Page 83 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

Rian growls, “You need to learn to fight.”

I blink against my dimming vision and struggle to focus on the formidable Fae whose shadows bristle with agitation.

He reaches forward as if to pick me up.

Ferria slaps his hand away. “Back off, asshole!”

Rian looks between his hand, my sister, then back at his hand, as if he can’t believe what just happened.

Jaxon barks a laugh.

Another delusional chuckle slips past my lips.

I need water. And sleep.

No!

Sleep is bad, Elara. Very bad!

Jaxon’s laugh dies off with Rian’s silver-dagger stare. He rises and holds out a hand to Ferria. “Let me help you carry her home.”

“No,” Rian growls. “We will take her to our camp.”

No!

I don’t want to go back there. Not like this. Not after the strangeness I witnessed earlier tonight.

“N-no,” I croak. “Home.”

Rian scowls. I try to hold his stare, but another wave of dizziness hits me.

“Shit,” I slur as my eyes roll back in my head.

As darkness swallows me whole, surrounded by my sister and creatures who despise my kind, I realize something: I’m not as scared of the Fae as I should be.

And that almost worries me as much as the monsters who just tried to kill me.

Almost.

17

The afternoon sun casts Draven’s formidable form in a bright silhouette as he leans over me, strong lips twisted in an aggressive scowl. “Get up.”

I groan and roll to my side, placing my palm against the trampled grass and pushing myself up on trembling arms.

“You can do this, Elara!” Ferria calls from the side of the makeshift sparring area in the clearing.

My body sways when I get to my feet.

“I need a break,” I wheeze.

I prop the thin, but durable, practice sword Jaxon presented me two days ago on the ground, leaning on the pommel for support. He said he’d carved it from a tree trunk in a single night, but you’d never know it. Its smooth surface rivals the finest works of art from Verdanthia’s best carpenters.

“A break? We’ve barely started.” Draven spins the long staff in his hands.

The flecks of silver embedded in the material gleam in the sunlight.

I straighten and wipe the sweat from my brow. “I need to check on Darius.”