Page 69 of Wrath of the Fae

Cyrus reaches out with his hand and sends a stream of black smoke to her, leaving her swarmed and unable to move.

He holds her effortlessly and stands, looking down at me. He looks deranged, and there’s a twitch in his eye. One he would always get when truly angry.

I stand, forcing myself to my feet, and face him. He briefly glances at the wings I display at my back but swiftly settles his attention on my eyes.

Tessa’s grunts and strains fill the room as she attempts to get free.

‘Let her go.’ I stand tall. ‘Now, Cyrus.’

He doesn’t.

Cyrus walks towards me. Each step is slow, and his eyes never leave mine. That stare holds me entranced. He stops nose-to-nose with me and leans down. Closing his eyes, he rests his forehead on mine and lets out a long exhale. My fingers flex on the handle of my dagger and I’m frozen to the spot.

‘I never thought I was going to see you again,’ he says softly. ‘Part of me hoped I never would. Not in this world. This nightmare.’

I do it before I even realise it. Only when warm blood reaches my fingers do I comprehend my actions. He shudders but doesn’t move. Slowly, I pull out the dagger from his side.

He opens his eyes.

‘I guess I deserved that.’

‘Where is my sister?’

‘In the First Kingdom.’

‘Why? Why have you done this?’ I ask almost pleadingly. ‘Haven’t you betrayed me enough? How could you marry my sister? How could you side with Reid’s father? With Ivan?’

He flinches as my voice cracks, and his eyes narrow. ‘Do you think we’re there through choice? I have tried to get us out, but it only ever makes things worse.’

‘What are you talking about?’

I gasp as a sharp pain hits my side.

He looks down, and I follow his gaze. An iron arrow tip is protruding from my side. Cyrus pulls me to the side as a second arrow soars towards us, and we turn to the cave entrance where a single First Kingdom soldier stands.

The soldier readies another arrow in his bow and aims it at Cyrus.

‘I knew you should never have been let out of your cage,’ the soldier snarls, looking around at the scattered bodies. ‘Are you trying to get the little princess bitch out again?’ he scoffs, laughing cruelly. ‘I seem to remember it not going too well for either of you the last time you snuck her out of the palace. The rest of us had a blast.’ He looks right at me. ‘Did you, little princess?’

I watch Cyrus’s reaction to the soldier’s words.

I sensed no hint of a lie. Nothing but honesty was spoken in those vile words that have hideous images running through my mind.

What happened to them? To Rhea?

Cyrus steps in front of me, and his wings emerge at his back as he rests his hand on my side, keeping me protected behind him.

‘Shooting her was the biggest mistake of your miserable life,’ Cyrus snarls.

‘I have reinforcements coming,’ the soldier warns. ‘They’ll be here in a matter of minutes.’

‘And I will slaughter them just as I slaughtered all these fuckers. And just as I will slaughter you.’

‘Put your hands behind your back, Cyrus. And practice your begging.’

I pull the iron arrow free and toss it at the soldier with all my strength. It spins in the air and lands in his shoulder, making him yell furiously.

Cyrus is black smoke in a second, soaring towards the young soldier. Tessa is freed and scrambles towards me. She slams her hand over the wound left behind by the arrow, but blood seeps through her fingers.

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