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They raged at each other, both cat-like, nimble, blocking, parrying and lunging. Jack was barging the hanging animals with his shoulder, shoving them, trying to batter Osric, to stagger him and leave him open for a deadly cleaver strike.
But the Fae prince fought like a tiger. Dodging, weaving, cutting to ribbons the huge frozen chunks as they flew at him.
As the fight raged, Xander helped me sit up and tugged in vain at the bonds around my body, even springing his switchblade open again, trying to slice through them. They weren’t physical ropes though, and Xander’s steel knife did nothing. He held my cheek in his palm. “Orchid, these bindings will die when that monster does. Stay strong, have faith. I love you.”
“I love you too.” I wanted to do something to help him and Osric. “Take my blood.”
“No. You’re injured.”
“At least take it from an open wound. Any extra strength might help you both.”
Xander nodded and leaned in to suck from the largest slice on my arm, still leaking quite a bit of blood. After swallowing several mouthfuls, I felt his tongue work over it, trying to seal it back up. Then he turned, rising to his feet, knife ready as he blurred back behind Osric.
With all the cows and pigs lying in dismembered frozen chunks, Jack and Osric stood with their blades and glares fixed on each other. Osric’s fighting skills were impressive, but Jack’s body now crackled with various shades of magic—green, brown, blue—that covered him from head to toe. He hadn’t one scratch, while Osric’s shoulder, arm and cheek had been sliced deep by Jack’s cleaver, seeping blood.
The monster flitted the cleaver from hand to hand. “Some nice little tricks you have there. My friend told me of a prince from his land who was unmatched, unbeaten.” He took a deep breath, readying the cleaver again. “But today you’re dead meat. I’m going to skin you and hang you up on a hook. But not before I make you watch me fuck and kill your little girlfriend.”
Osric looked shaken. Even a magical blade like his seemed unable to pierce Jack’s protective magic. How much more could Osric take until Jack landed a deadly strike?
I called out, hoping the distraction wouldn’t prove deadly. “Osric!”
Still with his weapon trained on Jack, his gaze turned to meet mine.
“If it comes to it, leave me. Save Xander and yourself.”
Horror filled Osric’s eyes as he shook his head. Jack seemed amused watching this exchange and chuckled.
My teeth chattering, about to pass out from the cold, I used my last ounces of energy to shout the truth I’d been holding deep inside for too long. “You have to. Because I love you! If this is the end, I need you to know. I love you.”
Osric’s mouth gaped, his eyes filled with happiness. Then a look of awe and relief flashed over his face too as his weapon pulsed with a new, brighter light, the runes flaring into a deep orange. With a smile, he returned his attention to the murderous scum in front of him.
Jack eyed the new glow from Osric’s blade. “This fun has gone on long enough.” Jack raised his free palm toward Osric’s face.
“Watch out!” I shouted. “He shoots poison gas from—”
No sooner had I said that than green smog began to pour out of Jack’s hand.
Holding his emerald blade up as a shield, Osric screamed some words in Fae language, the runes across his weapon’s surface glowing, the light blinding.
The gas vanished.
And so did Jack’s protective shield. I didn’t know what had happened, but Osric’s blade had suddenly doubled in size, the runes dazzling, like they held a personal vendetta, sending Jack to his knees, shielding his face.
The killer’s cool had melted, his arrogance gone. “Who the fuck do you think you are?!” he seethed.
“A prince of the Fae, fuckface,” Xander said calmly as he blurred right beside Jack, raking his switchblade across the killer’s arm before lancing it through his wrist, causing the cleaver to clatter onto the frosty concrete.
Grasping him by his apron collars, Xander began pummeling Jack’s face with heavy, relentless blows. Xander glanced at me for a moment and after that, his strength only seemed to grow with each strike. He hit again and again. Jack screamed and wailed as Xander’s fist hammered without mercy. Teeth rattled, blood spattered, and the ground around Jack soon became soaked in crimson.
As Xander battered and smashed Jack’s face to a pulp, Osric ran to me, cradling me in his arms. The ropes had vanished, and he wrapped Xander’s jacket tighter around me, trying to keep me warm. “I love you too, my dear Ceci. God, I love you.” He pressed a kiss to my temple.
I still shivered, but I felt embraced in his love.
“What you just did, dearest.” He brushed another kiss across my face. “Giving your love to me, making me finally accept it. It saved us.” He took my hand, which was stiff with cold, and helped me hold it open so he could place the handle of his dagger—more like a sword now—in it. “This is Juniper, the blade passed down to me as prince, by my ancestors. Until now, I was the only person in the universe who could ever wield her. But her power is even stronger now and she calls for you.”
He left the handle in my palm and folded my freezing fingers around it. The warmth from its glowing runes surged a sensational energy throughout my body, chasing away the cold and leaving me feeling like I’d slipped into a hot bath. “Juniper accepts you.Iaccept you. I love you. I never thought it possible. But, with you, everything is possible. Not only did your love save my life, but—”
I clasped his beautiful blonde hair, leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. His lips were so soft and warm, a stark contrast to everything around us. Not the best circumstances for our first kiss, but I felt every bit of the emotion pouring from him in his embrace and the firm, but gentle movement of his mouth against mine. I drew back with a gasp. “Yousavedmylife. Your Highness.”
