by Tessa Cole
Cassius’s fire billowed from his wings. “Let. Her. Go.”
“Give me the beast,” Balwyrdan said in a mocking singsong, “and you can have her back.”
“This isn’t a negotiation,” Cassius growled.
“You’re right, it isn’t.” Balwyrdan released my throat and flicked his finger.
I gasped in a quick breath just before the leash spell slammed into my chest and the air around me vanished.
Sebastian groaned and pressed a hand to his chest.
“Come now. Which one of you is the beast?” Balwyrdan released the spell and slammed it back into place with so much force my knees gave out. His grip in my hair tore at my scalp, and I fought to regain my balance without grabbing his hand and giving away the fact my hands were no longer bound.
Sebastian screamed and dropped to his hands and knees, his chest heaving with desperate gasps.
“You took the leash spell?” Balwyrdan asked, his tone sharp with surprise, and air flooded back around me as if he needed to concentrate to keep the spell active. “You. You little faekin,” he said incredulously. “You manage to take the spell and warp it enough so you wouldn’t suffocate. You must have had help. That witch must have double-crossed me and helped you take on the spell.”
“No help.” Sebastian climbed back to his feet, his fae glow so weak it was barely visible, and shrugged. “The last dragon isn’t coming, either. He’s already left town and you’ll never be able to find him.”
“So I’m what?” Balwyrdan asked with a dark chuckle. “Just supposed to hand her over?”
“Yes,” Cassius replied.
“You really didn’t think this through.” Balwyrdan jerked my head back, spiking agony through my neck and chest. “If I can’t get the beast with the leash spell then I have no use for her.”
I gasped in a quick breath, knowing what was coming, but the leash spell pounded into me, stealing what little breath I’d manage to get. Cassius bellowed and rushed toward me, but Balwyrdan’s remaining men ran to meet him.
My body strained to breathe, gasping against nothing, and my lungs started to burn.
Titus and Hawk dove into the fray, Titus slashing the neck of a big, bulky man with his claws, sending blood spraying everywhere, while Hawk ducked under a similar swipe to his neck and sliced his blade through his assailant’s gut.
My magic exploded under my skin, locking on Titus’s man, then jerking to Hawk’s for a second when Titus’s man died.
Cassius seized the man closest to him with his fire whip and tossed him through another one of the large windows. He turned to head to me, but another man jumped in his way, slicing his right biceps before Cassius tossed him aside with his fire whip.
Flames danced along the floor on the verge of getting out of control, and Balwyrdan’s men still blocked the way of all the guys. They were getting closer and there were only about six assailants left. But dark specks crowded my vision, and my body shook with the effort to stay standing. I was running out of time, and even if the guys could take out all the men right now, none of them were close enough to get to me before I passed out.
Titus roared and ripped out another man’s throat. Hawk slashed at his assailant, but the man jerked out of the way and rammed his fist into Hawk’s side. Cassius sucked in his fire before he burned the abandoned reception hall down around us as another man lunged at him, managing to slice through his fire whip with his claws. With a yell, Cassius sent a blast into the man’s chest, tossing him into the stacked tables behind me.
Balwyrdan stiffened and Cassius’s gaze locked with mine. His eyes were filled with rage and soul-crushing terror. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to get to me in time, knew Balwyrdan was going to kill me.
He raised his hand, his whip hissing and crackling. Balwyrdan would still be able to kill me before his whip connected, but it was the only option.
I knew it. He knew it. And Balwyrdan could see that too.
He jerked me closer, wrapping his arm across my chest and using my body as a shield. The room darkened and spun around me, and I had no idea if Cassius was going to use his whip or not. All I knew was that I had to get away from Balwyrdan, or break his concentration or something. I had to do something. Now.
I yanked my hand out from between our bodies and without a deadly place to strike, sliced the blade through his arm.
He howled and seized my hand before I could cut him again. Air rushed back around me and I gasped in a ragged breath. But he wrenched my hand back and broke my wrist, exploding agony through my hand and arm.
“You need to do more than that to get free,” he sneered, and the leash spell pounded into me again, just as his blood splattered on my bare foot and my power instinctually connected with him.
The wound was deep, but not deadly.
And that didn’t matter. It was all I needed.
I shoved my magic into him with a forceful blast, making him scream. The leash spell sputtered out and his grip loosened. I wrenched free of his hold and tried to scramble out of the way but only managed a few staggering steps before my battered body lost its balance.
Sebastian caught me and yanked me back. We fell to the floor, me half in his arms, as sudden ferocious heat seared my back.
Someone screamed, and I turned to see Balwyrdan fully engulfed in a massive pillar of fire. The inferno burned so hot he barely had a chance to move before he dropped to the floor and burst into a pile of ash and glowing embers.
Cassius sagged to his knees and all of his fire, the fire that had consumed Balwyrdan and the flames dancing over his skin, went out. He’d used a lot of his magic and it was amazing he was still conscious. Hawk stared at him, wide-eyed and pale, as Titus killed the last of Balwyrdan’s men.
I couldn’t tell how badly everyone was hurt, but my magic hadn’t locked on to any of them so none of them were in mortal danger.
Thank God. Oh, thank God.
With a groan, Cassius sucked the remaining fire in the building back into his body. He shuddered, heaved his wings back in as well, and pulled off his T-shirt. Somehow he’d managed to get through that fight with just that cut on his biceps, only the ugly red burn scars from his fight in Left of Lincoln marred his torso. Of course, he hadn’t held back, hadn’t cared if he ran out of magic or who or what he’d set on fire. I doubted anyone had managed to get close to him.
“Here,” he said, tossing the shirt to Hawk who caught it in his free hand. “Give that to Amiah.”
Hawk knelt beside me, his gaze filled with concern without a hint of sexual invitation even though I was half naked.
The look made my throat tighten with frustration. It was the same look Cassius had given me all those years ago when he’d first rescued me.
“Can you sit up?” he asked.
“Yes,” I insisted, even though I had no idea if I could. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to pass out until my body stopped hurting. Except the only way I’d stop hurting was if I healed myself and that was going to take time. A lot of time… that I didn’t want to spend topless.
I struggled to rise, shooting blazing agony through me that made the room darken and lurch, and left me panting.
“Jeez,” Sebastian said. “You just had the shit beaten out of you. Stop trying to do everything yourself.”
He helped me sit, and I held up my arms, my muscles trembling even with something as simple as that, and Hawk dressed me. Biting back a moan, I sagged against Sebastian, gasping shallow breaths and fighting my tears.
I wasn’t strong. I’d never be strong.
I’d never be free.
Titus crouched beside Hawk with the same pitying expression. “Can you break the leash spell?”
“We should move to some place safer first,” Cassius said, his head bowed, his body language saying he wasn’t going to move anytime soon. “We don’t know who betrayed us. We could still be in danger.”
“It was Mavis,” I gasped. “Balwyrdan killed her.”
“Good,” Ti
tus growled.
“Does that mean your apartment is safe again?” Hawk asked. “Wait.” Hope flashed in his eyes. “Does that mean I can go back to my life? Sparky barbecued that monster and we killed all his men. The bitch who betrayed us is dead and the spring fae don’t know about us any more.”
Cassius groaned, pushed up to his feet, and staggered to the rest of us. “Are you willing to risk that?”
“Hell, yeah.” Hawk’s gaze jumped to mine for a heartbeat but he yanked it away and stood before I could figure out what the look had meant. “This situation is fucked up, and you’re all insane.”
“There were more than just spring fae at Lincoln,” Sebastian said, gingerly stroking a lock of my hair out of my face and drawing my attention to his pale eyes. His expression was still tight with pain and his complexion gray. “Let’s break this leash spell.”
“I can wait.” As much as I wanted to be free — now now now — he was in no condition to cast anything… and if it was going to be as painful as the last attempt, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. “You’re too pale.”
“Winter fae, remember?” His lips quirked. “And while I love the fact you can’t go more than a hundred feet from me, I’m pretty sure Sparky here hates it.”
Cassius bristled at his words. “Call me Sparky again. I dare you.”
“So you don’t care that Amiah is stuck with me?” A hint of Sebastian’s usual wicked gleam lit his eyes. “Just the nickname.”
“I didn’t say that,” Cassius shot back.
“Sure sounded like it to me,” Hawk said.
“It’s not an either or.” Cassius crouched and held out his hands. “Give me Amiah and let’s get out of here.”
But before Sebastian could hand me over, the air a few feet away burst into a shimmering liquid mirror. A pale tiny woman in a dark flowing gown with gossamer wings and the same bluish-white and silver coloring as Sebastian stepped through. Two enormous identical men taller and broader than Titus who looked like they’d been carved from ice followed her and took up position behind her. They carried long spears and wore a strange shimmering breastplate that could have been made of ice, and loose white pants.
Cassius jerked to his feet and clenched his hands as if to summon his fire, but not even a hint of smoke curled from his skin. Titus extended his claws and snarled, and Hawk widened his stance, ready to fight.
“Fuck,” Sebastian groaned.
“Faekin,” the woman said. “You’ve been summoned to the Winter Queen’s court to swear your allegiance.”
Something shifted in the shadows on the far side of the room behind the woman, drawing my attention, and I met the demon-vampire’s solemn gaze.
“I’ve already sworn my allegiance,” Sebastian said.
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “You have not.”
“Yeah, well.” Sebastian shrugged, the movement making me gasp in pain. “Tell her majesty, thanks but no thanks.”
“This wasn’t a request.” The tiny woman clapped her hands and the air turned to liquid magic. It crashed around us before any of the guys could attack, sweeping us into a ferocious whirlpool and sucking us in.
We were going to Faerie whether we wanted to or not. Right into the realm where everyone wanted to capture or kill us, and the Shadow Court’s assassin knew exactly where we were going.
To be continued…
Amiah’s story continues with
Fated Winter
The second book in the Angel’s Fate series.
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Other Books By Tessa Cole
THE NEPHILIM’S DESTINY SERIES
Destined Shadows, prequel story
Destined Darkness, book 1
Destined Blood, book 2
Destined Fire, book 3
Destined Storm, book 4
Destined Radiance, book 5
THE ANGEL’S FATE SERIES
Fated Bonds, book 1
Fated Winter, book 2
Fated Fear, book 3
Fated Despair, book 4
Fated Heart, book 5
