Page 152 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

Shit.

I glance back at Prae, who’s frozen with her hand on her invention. Before, they couldn’t get me to talk because they couldn’t harm me. Now, she’s handed herself over on a silver platter as my whipping girl.

“Then I suppose there’s only one way to guarantee our safety.”

With a hostage no one will risk.

My ghost swords soar through the space between us.

Florian is a legendary warrior, so he puts up more of a fight than most.

“Fight me with honour, you bastard,” he yells, as my blade gets a decent cut on the back of his knee, bringing him down to one leg.

I pretend to consider it.

“Nah, I like watching you die slowly.”

Not that I’m actually going to kill him, of course. That would be stupid. After all, the bastard treated me quite well, all things considered.

Even if it was only to spare his sister feeling any pain along our bond.

If I was a Fomorian prisoner, I’d have been tormented in every way imaginable, and some that aren’t. By comparison, my imprisonment was practically cushy. One broken nose is barely an inconvenience.

Prae gasps, distracting me. I glance over my shoulder and curse.

The redcap has her pressed against his chest, a curved blade held to her throat.

That escalated quickly.

I’m proved right when Prae presses the hidden switch on her gauntlets, and claw-like blades spring out across her forearms. She rams them back into his abdomen.

The redcap releases her, grinning. “Ooh! Playtime!”

Prae just grins and licks the blood from her arm blades. “Bring it.”

I shouldn’t have looked back. Prae can handle herself. Meanwhile, my distraction has cost me. Without my full attention, my ghost blades have fallen still.

Spinning on my heel, I’m just in time to catch Florian’s meaty fist as it rains down upon my head. He’s abandoned both of the iron axes in favour of pummelling me with his bare hands.

A golden bubble surrounds him just as I regain control of my magic and try to spear him with all six blades.

They bounce off harmlessly, but the golden shield reveals another interfering fae.

The wolf bounds through the space between us, snapping and snarling. It drops a silver greatsword at Florian’s feet, and the knight commander accepts it with a grin.

Shit.

I don’t know where the rest of Rose’s Guard are, but I’m betting they won’t be far behind.

We’re not going to get out of here without bloodshed. We’re outnumbered, and Prae is fair game to these assholes.

As if on cue, she hisses, then cackles.

Fuck, if she’d just done as I said…

The wolf lunges for my ankle.

Only for his jaws to slide away. Rebuffed.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I retaliate, going for his hind-leg with my own sword.

It never hits.

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