You need to run.
I can’t leave him.
He’s as good as dead. Look at the wound in his chest, at the blood coming from his mouth. He’s already dead, and he knows it. Run and live to fight another day.
The female Tuatha looked across at the prince, who shrugged and waved a hand in Timothy’s direction.
“Very well.” Timothy sat up straighter as she approached with her sword. “In light of your bravery, I’ll make this quick.”
“No!” The word exploded from my lips.
“Shut up. Just shut up, please.” Timothy’s chin trembled, and he locked gazes with me. “Please.”
He was telling me to go. To get away, to live. It was all in his eyes, or maybe that was my mind justifying what I was about to do. My vision blurred as the bindings fell from my wrists. I was free, and there was no saving him, not without sacrificing myself.
“Go,” he mouthed.
He knew. He knew I was free. He knew me. Oh, God.
I needed to run, but my body refused to cooperate. I was in shock. It was good that I could recognize that, right? I was in shock, but I could circumvent it. I needed to put it aside, just for a bit, just long enough to not be dead.
The Tuatha’s blade swept in an arc parallel to the ground, aimed at Timothy’s neck, and my paralysis broke. I staggered to my feet and ran.
I ran without stopping, without thinking, working on pure adrenaline and terror. Guilt churned in my chest even as my legs pumped to get me as far away from the clearing as possible. As darkness closed in, I found a nook in a tree large enough to accommodate me. The cold didn’t matter as I climbed inside, shaking and whimpering. Darkness closed in like a protective blanket looking to calm my shaking body and chattering teeth. But visions of blood filled my head. Liana’s blood. The sounds of her screams, and the wet noises the Danaan had made when devouring her. Timothy’s calm gaze in the face of his sacrifice.
Horror.
This was horror.
But to them, it was nothing. They’d killed them. The Danaan…He ate Liana. Ate her! My body began to shake, sobs tearing at my chest, burning my throat and my eyes. A blanket of fear smothered me. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stop the image from flipping through my mind like a holoscreen gone haywire. They were branded into my brain.
Timothy’s tear-stained face, eyes brimming with restrained terror, filled my mind. He’d taken my place. He’d saved my life.
And what will you do to repay him? Will you quiver with fear? Will you fall?
I fisted my hands. I couldn’t break. I couldn’t fall apart because I wanted to hurt them. I wanted to take their heads. I wanted to make them bleed.
They deserve to die.
The shadows closed in, slipping over me, warm, safe, inviting. My pulse slowed, and the shivering ache retreated as the fog in my mind cleared.
Liana’s words of advice filled my mind, and I latched onto them—you need to lose the conscience. They don’t have one. They don’t feel the way we do. If you want to survive, you have to be like them.
Timothy had given me a chance. He’d given me a shot, and I couldn’t let my emotions get in the way of what had to be done. I closed my eyes, reining in the shudder in my chest and willing the tremor in my limbs to subside. The terror and uncertainty, the horror and the fear fought back, trying to burst free and overwhelm me. I pictured Killion’s bright blue eyes and imagined his soothing voice then exhaled, forcing the fear from my lungs. A cold calm flooded my mind, and I twisted the cap on my humanity.
It was time to kill.
Nighttime was Killion’s time, but he wasn’t here. I didn’t even know if he could get into this place through the diamond net that held us captive. I was on my own with only myself to rely on. This was a numbers game, and they were whittling us down.
I needed to even the odds.
The night brought the shadows, and the shadows were my salvation. They wreathed me and cloaked me. I was invisible as I found my way back to the clearing. A fire crackled, casting amber light around the camp. The prince lay on a pallet, his back to me. The female kept watch a few meters away from the fire, and the Danaan was nowhere to be seen.
My daggers glinted dully in the dark as I crept closer to the sleeping prince. One slice, and he’d bleed out.
One cut was all I needed.
I slipped closer, and the shadows came with me, and like a whisper, my dagger found its home in the prince’s throat. He let out a soft gurgle, and the female Tuatha spun to face him. She let out a cry, and her gaze flew up to meet mine a moment before the shadows hid me.
“No!” She fell to her knees, trying to stem the bleeding while scanning the night, searching for the attacker.
For me.
“I know you’re there.” There was a tremor to her voice. Maybe Tuatha did feel one emotion. Fear. “Come out, coward.”
“Me? A coward?” My words came out even and cool. “I’m not a coward.” I circled around her. “I’m your judgment.” I grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, willing the shadows to part so she could see my face. “I’m your death.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Human, how are you—”
I slit her throat.
That’s right. That’s what they deserved. But there was one more, wasn’t there?
I shook my head to clear it. One more. The Danaan, where was—
He slammed into me from the side, taking me to the ground and pinning me with his bulk.
How? How was he seeing me? My shadows.
His eyes gleamed bright crimson as he looked down at me. “Hello, shadow walker, who taught you that trick, huh?”
His horrific mouth didn’t move when he spoke, but his tongue wiggled, articulating the sounds that made the words that spilled between us, and I was going to be sick because his breath smelled like shit.
“I’ll have to make an example of you. I’ll have to pluck off your limbs.”
I brought my knee up into his crotch, then head-butted his face. He bellowed and released me, allowing me enough time to roll away. I came up, daggers in my hands.
He stood slowly, leisurely. “Toothpicks,” he said. “Won’t hurt me.” He shucked off his cloak, and his skin gleamed green and bumpy in the firelight.
What the fuck was he?
No time to dwell, he was on the attack, and I was on the move, evading, swiping, ducking. My blades glanced off his skin, useless fuckers.
Shit.
I had to run.
No, end this. Free me.
I rolled and came up by the dead prince. A glint of silver caught my eye. The sword, half out of its sheath.
The Danaan let out a bellow as he ran toward me, but every iota of my being was focused on that blade. I grabbed the hilt, drew it, and swung.
The blade cut through the Danaan like a hot knife through butter. His torso slid diagonally off his body and hit the ground with a wet thud.
I stared at the sword.
The sword the Spring prince had said was too dull.
They were dead. Three champions dead. I stood in the clearing, watching the flames play. I’d done it.
I’d killed them.
I looked at the sword in my hand. It felt right. It felt like mine. The prince didn’t need his holster any longer. It fit me well, and the sword wasn’t too heavy when pushed into the sheath, and then I walked around the fire to the spot where Timothy had died. The snow was dark with his blood, and my throat tightened. Something winked silver against the white.
I plucked the object off the ground and swallowed the sob that wanted to be free. His pocket watch. No emotion. No tears.
How many hours left till this was over? I flipped it open and held it to the light. It was midnight. How could it be midnight already? It didn’t matter, I needed to get to the skywall. I needed to get to the center of the labyrinth, and I needed to kill every motherfucking shining wanker on the way.
I straightened and froze as a shadow detached itself from the darkness and stepp
ed into the clearing.
My hand went to the hilt of my sword, and twin neon blue eyes lit up the shadow’s face.
“Killion…”
He bridged the distance between us and wrapped his arms around me. He was here. He was really here. Despite my resolve, the dam inside me burst, and huge sobs wracked my body, blurring my vision and leaving me gasping for breath.
“I’ve got you now,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
23
“We need to keep moving.” Killion strode ahead of me, scoping out the moonlit terrain. “We need to get to this wall.”
I needed him to hold me again, even though it made me sound so fucking weak. But I craved that contact right now. I needed a minute, maybe two to let the horror wash over me and through me, to break down and feel. But maybe Killion’s way was better. He hadn’t asked for details about what happened. He’d read my face, seen the evidence with his eyes. It was enough, and Killion wasn’t one to dwell. He was a creature of action.
Move on. Move quick. Bury it and live.
Bury it…Liana and Timothy wouldn’t get a burial.
No, stop. Don’t dwell on that. Focus on the details, here and now.
The sky above was a network of silver diamonds now. It was obvious we were in some kind of shielded dome.
How many hours till dawn? How many hours till Killion left me? Time was messed up in this place, moving too fast or too slow. Thirty-six hours, Lowland had said. But he’d given us no way to measure the time.
My hand went to the watch in my pocket. Timothy had given me time. He’d sacrificed his life to save mine.
He was already dead.
I stopped in my tracks, my hand going to the pommel of the sword.
“Danika, move,” Killion ordered.
He didn’t need to mark the trees. He didn’t need a compass, and he adjusted his trajectory each time the world rumbled.
I jogged to catch up to him. “What about the others?”
“Focus on yourself.”
Anger flared inside me, and I made a grab for his arm, but my hand went right through him. He stopped and looked at me properly since finding me in the clearing.
“We don’t have time for this, Danika,” he snapped.
“People died. My friends died. Timothy died. He made them kill him first when it should have been me.” My throat was too tight around the words. “You want me to focus on myself? If Timothy had focused on himself, I’d be dead right now.”
“So don’t let his sacrifice be for nothing. Get to the wall, get to the center of this labyrinth, and survive.” He gripped my shoulders tight. “You killed two Tuatha and a Danaan by yourself. You can do this, Danika.”
I felt sick.
“Don’t.” He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up into his eyes. “They were monsters.”
“I know.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “But to get through this, I’m afraid I might have to become one, too.”
He was silent for a long beat, and then heat bloomed across my forehead, followed by the brush of his lips. My breath stalled in my chest, and then my eyes fluttered closed. Killion’s fingers slid into my hair, and his hand cupped the back of my head, tilting it back so I was looking up into his shadowy face.
“I’m good at taming monsters,” he said. “I promise I’ll bring you back.”
Soft laughter filled my mind.
I pulled away from Killion and shook my head again.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I…I don’t know. I thought it was me, talking to myself, like my conscience, but I think…I think there’s a voice in my head.”
“What do you—” His head whipped up. “Someone is coming.”
He pulled me close, and shadows rushed to cover us.
“Hush,” he said.
Voices drifted toward us, and then two figures appeared between the trees.
Val and Karl. They were bloody, their faces grim.
Relief filled my chest. Killion released me, and the shadows melted away, revealing me to them.
Val cried out and brought her sword up, ready for a fight, but Karl simply stared at me as if he’d seen a ghost, and then his gaze slipped over my shoulder and his eyes widened in horror.
“What the fuck?”
Killion.
I held up my hands placatingly. “It’s all right. He’s with me. He’s on our side.”
Killion didn’t speak, which was probably even more disconcerting.
“Say hello, Killion.” I gave him a sharp look.
“Hello, Killion,” he drawled.
Val let out a snort. “Trust you to find a monster to befriend.”
Bitch. “Fuck you, Val. Killion isn’t a monster.”
“No,” Killion said. “But I can be, if provoked.”
Val swallowed, her gaze flicking from me to Killion.
“I’m glad you’re alive,” Karl said.
“Me too,” Val agreed.
“We need to keep moving,” Killion said. “You can talk on the way, but whisper.”
“And where are you headed?” Val asked.
“There’s a wall. I think we need to get through it to get closer to the center of this labyrinth.”
“The wall that looks like the sky?” Karl asked.
“You saw?”
“Val climbed a tree.”
Val shrugged. “Had to be done.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it did.”
We exchanged tentative smiles.
Killion strode off, and we followed.
“So, your friend…What is he?” Val asked. “Some kind of night denizen?”
“I don’t know.”
“And you trust him?”
“He saved my life five years ago, and he’s kept me safe ever since. I trust him.”
“Ah, a story.”
“Not now.”
“Helena’s dead,” Karl blurted. “I had to kill her.”
Silence followed his announcement.
“She was hurt bad,” Val said. “She was dying anyway. Karl made it quick.”
“I killed her,” Karl said.
“Dammit, Karl, pull yourself together.” Val sounded more fed up than annoyed with him.
“Timothy’s dead too.” My jaw tensed. “The fucking Spring champions killed him, so I killed them.”
There was a stunned silence.
“How many?” Karl asked.
“Three.”
“Good,” Val said. “Fucking good.”
The wall was a shield. Some kind of barrier, magic or tech, I wasn’t sure. It gleamed in the moonlight, the diamond netting winking at us as if taunting us. Could we walk through it?
Karl picked up a rock and threw it at the barrier. The rock disintegrated.
Well, that answered that question.
“Okay. Now what?” Val asked.
“There has to be a way through.” I walked along the wall, scanning it for a breach. There’d been doorways. I’d seen them. A pillar appeared up ahead. “I found something.” The pillar was chest high, black with silver writing printed into it. “The glow is a window, and Winter’s kiss will set you free.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” Val said.
“I have no idea, but there’s a lever here.” I touched it lightly with my fingers.
“Winter’s kiss?” Karl said. “What does that mean?”
“Fuck this.” Val gripped the lever.
“Don’t!” I grabbed her arm, but it was too late. The lever was down.
We held our breath, waiting…Nothing happened.
Val stepped away from the pillar. There was no denying the mixture of relief and disappointment on her face. “Well, that was a load of shi—"
A mournful howl ripped the air, and then the temperature dropped so suddenly my breath fogged up my vision. My eyeballs ached. I needed my goggles. Killion stepped closer to me, and the shadows swirled around us, ready to protect.
Something was coming.
“Winter’s
kiss,” Killion said.
“Over there.” Val pointed.
Ice and snow billowed out from between the trees, bringing the howls with it. The wall began to glow, and then the blizzard rushed us, surrounding us in its frozen grip. The air cut my skin, and flakes of ice threatened to blind me.
“Watch out!” Karl’s voice sounded too far away.
“Behind you,” Val called out.
Killion shoved me to the side. I managed to keep my footing, turning in time to see him speared by a lance of ice as thick as my arm. His feet left the ground as he was hoisted up into the air by a creature that defied logic. It was made of jagged ice and blizzard, and it had Killion.
My hand was already on the pommel of my sword, and then the obsidian blade was cutting through the ice appendage that speared Killion.
He fell to the ground, landing neatly on his feet.
I ran toward him, but my path was blocked by a thick ice shaft as it smashed into the ground between us.
I staggered back, arms up to ward off the chips of ice that sprayed up. They smattered against my arm plates in a series of sharp chinks.
“Killion!”
“I’m fine,” he shouted over the howl of the wind.
I caught sight of him as the ice shard slid out of the earth and up into the air. He was whole, unhurt as far as I could see.
His gaze dropped to the sword in my hands, and his eyes flared brighter before tracking above my head. “Duck!”
I dropped in time to avoid the swipe of the ice monster’s limb, and then came up slashing with my blade. Ice rained down on me. The monster screamed, and then Karl and Val were beside me, slashing and stabbing. Whittling the beast down.
We had this. We were doing it.
And then the blizzard surged, swelling before it slapped us in the face with a gust that stole my breath and sent me flying through the air. I landed on my back, and something landed on top of me. White face, open maw, dead eyes—this beast was ice and snow, and there was no way to gain purchase on it, to push it away. My hands met only icy air, and then my head was pinned to the ground by its frozen fingers, and my breath spilled out of me. It was sucking my oxygen. All the warm air in my lungs. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think. But my body was in fight mode. My sword arm came up to stab, and the obsidian blade shattered the monster.
Taste My Wrath (The Iron Fae Book 1) Page 14
