Page 23 of Close Quarter
Poison raged through his limbs, slowing him.
No time to heal.
Footsteps behind him.Damn it all!He turned and swung his blade at the soulless on his trail-- and missed.
Missed. For the first time in five centuries.
He couldn't help pulling back in shock.
That was all it took. The soulless caught his shoulders as he turned, dug in its claws, and slammed him face-first against the wall. The bridge of his nose shattered, and blood flowed down his face. The grate of the wallpaper against Silas's ruined face felt like acid burning through his flesh. Pinpricks of light danced in his vision.
His throat ached to scream, but he wouldn't give the creature that satisfaction.
Everything smelled of blood.
"So, the great Silvanus." A male voice, dark and cold, spoke into his ear. "I thought the forest god was supposed to be a challenge."
Again teeth sank into Silas's flesh, deeper than before. Agony flooded his senses, but this time fury rather than shame followed. Silas reversed the grip on his sword and plunged it backward into the gut of the soulless. It howled and released him. The creature must have backed itself off his blade, for the weight on the sword vanished.
So much for the element of surprise. Silas turned, letting the wall support him.
The creature had been a man once and still held that form, but for a bloodied maw of jagged teeth and long birdlike claws for hands. Brown hair, black eyes, and a face that would have been handsome had it been human.
The soulless spit at Silas and backed away, one clawed hand over the wound in its belly. The wound festered and smoked. Bits of flesh fell away and turned to ash. A young one, then. If it had been older, the blow would have merely slowed it down.
"Not so easy." Silas shifted his grip on the gladius and wiped blood away from his mouth with his coat sleeve. "And enough of a challenge to send you into oblivion."
It bared its fangs. "But at what price, Silvanus? The sea is no friend to you."
His name again.How did it know?Silas pushed himself off the wall and stalked toward the soulless. Blood from the wounds in his shoulder ran down his neck. Soaked his shirt.
The soulless tried to back away but stumbled to the floor.
"Slowly or quickly," Silas said. "Either way, the gods will take your body." He stopped when he reached the fallen creature.
"And the master will take your soul." It lunged for Silas's leg. Sank fangs and claws into his left calf.
Silas swore and swung at the creature's neck.
His muscles bunched against the impact, but the blade slid through cleanly. The body dissolved into ash. The head bounced once and then did the same.
Silence, except for his ragged breathing. Silas hazarded a glance around the foyer. No one, thank Fortuna. His glamour was in tatters, much like his body.
Thousands of knives slashed in his blood.
That had gone badly, indeed. Pride alone kept him upright. He had survived far worse, just not in a very long time.
And never floating in the middle of the ocean.
Silas limped away from the piles of ash on the floor. Oh, that would confuse the humans, but they would clean it up and be none the wiser. His formal wear soaked up blood well. He wasn't trailing much of it. Dark red carpet too.Good.
He paused and sheathed his sword into the dark void of the Aether. He had very little elemental power left. He needed it to hide himself, stop the bleeding if he could.
The soulless had drunk deep when it pierced Silas's skin. All the strength he had gained from Rhys was gone, along with much of his own energy. He had barely enough to cast a glamour.
Healing would have to wait, then.
Mercury's balls!Wait until what? He returned to the garden? He fucked Rhys,usedhim to gain strength, like some fae version of the soulless? Silas caught himself as he fell against the hallway wall. A deep craving for the quarter-fae shook his body.
