone that comes between me and Rev.
“Put him down,” I demand, voice clearer now.
“Very well.” The Night Terror’s horrific lips curl into a smile that chills me to the core. Then, she nods, and the manticore releases him. Rev falls fifteen feet, and his head smacks the stone, followed by his crumpled body.
I gasp and jerk forward.Please be okay. Please be okay.
His body lies in a heap, limbs bent awkwardly. He doesn’t stir.
“Do you desire vengeance, little fly?” the manticore says with that low voice. Eerie.
“A useless battle, child,” the Night Terror advises. “You are too weak to pick such uneven fights.”
Useless? Perhaps. But I long for the chance to win one battle, to take something from the Night Terror before she takes from me. To even the playing field just a little bit.
He is her most important weapon.
“Even if you win and escape, you cannot both pass through these walls,” the tree rumbles with a powerful voice that shakes me to my core. No matter how much determination I muster, I cannot stop my body from reacting. “One of you will be trapped here with me. Which will it be?”
I grip my iron dagger in one hand, an obsidian dagger in the other. Rev will leave with the book. I don’t know if they can use it to cure the scourge without me—the book did say I was the only one able to use it. But he’ll have done his job. It won’t be his fault the book failed.
We’ll have stopped the real evil, and that’s what matters most.
“And that will leave you in my grasp.”
“Yes,” I whisper. She’ll torture me. Kill me, if I’m lucky. But Rev will be free, spell book in hand. And even if the Night Bringer steals my soul and takes control of my body, the spell book will be out of my reach. We’ll both be trapped here.
All will be right—or as right as it could be.
My plan solidified, I focus on my target.
I pull my prickly shadows around me, and I leap once, twice, three times, and land on the manticore’s shoulder. He swings at me before I can land my first blow, but I shadow leap to his other shoulder. I am barely larger than his head.
Calling me a fly was not so much of an exaggeration.
He roars in annoyance, his hooved foot crushing the soil just feet from Rev’s fallen body. I leap again, landing next to my mate. He stirs, a groan escaping his lips, but he doesn’t open his eyes. I ignore him. For now, I have more important issues to deal with.
