AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Teddy’s no more a slag than you’re a good father,” Charlie snarls.
Da sneers. “I know where your parents live, Charlie Miller. Your little sister. Walk away or I’ll pay ‘em a visit.”
“Charlie Miller’s family is under the protection of the Thistlemist Court,” Callan announces. “Any harm comes to them and all of Faery will rise against you.”
The Winter Prince’s protection ripples through the air in a silver curtain. It just feels like mist as it passes over me, but many of the fae in the crowd shiver or shift away from it. Charlie’s family are innocents, and once, it was the sacred duty of the fae to protect the innocent. It’s nice to see a little of that remains.
“My lord,” Falconer says, his voice oily with malice. “This should not concern us. This mortal has beguiled the prince. Her sire has explained what a skilled enchantress she is. There is no shame to your son or your house in turning her over to her family to deal with.”
I shake my head at the men arrayed in front of me. “Sommat you forgot to mention, Da? Or should I say, Mr. Nowak, ‘cause I can’t properly call you Da anymore, can I?”
“Shut your fucking mouth, you lying slag,” he barks at me.
“Nah. Let’s get it out there. This man’s no longer my father,” I say, lifting the hand still linked with Charlie’s to point at Da. “No more’n that man’s my brother or that man’s my uncle. None of these men are my blood anymore because they stood by for years and did nothing while this man beat his underaged daughter. He burned me. He bloodied me. He broke my bones. He tore my flesh. He encouraged his sons to do the same. So when I finally got free of him, I broke our bloodline. These men are no family to me. They have no claim on me. They are my enemies. And do you know what they taught me over the years?” I let my arm drop and reach into my Element, my witchclaws curling over the boys’ hands, black streaking up my arms. “They taught me to crush my enemies.”
Charlie drops my hand and takes off at a run, barreling into Da. Fuck. None of us expected that, but we’re adaptable. I throw my arms out and raise an Earth barrier over our heads, sealing off the courtyard. Kathleen and her little ‘un, the twins, besotted Struan, my auntie, Harriet and her family, Dark, the Liusaidh, they’re all safe from whatever happens here.
Gabe’s silvery water ward rises right behind my dome of Earth. Like the majority of magi, most fae control Fire. They’ll have to burn through Gabe’s barrier before they can even get to mine.
Good fucking luck.
A huge fireball billows up from the middle of the courtyard, where Charlie’s slammed a Firefist right into Da. Fire-magi don’t burn, but the force of Charlie’s strike has hammered Da to his knees. Da’s got both hands up, holding a shield of flame over his head. That ain’t stopping Charlie. He’s slamming Firefist after Firefist into Da’s shield, leaping into the air with each strike to give them more momentum. The dome fills with smoke. I open a hole at the top of the dome to let it out before we all suffocate.
Darwin’s rushed into the fray a step behind Charlie, blasting out flame-shields to stop Les or Brendan from blindsiding Charlie. Les twists his fingers, shaping a Fire-spear to pierce Darwin’s shield but before he gets a chance to finish his casting, Gabe pulls hard on our quaternion and slaps his hands together.
With a boom that makes the cobbles under our feet shimmy, a lance of Air blasts out of Gabe’s hands. It flattens Les and the half-dozen fae behind him. They and most of the other fae who were standing behind Da and his coven have crowded back against Gabe’s water-ward. Happy to watch, to show their support for their house, but fuck if they’re lifting a finger.
That leaves Brendan. With a vicious grin, I drop to one knee and flatten my palm on the cobbles. With my other hand, I reach out as though I could grab Brendan over the four meters of cobbles that separate us.
The Earth does it for me.
A giant Stonefist rears up out of the ground and clamps its fingers around Brendan, wrapping around him like a concrete straitjacket. He’ll be able to burn his way out of it, eventually, but for now he’s going nowhere.
Down on one knee, I’m below the worst of the smoke. My vantage lets me see Callan, who is standing off to the left of where Charlie’s pounding Da’s flame-shield further and further down toward his head. Callan’s stock still, his hands limp at his sides.
As the smoke shifts, I can see why. His chest and shoulders and head are wrapped in blue-black tentacles.
Wish I’d looked up a spell to snip her wigglers.
Falconer whistles, shrill over cries of the courtiers knocked over by Gabe’s Air lance, Charlie’s grunts of fury, Da’s and Brendan’s curses.
“Prince, I hold your father’s life in my hands,” Falconer calls to Darwin. “Walk away. These mortals are nothing. Let them destroy each other.”
Man, talk about a faithless fae ally.
I throw my head back and laugh. “Sorry, Da. T’be fair, you always told me you couldn’t trust the fae. Still that’s gotta sting, huh?”
Da’s curses gain volume.
“Quiet, you infuriating girl,” Falconer snarls.
“Never try to silence my princess,” Darwin says. He stalks around Charlie and Da toward where his father’s held in Tyr’s thrall. He trails fire with every step, pouring off his fists, dripping out of his eyes. “And never, ever threaten my father.”
I jump to my feet and stalk toward Falconer, standing beside my prince.
Gabe’s a step behind us. I hear him blow out a breath and the smoke filling the dome lifts in a breeze that blows my hair around my cheeks.
Faced with the three of us, Tyr takes a step back, dragging Callan with her. “Stay back,” she snarls. “Don’t make me hurt him.”
