Behind my eyes, a dull ache throbbed to the beat of an old song lingering on the edge of memory…
“Please, Keradoc.” The witch’s voice cut through the din, chasing away the music and the visions both. When I opened my eyes again, I found her gazing back at me, her face pained.
I climbed back up the dais and approached the throne. “What was that, little thief?”
The demon responded before she could find her words. “Touch her and you’ll—”
One of my guards shot him with another bolt, silencing him.
“I’ll… I’ll do anything you ask of me,” the witch stammered. “Just stop hurting them. Please… please don’t kill them.” Tears brimmed in her eyes, dousing the last of her fire. She was suddenly exhausted and weak.
Pathetic.
Anger stirred inside me. This woman, this formidable witch had traveled to Midnight and risked her life in an attempt to steal my blood. My blood! Even after I’d exposed her lies and taken her prisoner, she’d continued to taunt me, to fight me, to burn with indignation.
Yet now, at the sight of her wounded companions, she crumpled like a flower crushed beneath a soldier’s boot?
Had I been wrong about her mettle? Her power?
“Help them,” she begged again, not meeting my eyes.
I gripped the arms of the throne and bent low, leaning so close to her the berries-and-cream scent of her skin filled my senses. Ignoring the stirrings of my cock, I said softly, “My apologies, little thief. I can’t quite hear you above the pathetic moans of my prisoners. Did you have a request? ”
“Yes.” She finally glanced up and met my eyes. That old fire blazed anew, and at my answering grin, she flashed one of her own. Sly. Triumphant.Wicked. “Get fucked, asshole. You’re goingdown.”
3
HALEY
Thanks to Keradoc’s obsession with sharp objects—obsidian and bones, in this case—I finally sawed through the fae-spelled ropes and sliced a deep gouge in my palm, coating my ring in fresh blood.
Now, I took more than a little pleasure in watching that smug grin fall off the warlord’s face.
“Get fucked, asshole. You’re goingdown.” I slammed a blood-soaked palm against his chest. Power scorched the air as a blast of magick exploded at my touch, sending him crashing down the dais.
With another quick spell, I called up a magickal barrier around the guys. The guards rushed forward, but it was too late. I leaped from the throne and bolted down the dais, sealing myself inside the barrier with Elian and Jax before Keradoc could bark out an order to attack.
A wall of bright-red magick surged and crackled around us, enclosing us in a temporary safe haven impervious to weapons and fists.
Finally righting himself, Keradoc commanded the guards to break through, but they were no match for the magickal shield.
“Nice work, angel.” Jax managed a thin smile, but he was fading fast. Blood soaked into his shirt around the bolts and leaked from a deep gash on his forehead, sliding into the cavern of his missing eye.
He couldn’t even lift a hand to my shoulder without wincing.
“Sit tight,” I told him. “We’ll figure this out. Just… just give me a minute.”
I reached out to touch the barrier. It brightened in response, but just like that night in Blackbone Forest with the raven gryphon, I had no idea how long it would hold.
Didn’t matter, though. Five minutes or an hour, eventually it would fizzle out, and we’d have to fight our way out of this room.
I needed to get my men back on their feet.
I dropped down in front of Elian, gently helping him to his knees. He was the priority—he’d lost more blood than Jax, and that much hawthorn crammed into his body posed a major risk of permanent damage. If I could get the stakes out quickly, his natural healing would hopefully kick in. Then we could use his vampire blood to heal Jax.
Forcing a smile, I said, “No offense, Elian, but this is theworstrescue attempt ever. It’s like you’ve never even seen a superhero movie.”
“Sparrow.” He cupped my face with a bloody hand, too weak to even smile back.
