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Well, I guess the potion really had worked. It’d protected my heart, just in a different way.
Before another shot could fly through the window and take out my eye, I dove to the side where I kept my potions. The one I’d made using Vi’s blood was still here somewhere. If I poured a bit of it on the bolt in my chest, it would remove the bolt and cauterize the wound.
Better than letting it stay in.
I also planned on throwing the rest at Delphine. What would happen? Would I take out half the block? Most of the other buildings in the area were empty. The plans to turn the old warehouses into apartments had backfired when the contracted company ran out of money. The buildings were old and devoured resources greedily.
That’s why my rent is so cheap. No one wants to live near all these creepy abandoned buildings in a decrepit neighborhood.
I gripped the potion while my heart hammered wildly. With trembling hands, I poured a drop from the bottle and missed the bolt. The droplet hit the floor and started to burn away at it. I shoved my arcana into the wood floor and pulled it back together with new growth so that it didn’t fall out from beneath my feet.
This was all a waste of time. The longer this took, the closer the assassin could get. While I was out of sight for now, she would catch up soon. I shoved my arcana at the door and turned it into thick wood as hard as stone. I did the same with the window over the sink.
My home had become a bunker. Tears burned my eyes. I didn’t know how to get out of here on my own. This assassin was determined and, more importantly, skilled. She knew what she was doing. I had no one on my side to save me this time.
I tried to gulp down fresh breaths of air, but my lungs refused to work. I needed to get out of here. If I didn’t, then I would die like every other Cerri in my dreams. A part of me liked to think that I was better than the other Cerridwens.
Where they’d died, I would survive. I’d survived everything else thrown my way. Nothing would stop me now.
With careful hands, I tried to burn away the bolt one more time. The golden liquid hit it and turned the bolt to ash. I cringed when the heat reached my chest and seared the wound. The pain made my lips tremble, but at least that’s all that was shaking now.
I stood and considered my options.
“Where are you when I need you, Rhoan?” I almost stomped.
Foot mid-air, I heard a creak downstairs. Last I knew, the apartment below was empty.
Feri leapt off the countertop and rushed towards me. A bolt pierced the floor where he’d landed. The ferret startled and rushed towards me. I cursed him for leading the assassin right to me, but at least we were together now.
“She’s far more clever than you are,” Feri noted. “Your brute force use of your arcana isn’t going to help you today. To survive this, you’ll have to use your brain. Can you do that for me?”
I grabbed the ferret by the scruff of his neck and brought him eye level with myself. “I’m going to feed you to a dragon shifter. If Ryder won’t eat you, I can probably pay Morgan to do it.”
Feri recoiled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Barbaric.”
The only way out of this apartment was via some sort of teleportation arcana. I had no idea how to do that on my own because Rhoan hadn’t taken the time to show me how it worked. However, I did know someone with similar abilities.
Addie had explained Maddox’s teleportation to me once before. Apparently, the man could step through the afterlife and reappear elsewhere. As a fae with no soul, could I take advantage of this? Or would I be left behind? The afterlife was for souls.
I heard a soft creaking beneath me. My heart leapt. Without lifting my feet, I slid to the side so that I made the least amount of sound as I ran away.
“This is rather unhelpful,” Feri whispered into my ear.
“Then you try saving our asses,” I hissed back.
He stayed quiet this time. I had a plan. It was risky, but it was more than Feri had. The little bastard could probably step in-between by himself. I almost picked him up and shook him to make him open a portal for the both of us. Since I didn’t know if a Feri sized portal could transport us both, I settled for someone that I knew could help.
The soft ring of my phone made me hold my breath. I stared down at the reinforced floor. My apartment was a lockbox made of unnatural wood at this point. The floor was slick. It gleamed like polished metal and was just about as strong. It would keep us safe for now, but I wished I didn’t have to keep ruining my floors and walls.
I was never getting the security deposit back.
Maddox picked up. His greeting was slightly hesitant, if not completely confused. To be fair, I didn’t reach out to him that much. He was new to our group and often kept to himself. The only person this man showed emotion to was his mate, Addie.
“Can you come pick me up?” I kept my voice barely more than a whisper in case the assassin was still tracking me down with her big elf ears.
Immediately, I heard Maddox’s growl. I imagined him stiffening as he caught the fear in my voice. There wasn’t much you could hide from a shifter, especially one that doubled as a detective.
“What’s wrong? Are you safe? What kind of pick up do you need?”
