Page 68 of Rebel Fae
She turned to face me, holding her hands up protectively. “Don’t hurt me. I didn’t want to do it. Adaline made me.”
“Don’t lie!” I drew closer, dagger in hand. “You enjoy torturing people weaker than you.”
“I… I…” She couldn’t even come up with a convincing lie to save herself. I imagined stabbing the dagger into her heart and promptly realized I couldn’t kill someone in cold blood—not even a malicious coward like Crescent.
I shifted my grip on the dagger, intending to slam the handle against the side of her head and put her out of commission. Crescent trembled as I took another step forward. She drew her hands together, hiding her face. As I took one last step and pulled my arm back to knock her out, I caught sight of her face behind the edge of the hand she’d been using to shield it. Her lips were moving fast, and her eyes were glowing slightly.
Too late I realized what she was doing: conjuring a spell.
Energy shot from her hands straight into my chest. I flew across the corridor and slammed against the wall. My head followed, slamming against the concrete with a loud crack. I screamed in pain, slid down the wall, and collapsed to the floor in a heap, the dagger falling from my hand and clattering away.
My head swam. Flashes of light throbbed before my eyes. My wing ached too. One of them had hit at the wrong angle and bent out of shape.
“A smart witch always saves a bit of magic until the end, just in case,” Crescent said, her voice conceited again.
I blinked, seeing double. Even in the blur, I could tell Crescent was leaning down and picking up the dagger. She stalked in my direction, a twisted smile stretching her lips. She would have no trouble killing anyone in cold blood, especially me.
I tried to stand, but the whole world sloped to one side, and I collapsed back down. She took another step in my direction, close enough for me to attack. Yet, there were still two Crescents in front of me. I aimed for the one that seemed more solid and kicked.
My leg hit her feet, sweeping them from under her. She fell like a heavy log, slamming with athudagainst her shoulder. But she was a fighter, too. Even from the floor, she raised the dagger and attacked. I parried the blow with my forearm and the dagger flew from her hand.
Undeterred, she jumped on top of me and wrapped her hands around my throat. I bucked, throwing her off balance, then tried to roll up on top of her, but she moved quickly and scrambled to her feet.
Pushing to all fours, I tried to stand. With a cry of fury, Crescent got hold of my injured winged and started pulling it as if she meant to dislodge it. A mangled scream clawed out of my throat. Not my wing!
Fearing she might tear it beyond repair, I staggered toward her, following the pull. Too late I noticed she’d recovered the dagger and was holding it in her other hand and aiming it straight at my wing.
“Tally, watch out!” Vaughn’s voice screamed from down the hall.
My eyes found his immediately. He was holding the gun, pointing it at Crescent.
A loud crack reverberated through the hall as he pulled the trigger just as the witch stabbed the dagger right through my wing.
I screamed in agony.
The bullet hit Crescent in the chest, and she stumbled backward, pulling me with her. Even as she fell, her grip on the dagger held and the blade tore down the length of my wing, ripping it in half.
The cry of agony slashing through my throat pierced through the sound of the alarm. I fell on top of Crescent, then rolled away onto my stomach. My wing, my entire back was on fire.
This had to be another illusion. It had to be. But the pain was too real.
My wing. It was… ruined.
Numbly, I stared into Crescent’s face. Her eyes were closed and blood was pooling under her still body.
Vaughn ran to my side and knelt next to me. “Tally, are you all right?”
My wing screamed in pain as I turned my head in Vaughn’s direction. There was horror in his expression as he glanced from my face to the torn wing lying limp on my shoulder.
It’ll be all right. It’ll be all right.I told myself, thinking of the fountain and the way it had healed Bael. I just had to go back to it, and it would be all right.
“It’ll be okay,” Vaughn echoed my desperate thoughts. “We’ll find someone to fix it. C’mon, we have to get out of here. I managed to wake the girls up. C’mon.”
He helped me to my feet. We hurried toward suite 352, but before we got there, the girls stumbled out of the room. They looked confused and were clinging to each other, but there was life in their eyes.
When Arryn saw me, she let go of Courtney and wrapped her hands around my waist, weeping. “Tally, Tally, Tally.” She repeated my name like some sort of prayer.
Vaughn tugged on her arm. “There’s no time for that. We have to run.”
