AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I bristle, fully prepared to argue. I can do this. I have to do this to prove I deserve to be a Shadow guardian.
“Summer—”
“Stop,” I order, lifting an eyebrow in challenge as I glare over my shoulder at him. “I can handle it.”
He halts, jaw clenched and nostrils flared. Asher stiffens, looking from Valerian to me.
This is what I’ve been worried about all along. The bond’s raw power forcing him to resist my role as his Guardian, which requires serious risk.
“Please,” I add.
His snarl echoes through the tunnels, but he retreats a step. “If anything happens to you . . . I’ll destroy this entire Shimmer-forsaken city. Do you understand?”
I swallow. Nod.
“Good.” He draws a shortsword, his face transforming to the Valerian that terrifies me—the one I have absolutely no doubt would murder every person here, darkling, Fae, and mortal, if I was hurt. “After you, Princess.”
“Such a gentleman,” I mutter as I clamber up the rungs. A large manhole cover awaits. I hold my breath as I twist, praying the iron in the door has repelled the darklings from this spot.
Panic tears through me as I scramble over the side and onto a . . . a . . . where the frick am I?
The others pour through the hole, but I’m too busy looking around to say much. The enormous columns are just like I remember from the picture. But where I remember seeing the enormous statue of Abraham Lincoln now sits a statue of—
“Is that Maub, the Spring Court Queen?” Mack whispers.
“The one and only,” Asher says as we regroup into a defensive circle, Mack and I once again in the front.
Tip of the spear, Summer, I think, repeating Mr. Willis’s words from school. You’re the mother-freaking tip of the spear.
A wide set of stairs leads down into a park, where a swarm of darklings mill around the lawn. Some seem dazed, stumbling and careening, their bones so deformed they can barely walk. Others zip around on all fours so fast they blur into a churning mass of bones and hisses.
As we watch, a few darklings attack one of their brethren. The poor creature doesn’t last long, disappearing beneath a swarming mass of its friends.
Cannibal darklings. Wonderful—and so not surprising.
Some have taken to the water of the reflecting pool, which is even more beautiful than I imagined. Lily pads the size of watermelons float across the surface, the pale white flowers sprouting from them infested with iridescent water sprites.
Oh, God. I flinch as I see a darkling snatch one hiding in a lily and bite off the poor creature’s wings before—
I look away before I can see the rest, nausea clenching my gut. Thank the Shimmer, Ruby is still passed out on my shoulder, so she didn’t have to witness that barbaric—
“Did that creature just bite the head off a flying frog?” Ruby slurs, sitting up on my shoulder.
Holding a finger to my lips, I nod and whisper, “Yes, frogs. Flying frogs.”
“Good.” She rubs her head, totally ignoring my signal for silence. “Frogs are vile, disgusting creatures. Toads are worse. Some even eat sprites, can you imagine?”
In the hopes that she’ll stop talking, I ignore her as we pad on silent feet down the stairs. Any minute now, the breeze will carry the whiff of Valerian and Asher’s scent to the creatures.
Mack jerks her chin at the rectangular pool. Go time.
Reaching behind my head, I carefully grab the magical spear’s case, grimacing as I unclick the clasp. It pops open with a soft hiss.
Red, fiery light spills from the velvet-lined inside like fog, rolling away from me faster than I expected.
Well, crap.
A collective snarl splits the night as countless darklings all whip their heads in the direction of the magic . . . and us.
