His voice drops, that unnerving calm now threaded with the promise of something far more sinister if I dare answer with a lie.
“Is that some kind of communication device meant to blow the whistle on our whereabouts? Are you waiting for the Lord of the Tides to arrive so you can alert your Queen and bring the Reds crashing down on us?”
My throat bobs. “I’m not a Red spy.”
The flat edge of a cold blade slides against my neck, and I freeze.
“Excuse me if I don’t take your word for it.” His mouth brushes my ear. “Janina and the King of Light are thick as thieves these days.”
I rush through my options.
Guards are everywhere, sleeping in tents, circling the perimeter, and posted in the trees. Even if I screamed for help, everyone here besides E and Nick answers to this man. Sure, I could try to burn him badly enough to break free, but that would only harden his belief that I’m a spy acting on the Red Queen’s orders.
And let’s be real, I’m nothing against a Fae prince.
Then the pressure at my throat vanishes as quickly as it came, the lantern crashing down on Luther’s head with a metalliccrack.
“You get your filthy hands off her!” E roars.
The dark Fae jerks backward with a curse. I grab my throat, my palm coming away red, the raw sting there spelling out exactly how close I came to meeting my reaper.
The storm prince takes another brutal blow to the side of the face, and his temple splits open on impact. Blood slides downthe sharp line of his cheek, drips from his jaw, and splashes onto the row of neat, organized letters.
Magic crackles through the tent, electricity snapping between his fingers and racing down the length of his arms before exploding outward in a perfect circle around him, a loud slap of thunder numbing my ears.
“Oof—”
E’s groan is followed by the sickening thud of his body hitting the ground.
Luther crouches to a defensive pose and squints at the dark. “Think about your next move carefully, invisible man.”
Frost races up the canvas walls, the temperature plummeting so fast a puff of white air forms in front of my face. Every hair on my body stands on end, my skin erupting in violent pinpricks.
I try to break into a run, but lose my balance and nearly fall, catching myself at the last second.
A thick, solid block of ice has entombed my boots, locking my feet to the frozen earth. Pain shoots up through my arches and ankles, the bite so vicious it feels like my bones might crack.
A thin coat of frost covers the ground, and E’s footsteps appear over the white, giving Luther just enough warning to dodge the next incoming attack.
“The plot thickens.” The dark Fae tilts his head toward the space my ghost currently occupies, and a cruel smile curls his mouth. “Two spies for the price of one.”
The jewels embedded in his skin flare to life, casting an eerie, glacial glow across his features. Then, a bolt of lightning arches from his hand and lands square in the middle of E’s chest.
The imprint of E’s hands and knees appears on the ground.
Luther’s jaw ticks. Blue-white light illuminates his face in savage flashes as he hits E again. And again.
“You sick fucker!” E grits through his teeth.
The acrid smell of burnt flesh turns my stomach.
“Who are you?” Luther barks, looking past me toward the invisible ghost as he paces the tent, a flicker of genuine emotion crumpling his face. “And how are you maintaining invisibility through that?”
“None of your fucking business,” E snarls.
Violet electricity snaps through the air and coils into Luther’s outstretched hand once more. Steel takes shape inside the storm, metal condensing from darkness and static until a long, elegant blade rises from the ether. Strange lines zigzag across the hilt, pulsing with an eerie glow as residual sparks lick his jeweled knuckles.
My flames rise to the surface, melting the ice, and I throw myself between them.
