Page 36 of Ruthless Fae
Vaughn squeezed my hand, turned, and disappeared into the darkness. We all stepped up to the edge to watch him splash into the water. I held my breath until his head popped up, and he gave a wave.
Ronnie stepped up next, sounding like he was going to hyperventilate, but he took a few more breaths and then stepped off the edge. His arms wheeled a bit, but when he went into the water, he remembered to tuck them in, keeping his body straight. After a few seconds, he popped up and gave us a wave.
“Your turn,” I said to my aunt.
She had the audacity to laugh in my face. “If you think I’m doing that, Tallyndra, then you are as crazy as a drunk poohka.”
“This is no time to argue. Just jump. Vaughn is there to help you. Go.”
“I don’t like your tone,” she said, giving me one of her evil queen stares, perfected over so many years of looking down on her subjects like she was the sun, and we were all ants crawling in the dirt beneath her glory.
Frankly, I was sick of it.
“This is for your own good,” I said, before pushing her into the void.
Chapter Fifteen
The Queenof the Seelie Fae fell, body wobbling and arms flapping like a plummeting chicken. I watched until she hit the water, making a massive splash.
Gòrak, if she wasn’t dead from impact, she would kill me for this, though she was as tough to kill as rootweed, so no doubt she would come out unharmed.
I glanced over my shoulder, and a beam of light shone straight into my eyes, blinding me. The Jeeps had arrived. Shots rang in the air as I dove. I allowed myself to fall for a couple of seconds before I opened my wings and fluttered downward in a spiral.
When I got to the sea level, my aunt was sputtering, half yelling, half spitting water at Vaughn, who was trying to help her swim to a ledge of rocks.
“Don’t touch me, you filthy human.” She swatted his hand away and treaded water, reaching for the ledge as the frothy waves bobbed her up and down, making it impossible to get a grip.
Vaughn huffed, exasperated, and swam with strong strokes to the ledge. With one pull, he hoisted himself up on the rocks where Ronnie waited, arms wrapped around his torso, shivering in his wet clothes. But where was Becca?
When Kiana spotted me hovering above her, she shot a withering glare in my direction. “You will pay for this, Tallyndra.”
“For saving your life?” It seemed my defiance kept growing by the second.
Thewhoop, whoopsound of a helicopter arrived above us.
My aunt blinked, confused. “What in the Fates is that?”
“That’s afilthy humanflying machine,” Vaughn screamed from the ledge over the roar of the water and the whirring of the helicopter. “So you’d better hurry your queenly ass unless you want to end up like mincemeat.”
A chuckle burst out of me. It was the worst possible time to laugh, but it seemed the stress of the situation was getting the best of me. My aunt sent another murderous stared my way. Just what I needed on thisfhèinisland: someone else wanting to kill me. “Join the club” as humans liked to say.
My aunt struggled proudly to get a handhold of the ledge for a few more seconds but failed. Finally, Vaughn put out a hand, reaching for her. After unsuccessfully trying one more time, she begrudgingly took the offered hand and was out of the water in an instant, Vaughn pulling her with one swift tug and depositing her on the rocky cliffside on her feet.
She shook herself dry, squeezing her hair with both hands and sending a stream of water splashing onto the rocks. “How humiliating.”
“At least you’re alive, which is more than you seem to deserve,” Vaughn shot back.
“Watch what you say, human.”
Hoping to stop a useless confrontation and speed us to safety, I landed on the ledge next to my aunt, and, ignoring her, went straight to Ronnie. “C’mon, let’s get in the cave. Hurry, the helicopter is coming fast.”
Thewhoop, whoopalong with the roaring and crashing of the waves was deafening. Scared and shivering from cold, Ronnie stretched to his full height, allowed me to place an arm around his back, and together we rushed into the cave, Vaughn and my aunt following behind.
“Will they follow us in here?” Ronnie asked, panic heavy in his high-pitched tone.
“Don’t worry about it, just keep moving.” I pushed him ahead of me as we hurried single file down the narrow tunnel.
“It’s getting darker. I can’t see anything,” Ronnie complained. “Let me cast a light.”
