Page 70 of Wrath of the Fae

The screams coming from the soldier are full of anguish as he battles the black swarm. The sounds of breaking bones and tearing flesh echo all around us.

Tessa helps me get to my feet and takes my weight.

‘Kill him, Raven. Now, whilst he’s distracted!’

The pain-filled screams of the soldier continue. Cyrus is making him suffer. Making him pay for shooting me with that arrow.

'Or knock him out,and we’ll take him back to Midnight's End. Use him as a bargaining tool. Use him to settle your powers and hold him hostage.’

There’s a hollow thud. Tessa and I turn to the soldier.

Every limb is the wrong way around. Blood seeps from his ears, eyes, nose and mouth. He’s a crumpled, broken, bloody mess. But still, he twitches and wheezes, blinking as he looks at us.

Tessa and I scream as Cyrus speaks from behind us.

‘Use me to settle your powers?’ he asks, reforming from his smoke form. ‘What does that mean?’

Tessa steps between us, using her body to shield me from him.

‘I will snap you like a fucking twig, Tessa. And I won’t even blink an eye.’ He looks past her to me. ‘What was that earlier with the growling? What’s happened to you?’

Tessa grabs his arm, and her silver mist surges from her fingers. She sneers as he falls to his knees, shaking and shuddering, moaning in pain and misery.

‘That’s what has happened to her, you prick,’ she spits, dumping all the pain she can straight into him. ‘You like it? Because this is what you did to her. THIS IS WHAT YOU BOTH DID TO US ALL!’ She towers over him, the embodiment of vengeance. ‘If you think we will fall for your and Reid’s pathetic attempts to win her over, you can think again. You’ll rot in a cell until we’re done with you. And when we see Reid again, he’ll join you. He won’t escape us a second time.’

She lets him go with a shove, leaving him hunched over and panting.

Tessa steps back and stands at my side. I admit, she’s a fearsome creature when she wants to be.

‘Portal out of here,’ Cyrus orders, still hunched over as he recovers from her attack. ‘You have to go before the soldiers he says are coming see you.’ He looks at me. ‘The things they’ll do to you…’ He shakes his head. ‘I can’t protect you.’

‘What did he mean?’ I ask, nodding to the soldier. ‘What’s happening to you and Rhea in The First?’

Fear. That’s fear in his eyes.

‘Are you working for the King?’ I ask. ‘Do you follow his orders?’

‘Yes,’ he replies.

Truth.

‘Do you follow them willingly?’ I ask.

‘Just go,’ he pleads. ‘Portal to safety.’

I step around Tessa, who tries to grab me.

I stop in front of Cyrus and lower myself to my knees. I tilt his head up and see his anguish-filled eyes meet mine. My palm rests on his cheek.

‘If you lie, I’ll know.’

‘I’m aware,’ he replies.

I swallow dryly, fearing the question I’m about to ask.

‘Cyrus. Are you, Reid, El and Rhea with the King through choice?’

He’s silent for a moment as he searches my eyes. Staring into them so intently, I feel him in my very core.

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