Page 75 of Killer of the Bells
“Don’t worry,” Vix assured him. “I wouldn’t make good on that threat. I love my workroom too much to allow Adam near it.”
I’d never actually seen Adam’s bad luck in action. I’d only heard legends. But since I was fae-married to Vale, I’d likely get to see it up close soon.
“Alright, losers,” Baz announced, “prepare to cry yourselves to sleep tonight, because we’re taking the title.”
Vale sniffed haughtily and walked away, towing me behind.
“What’s our plan?” I asked once we were far enough away.
“If we were against anyone else, I’d suggest combining your traps, my speed, and our intelligence to dominate the playing field, but with Baz and Vix, no amount of preparation will hold up against their chaos.”
“So, we use brute force and hope for the best?” I suggested.
“It’s the last thing they would expect, so I think it’s our best option,” Vale agreed.
“I’m not punching anyone in the head again,” I stated firmly. “Once was enough.”
“Try open-hand strikes. You’ll have a larger surface area to work with, so you’ll be less likely to break through soft tissue if you can’t control your force. It’ll still be effective, but there will be less mess.”
I nodded, wishing I had something I could take notes on. Vale was a fountain of knowledge, and I was his willing pupil. I would make Vale force Gareth to give me a new phone so I’d always have something to document Vale’s wisdom.
Vale crouched down so I could climb on his back. “Hold on tight. I’m going to make a straight line for the door as soon as the sun sets.”
I scrambled up and buried my face in his hair, reveling in its existence for an unknowable amount of time.
“I love my new hair,” I murmured.
“It loves you too, Echo. Now be ready, it’s starting.”
The moment the sun dipped past the horizon, Vale was off like a shot. As we raced for the door, I realized I’d gained morethan strength. My mind also sped up to keep up with Vale’s supernatural speed. The world seemed to slow as we moved, allowing me to disable the hunters we passed. I mostly went for kneecaps and stomach strikes, doing my best to give them tiny slaps so I didn’t explode anything.
In our wake, there was nothing but a medium amount of screaming and complaints, and I took that to mean I’d been successful in not exploding anyone to death.
Vale reached the door and rebounded, flinging us across the churchyard.
“That’s new,” I said with a mouthful of my new hair as I tried to disentangle myself from Vale’s body.
“That’s Vix’s work. He uses something similar on the doors and windows of our house.”
“Neat. How do we get past it?”
“He couldn’t have gotten the device inside the tower on such short notice, so all we have to do is find it and disable it.”
“Easy-peasy. He’s garbage at hiding his traps, lemme see…” I scanned the area around the door. It was the busiest area, so it took a hot minute to locate the clunky box half-hidden under a bush. I grabbed Vale’s head and pointed it. “There. If we break that dohickey, the door will be free, and we can go ruin everyone’s day.”
Vale was at the bush by the time I said the wordday,and the clunky box was dust in his hands a second after. He moved to the side just as a dagger planted itself where we were just standing. “I’ll remember that later, Baz,” Vale announced and then zipped us to the door, neatly avoiding the three daggers flying toward us.
“Was he trying to kill us?” I asked. What kind of crazy-ass family had I hitched myself to?
“Probably not. His aim is perfect, and the trajectory would have only hit muscle, not vital areas.”
“I guess that’s a relief?”
Vale had us at the top of the tower in a flash, far ahead of anyone else and dashing past my traps so quickly that they didn’t have time to trigger.
I could see the bells. It was only us and them, with no one to stop us. Except…
“How… how did… who did this?!” I climbed down from Vale’s back to clutch at the tattered remains of the elaborate rope and pulley system that made the bells function.
