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I nodded, leaned back, then threw forward with my entire body.
Truck helped somehow. I couldn’t throw a football as far as the deadly scythe had traveled since I’d started the climbing process, but somehow the weapon traveled farther and farther each time.
Either Truck itself, or the curved blade cutting through the air made a low wailing noise. It hit the barrier with a tremendous crunch, the point of the scythe digging into the pulsing magic.
I sprinted after Truck, relying on my shadow-given grace and experience to keep me safe as I scrambled up the sloped roof.
I was halfway up the dome before the fae—the tall, blond guy I’d seen in Magiford—momentarily lowered the barriers so he could step out of them.
He carried a polearm that was topped with an ax-like head for smashing and a spike for thrusting.
And now he’s standing between me and Truck.
“You’re not an elf,” the fae called to me as I changed my path so I started to sidle around—maybe I could circle around to the back of the barrier?
He followed me, keeping pace.
“You need to stop this,” I said.
“Whywould I do that?” the fae drawled. “I’m going to win. The Curia Cloisters will be dealt a blow they’ll never recover from, Magiford will collapse as the supernatural capital of the USA, and as luck would have it, I’ll even take down that pesky Paragon.” He thrust his polearm at me.
I turned into a cat—taking me far out of reach of his strike—then sprinted up to him, turning human.
I rammed my shoulder into his gut.
He tried to elbow me on the back, but my chest piece encased my entire torso, so I didn’t feel anything besides a vibration.
I turned back into a cat, and avoided his kick by pressing myself against his other leg.
He twirled his polearm and swung the ax down at me.
I tried to slip past him to step through the barrier, but he stomped on my tail, making pain radiate up my back.
I turned human, and tried to dodge, but the fae abruptly stopped his attack and was suddenly…not there.
I turned cat again—giving myself more maneuverability—and scurried closer to the barrier before I dared to look back.
Noctus—one sword stabbed into the stone dome, the other resting loosely in his left hand—held the fae’s neck in his right hand.
The fae had dropped his weapon and was scrabbling at Noctus’s hand, the tips of his toes barely grazing the rooftop.
I relaxed for a moment, until the feeling of Noctus’s power hit me.
I’d been practicing with him, so I was used to the inferno that was his power. But this…this was different. I could feel his seething anger, and the magic in his swords glowed brighter.
This is like the time the Unseelie tried to grab me, when he still thought I was just a cat.
He’d nearly blown up the neighborhood with his rage. I’d had to turn human to reveal myself to get him to stop.
I swapped to my human form. “Noctus!” I shouted.
Noctus didn’t even acknowledge me as the fae started to turn purple from the lack of air, and the sheer amount of magic in the air made my skin prickle.
I skidded down the curved surface of the dome and nearly smacked into him. “Noctus—I’m fine! Snap out of it!”
He ignored me, his burning rage fastened on the fae. I couldn’t even see his eyes since they were shadowed by his hood and mask.
I glanced back at the spear, my heart pounding in my throat as I tried to weigh out how much time I had left with how badly Noctus was going to blow.
