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had given me nearly a year ago for my own protection. He’d told me it had come from his great-grandmother, and now that I thought about it, I’m sure he meant the one who hadn’t been born here in the Outer Realms because the device certainly seemed other-worldly. I’d only been allowed to practice with it a handful of times as Indy had said it could only be used so much before it became useless.
Hoping I remembered how to use it correctly, I aimed the cylindrical tube toward the ruffian who was swinging his axe toward Farrow’s head, and I curled my index finger around the little lever to activate it.
Immediately, an explosion rent the air, the sound so loud that it left my ears ringing. A moment later, blood seeped through a small hole in the other man’s forehead. The axe-handler gasped out an inarticulate sound and then tipped over backwards, dead, dropping his blade as he went.
15
Farrow
The boom came from nowhere. It was so loud it seemed to stir the sand dunes and rattle my teeth. Worried the sky was falling or something equally apocalyptic had happened, I hunkered my shoulders, ducking down to avoid certain death, only to realize the man who’d been attacking me with a raised axe remained frozen, his mouth gaping open in paralyzed shock.
I frowned up at him, confused, until blood welled from a minuscule hole that appeared in his forehead.
“What the fuck?” his comrade whispered before whirling to gape at me as if I’d caused the calamity. But I just shrugged, equally perplexed.
So his wide-eyed stare of horror strayed past me to Nicolette who was still behind me. Seeing her, his gaze immediately narrowed.
“You,” he snarled, raising his axe.
Before he could charge, though, the explosion came again, just as deafening as the first time. But following this report, the front of the attacker’s tunic bloomed red in the center of his chest. He gaped down in fear, patted himself frantically, then gurgled as blood bubbled from his mouth. A second later, he too pitched to the ground, as dead as the rest of his friends.
I pulled back, certain I was seeing things. But the dead man remained dead.
Slowly, I turned around.
Nicolette stood there, holding some strange device that looked to be made of black iron. It was a tube with smoke wafting up from the end and had a bent handle to hold on to. And it seemed to be pointed directly at where my last assailant had been standing.
The princess sent me a dry, unimpressed blink, then twisted the tube up toward her mouth so she could blow at the smoke, cooling the metal.
“So far,” she said, “I’m not an avid fan of your kingdom.”
“Did you…?” I blinked, positive I was interpreting the situation all wrong. Then I pointed at her. “Did you just kill those two with that thing?”
She scowled as if offended. “Well, they were being excessively rude, attacking before questioning anything, calling me ugly names, and threatening to rape me. And then they had the gall to attempt to kill my true love. I’m sorry but that was just unacceptable, and I’d had enough. Someone needed to teach the rude, overbearing ingrates some manners.”
I glanced back at the five dead men and nodded. “Consider them taught.”
“I mean, who does that?” she railed. “It’s simply poor social conduct and lack of proper etiquette, is what it is.”
Quirking a smile, I turned back to her. “Welcome to real life, princess. Where almost everyone is an impertinent, selfish asshole, looking after their own interest and not giving a shit about anyone else’s.”
“Well, it’s not right.” Negligently waving her tube around, she fumed. “Here I was, dead tired from lack of sleep, my muscles sore in places I didn’t even know I had them from riding on horseback for—what—five or six nights straight? I’ve lost track of the days. I haven’t bathed in almost a week, or eaten anything but that dry, hard, tasteless whatever it is you’ve been feeding me. I’d give anything for about five more liters of water to drink. My back aches from sleeping on the ground, my hips ache from riding, my feet ache from the blisters these sandals have given me. My menstrual courses started days ago, so I’m bloated, cramping, cranky, and irritable. And then this—this…”
She glared right at me as she pointed at the dead men. “Just when you kiss me back like you really mean it, these fucking cutthroats come along and immediately attack, trying to kill my soul mate without even attempting to discover if you’re one of their own countrymen or not, and then they didn’t even have the courtesy to consider me a threat the entire time. I’m just—I’m sorry, but they really, really pissed me off.”
“Aye,” I murmured, walking toward her. “I can tell.” When I reached her, I gently put my hand over hers that was holding the killer tube and I slowly lowered her arm so she wouldn’t inadvertently blow a hole through me, too. Then I cupped her cheek with my other palm. “But it’s over now, princess. We’re okay. We made it.”
She nodded and heaved out a long breath, her eyes weary and apologetic. With a sniff, she said, “I’m so sorry you have to see me like this. I was trying so hard to hide all my whiny, bad-tempered traits from you, but they just—”
“It’s okay,” I repeated, my voice low and steady—soothing. Leaning in to press my forehead to hers, I added, “You’ve had a long, rough time of it. I’d say you’re allowed to unload a bit of your stress if you want.”
“Thank you.” She sniffed and closed her eyes. “But I still didn’t want you to see me acting so—”
“Shh.” I rolled my forehead along hers and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. “The only thing I see right now is an amazingly remarkable heroine. You stood up to those men without even a smidgeon of fear.” An amused smile spread across my face. “It’s all part of your crazy charm, I guess.”
She flushed. “I’m not usually quite so crazy. High-strung and impetuous, yes, but—”
I pressed a finger against her mouth to hush her. Once she fell quiet and met my gaze, I winked. “Don’t ruin it for me. You’re exactly my kind of crazy.”
