Page 114 of Hunted in the Shadows
His handsome face was contorted with disgust, wrestling my arms down and pinning my wings against his front. I started to shout an incantation, but his free hand clamped itself over my mouth to silence the spell.
“Words have power,” he panted in my ear as I squirmed. “As does theirabsence.”
One of his rings glinted before my eyes. The air shimmered with magic, and agony tore through my mouth as his wordless spellwork took hold. A scream stayed trapped behind my lips, drowning and gurgling beneath the hot liquid filling my mouth.
With a chuckle I could barely hear, Marcellus removed his hand. Noise erupted from me like a dying animal. As I opened my mouth, blood spilled onto my chin, running down my neck until it gathered over the front of my gown. Each rapid pulse of my heart released more and more from the deep laceration that ran along my tongue.
Even as I sagged in his arms, Marcellus wouldn’t let me go. My vision turned spotty, his words slipping in and out of focus as he growled in my ear.
“Who are you?” he demanded. “A mere, impulsive child.” Agony and unconsciousness writhed within me, battling to hold my attention. He shook me. “You would go against your own people, Sylvia? The will of the very stars that have protected you from your foolish choices—for what?”
I moaned low in my throat, and even that sent a wave of pain so cutting that I forced myself to keep a sob at bay lest I torture myself further. I caught Jon's gaze—so far below on the cave floor now. He was still tracking me, fighting a fruitless battle as he hacked at vines with an iron blade, only for them to regrow and ensnare him once again.
“I certainly hope you aren’t begging for death because you will not find it here.” His voice was becoming calm again—certain of himself. “You are home,child. Youwillsubmit eventually when you realize the truth. No one out there will miss you. No one is coming for you. You are nothing more than a pathetic, friendless failed nomad without a family to notice your absence. Without us, you arealone.”
Tears streamed down my face as his words stabbed. My heart burned with the memory of my friends and family in Elysia—thepeople I loved so dearly that I’d lost or had left me, willingly or not. For a moment, the idea of caving into defeat felt like a reprieve.
Alone. I was soalone.
Then, new memories flickered through my mind’s eye.
Singing off-key to Elton John in the car, the changing landscape blurring outside the windows. The way Jon doubled over laughing, deep and loud, when I’d pranked Cliff by freezing his beer bottle to his hand. The feel of Jon’s skin against me when we were entwined in the spectral plane. WatchingSurvivorwith Cliff in the motel room over whiskey.
I strained, slipping a shaking hand into my pocket to reach my stashed dagger.
I do have a family. The thought struck through me like lightning, setting a blaze in my heart. A new strength surged in me as my knuckles whitened on the cool metal hilt. I glimpsed Jon far below—fighting his way to stay close to me, his familiar gaze feverish.
I wouldn’t let Marcellus take away the people I loved. We wouldn’t die at his hands.
With every ounce of strength left in me, I unsheathed the dagger and stabbed Marcellus in the stomach.
No words needed for that, asshole.
His grip grew lax around me, a gasp of agony at my ear. Something savage took hold of me as I twisted, wrapping my legs around his waist and letting my flightless weight rest on him as I plunged my dagger into him again and again. Between the leather plates on his chest, a second incision to his abdomen, his thigh.
The smell of blood choked me as I snagged the satchel back into my arms. I leaned back, letting him see the animal in my eyes. Sorrow and betrayal flickered beneath the outrage in his stare, a sight that gave me pause.
But it was for only a moment. Roaring past the agony in my mouth, I carved the blade across his throat, fresh blood splattering the front of my dress as I watched the light leave his eyes. My stomach churned, but the vicious beast in my chest roared in approval.
He plummeted toward the cavern floor. I started to fall with him until I remembered to snap my wings open and redirect my flight.
Wails echoed off the cavern walls, rising above the chaos as the nearest fairies dove for Marcellus. I glimpsed the glow of healing spellwork from his loyal disciples, but I knew they were surrounding a fallen corpse beyond saving.
The wails swiftly became bloodcurdling screams.
Above it all, Jon’s voice boomed. “Sylvia!” He managed to tear free of the binds as the fairies were distracted by the death of their leader. Our eyes locked, and for the briefest second, Jon gaped like he didn’t recognize me.
He lunged to reunite with me, but several fairies turned their mourning onto him, forcing him to stagger against the wall as whips of fire lashed in his direction, singeing his skin. Others were darting for me, but they couldn’t reach me in time as I dove for Jon. My fingers slipped into the satchel and touched the gemstone—mygemstone. Without a single word, I conjured an ice shield to protect us both.
A strange, electric taste entered my mouth as the raw magic surged through me like a conduit. When I opened my mouth, I realized my tongue had been healed through the surge of magic.
“We need to go.Now!” I screamed over my shoulder to Jon.
His gaze flooded with astonishment once more at the sight of me. He uttered my name as though he were already in mourning. I couldn’t blame him, given how nightmarish I must have looked, blood painting half my face, my neck, and the front of mydress. For all he knew, my throat had been torn as wide open as Marcellus’.
But there was no time to assure him. As enraged fairies began to close in on us, I knew I had to be the one to clear our path. If I didn’t act now, we would die.
I placed my hand fully on the gemstone. Power still churned within. Less than before but nonetheless dizzying. The pulse of its force grew to a roar as I readily connected with the magic. I shut my eyes, imagining what I wanted to happen, and all at once, my vision flooded into the reality in time with my wordless scream.
