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The faeries were more precise: swords and snapped necks.
And the cousins were simply having a great time. Molotov cocktails lit the night, to the point that at least two houses were aflame.
The simple truth was that the assembled humans on Chester’s side would all be dead or incapacitated shortly. That part of the battle, we were not going to lose. When your army is monstrous, blood-thirsty (literally), and trained, you don’t lose.
Chester, however, looked unperturbed. He didn’t care about the people who were dying, and he did seem to take a callous glee in tossing violent spells at our side—as if it were a giant experiment.Does this work? What about this? Is it different with fae?
And that part turned my stomach. So, I decided to draw his attention to me. “I bet Iggy was a better lover. Was that what pissed you off, Chester? Knowing that someone showed the lady how good it could be?” I paused. “I bet that was it, huh? Wee willy?”
Behind me, I heard Iggy mutter, “He killed me once for being with her, Hexen. Could we not repeat that event?”
Chester tossed something that looked like a money bag of dust. It bounced off the spell circle.
“Don’t worry, Ig. I can bring you back.” I grinned at Chester, and then pointed at his herbal hand grenade on the ground. “Is that why you hate me? I can resurrect people. Necromancy is finicky, and it probably takes more . . . stamina than you have.”
He was silent, but he flared his nostrils like a bull about to charge.
To be fair, this wasn’t my best plan ever. “Enrage the psychopath” wasn’t terribly bright as far as tactics, but he’d just plowed through thedraugrwith some sort of spellwork that left a lot of them near-motionless and a few melting like soup.
Beatrice was winded, and either she or Marcus had to be agile enough to distract him when the spell finally started.
So they needed a breather. I was . . . the logical choice.
“Men like you are why I had a wealth of women in my bed, you know?” I said cheerily. “Misogynists don’t make great lovers. Too selfish. Too clueless. Maybe I should give Gunnora a---”
He charged and caught me in the gut that time, tearing through the spell circle.
Rather than come to my aid like I expected, Iggy grabbed Nora, and clasped her hands in his. It wasn’t exactly the plan, but they finally started intoning the spell in what was initially two voices but effectively melded into one within moments.
Behind them, I could see Harlow give me a thumbs up as they herded another nun into a police cruiser. At some point, I might need to ask where the cruisers came from, but all I knew for sure was that my friend Gary Broussard was there at Harlow’s side with a stern glare for me and a taser for another nun.
I turned my gaze back to Chester as he kneed me between the legs. Contrary to popular opinion, being kneed or punched there still hurt like a throat punch for a woman. Lady parts?Verysensitive to pain.
I stumbled backward, tripping on broken sidewalk as I did. Out here in the ghost zone, there were no repairs. No people, no repairs. So on top of everything else, the buildings and sidewalks were dangerous.
As the chant grew louder, Marcus and Beatrice moved to stand on either side of Nora and Iggy, guards to keep Chester from them if he got past me—and Eli joined the fight.
He smashed Chester’s knee sideways. Hand-to-hand meant fighting dirty, but no steel, silver, brass, bronze, or gold in the casting zone meant that we were without many options.
Eli and I couldn’t use fae magic.
I couldn’t use necromancy.
It was like having both hands tied behind our backs.
As Chester pushed back to his feet, I headbutted him like I was a baby ram.
“No more than a tavern slag,” he muttered, wiping the blood from his obviously broken nose.
“Bet I could still show Nora a better time than youeverdid,” I taunted.
“Bite him,” Eli suggested.
I glanced at my husband—which gave Chester a chance to grab my arm and twist. There was something slimy on his hand, and I felt bones breaking. Not just in my arm, either. A rib cracked. My shoulder started to splinter.
“Old wounds,” Beatrice yelled.
Eli body slammed us, and Chester lost his grip from the impact.
