Warrior Fae Princess

by Breene, K. F.

  “It’ll work,” Emery said, barely loud enough for even Devon to hear.

  “What creature, do you know?” Devon asked as the pack roused.

  Penny shook her head. “Being that there are a lot of magical creatures in this neck, and I don’t know the feel of any of them, I couldn’t build any sort of identifier into the spell.”

  “This far into the wilds, it could be a handful of creatures, most of them not looking for trouble,” Emery said.

  “I sense danger.” Devon peered out into the thick trees and brush directly in front of them before trying to see to the sides. The small, overgrown path they’d used to get to the cave curved off to the left. If someone was on it, they were excellent at stealth, because even with improved shifter senses, Devon couldn’t hear or smell anything out of the ordinary.

  “How do you feel?” Penny asked.

  Devon took stock of himself. His feet ached and sleep dragged at his eyes, but he wasn’t as tired as before. This was manageable. Although he wasn’t in his wolf form, he was healing up at his usual rapid rate.

  Which meant…

  He dashed to Charity’s side and pressed two fingers to her neck. Her pulse thumped like a jackrabbit. He felt her forehead and sucked in a breath. She was burning up.

  “She’s cutting me off, somehow,” Devon whispered. “I don’t feel the gush of her magic.”

  “I can’t…” Penny sounded frustrated. “I have to finish this before I can help.”

  “Yasmine, change,” Devon commanded softly, knowing Yasmine’s mom worked as a nurse in the Brink.

  Yasmine met Devon at Charity’s side. Her eyes widened as she pressed a hand to Charity’s forehead.

  “Did we bring any ibuprofen?” she asked. Devon shook his head. Shifters never needed it—he hadn’t thought Charity might. “Bring her some water. She needs to stay hydrated. If we have a cold compress, that would help, too.”

  “Go,” Emery said to Penny. “I can finish this.”

  A twig snapped outside of the cave. Everyone froze, turning that way.

  A soft rustle, so quiet that Devon wondered if his ears were playing tricks, sounded to the right. After a brief pause, he heard it again. Adrenaline coursed through his body. Magic drifted around him, everything in him saying he needed to change. Danger was right outside. But if he did that, he couldn’t communicate with Charity or the mages.

  Charity moaned and thrashed her head to the side. Devon grimaced and gently shook her awake. She moaned again and rolled her head the other way. Her eyes fluttered.

  He shook a little harder. Her eyes fluttered again, but she didn’t rouse.

  Fear punched him.

  “Penny,” he said, barely able to keep his voice low.

  “I’m here.” Penny wove through the furry shifters. All of them were standing now, their hackles rising. She lowered to her knees beside Charity and closed her eyes. A crease formed between her eyebrows. “It feels like…” She hesitated.

  Emery’s hands continued to weave through invisible air as he held his position near the cave mouth. A footfall, closer, ran a tingle up Devon’s spine.

  “It feels like a bomb.” Penny’s eyes blinked open, and her worried gaze churned Devon’s stomach. “It feels like her magic is getting ready to explode.”

  “Fix that energy-sharing link,” Devon said.

  “Shhhh!” Emery pushed his hands outward, then acted like he was smearing butter across the cave opening. “That should help deaden our sound, but something’s out there.”

  Devon didn’t waste time looking over his shoulder. He stared hard at Penny. “Fix the link,” he whispered, the sound barely riding his breath.

  The lack of volume didn’t matter one bit. She felt his alpha magic and jerked back as if slapped. She bent immediately, her hands hovering over Charity.

  “If she closed down that link somehow, she did it to protect you,” Yasmine said softly.

  “I know,” he responded. “She’s an idiot.”

  “I feel…” Penny began, and Devon felt an internal prod deep within him. “That’s you, and… She’s, like…walling herself away. How interesting. Ugh, her magic feels like acid. Like poison. It’s really tumultuous. She really does feel like a bomb. But just here— Ah. Here. Yes…”

  A gush of agony seared through Devon. Black clouded his vision. Fire melted his bones. He sank to his hands and knees, his fingers clawing the cave floor.

  Shifter magic rose around him, stuffing the air full to bursting, everyone offering up their magic without being asked. Good. He couldn’t have asked if he’d tried. Devon’s energy sapped from him, but he’d been here before. He knew what to do.

  With an assist from Penny, he grabbed hold of Charity’s magic. He yanked it to him, buffering it with his pack’s magic, forcing the balance he knew she needed. Like before, breathing became easier. Less painful. The balance pushed his head above water.

  But she still didn’t open her eyes.

  “She’s on borrowed time,” Penny said, pushing to her feet. “Emery, can we fight whatever is out there? Surely the fae can smooth it over for us. Aren’t they treasured or something— Buck-toothed doppelgangers!”

  A form skulked by, hunched and sneaking, with leathery skin and big eyes. Devon let out a breath. A goblin, not something to worry about. And yet that thrum of danger still vibrated through him. The elves weren’t far.

  “What happens if we meet an elf along the way?” Devon asked Emery. “What sort of fighters are they? Can we overcome them?”

  Emery looked between everyone, as though putting what he saw on a scale. His gaze finally landed on Devon. “One? Easily. A crowd?” He shrugged. “Let’s see, shall we? Bring only what is essential. The fae are bound to have clothes. Fight in whatever form is strongest.”

  “Who’s going to carry Charity?” Penny asked.

  Yasmine raised her hand. “I can. I’m already in human form. No point in wasting energy with another change.” When Devon hesitated, Yasmine lifted her chin defiantly. “We haven’t always gotten along, but she’s pack. I will protect her with my life.”

  Devon nodded and let his wolf finally surge out, stronger physically and in magic. Sights and smell intensified. Danger still throbbed in his middle. He waited while Yasmine and Penny quickly rifled through packs. Those on two feet pulled on clothes and grabbed the bags that were deemed necessary. Yasmine gently lifted Charity and slung her over her shoulder, fireman style.

  Vlad’s words came back to Devon: If the elves capture even one of you, they will crack you open like an egg.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Emery tore down the magic ward, and Penny ran through at once, peeling off to the side with her hands up and ready.

  “I should’ve gone first,” Emery said through clenched teeth as he quickly followed her out.

  “Oh, sorry—with Reagan I’m used to being the fall guy,” she replied as Devon emerged from the darkened cave into the glow of early morning. The goblin turned to look at them, its brown eyes enormous in its thin, bony face.

  Without warning, it took off into the trees.

  Devon tensed and pointed with his nose. Andy, Dillon, and Macy took off immediately, Dillon in the lead. They couldn’t risk that goblin getting away and telling people where they were. Skulking around like it was, it was probably a spy, and it was doubtful it was Vlad’s.

  Which raised the question, why hadn’t it been dealt with sooner?

  At Devon’s glance, Steve and Cole fell in around Yasmine and Charity. Devon hurried to the front of the group, picking a pace he knew Yasmine could handle. When she tired, Devon would switch out Charity’s chariot. According to their guide, they had less than a day’s travel left. If they could bear down and keep the elves from catching them, they’d make it. They had to.

  It wasn’t long before Dillon and his team returned. A look and Devon knew the threat had been neutralized. His beta hadn’t had a problem.

  “This way,” Emery said, jogging beside D
evon. Penny fell in next to Yasmine and Charity. “If we see an elf, we’ll pretend not to notice it at first. They are cautious. They don’t rush in unless they have assessed the risk. It’ll buy us time to figure out a strategy. If they do attack, aim to disable, not kill.”

  They rounded a bend, and a whiff of funk rolled over Devon. He didn’t recognize the smell, but he could tell it was a creature that ate flesh and didn’t bother to wash up after.

  Luckily for it, it stayed hidden as the pack ran by.

  The sense of danger thrummed heavily in Devon’s middle. He barely kept from looking behind them, wondering if something was dogging their heels, if a trap lay just ahead.

  In no time, they found a larger path that led down to the flatlands. They ran as fast as their two-legged companions’ legs could go, wary and always scanning. Senses on full alert.

  It wasn’t until they neared a wide road lined with fragrant, blooming flowers and fruit-laden trees that danger presented itself, though it wasn’t in the form they’d anticipated.

  “What the hell are demons doing in the Realm?” Emery said, followed by a string of curses.

  “What? What’s happening?” Penny asked, pulling up beside him.

  A crowd of creatures stood in front of the intersection leading to the thoroughfare they wanted to use. Each was a different although equally horrific nightmare—a goat head atop a naked human body, a beautiful woman with horns and furry limbs, and so on. While one or two smoked from internal fire, a couple looked like they wielded glimmering weapons of ice.

  “Is this Vlad’s interference, or whoever recently outmaneuvered Vlad?” Penny asked. “And if Vlad’s not involved, how did they know we’d be coming this way? Even if we have a spy among us, there are no phones. There has been no way to relay our whereabouts.”

  Emery shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. Regardless, why are they allowed to hang out around here? The elves don’t allow creatures from the underworld into the Realm without strict permission, and that permission comes with a certain…dress code, if you will. No way would they have let this go. Those demons are breaking the treaty.”

  “You think Lucifer might’ve sent them?” Penny asked.

  Emery just shook his head. He had no answers.

  Devon huffed to get their attention before pointedly looking away to the right. Three figures, lean and fair, sauntered along the path. Their arms practically swished from side to side with a graceful flair. Though the elves were too far away for their eyes to be seen, it was clear their focus was on the group of demons blocking Devon and his pack. That could be a good thing—

  The first demon noticed Devon’s pack, its clawed hand coming up to point. The rest turned, and as one they started running, charging directly toward Devon and crew.

  Time to go.

  He dodged left and pushed through a green hedge, creating a hole that Yasmine wouldn’t have a hard time following. The hole was made bigger as Cole tore one section up by the roots, roared, and threw it. Stealth was not in his wheelhouse, not that it mattered at the moment.

  They took off across the short grass, the appearance green and soft but the feel hard and scratchy. It was a magical illusion.

  The demons leapt over the hedge and the elves surged forward, hurrying to catch up. The elves were outnumbered three to one, but clearly that didn’t trouble them. Good news.

  “I’m following your lead,” Emery said to Devon. “Let me know when to unleash hell.”

  Devon cut across the field at a diagonal, aiming to meet up with the thoroughfare, hoping the elves would reach the demons before the demons reached his pack.

  No such luck.

  The first demon came within five feet of them, its large arm thrown back in preparation to swipe at Cole. Devon changed direction on a dime, darting between Emery and Cole, and launched himself at the demon. He tore through its chest with his paws before ripping through its throat, the element of surprise on his side.

  The rest of the shifters engaged, slamming into the larger creatures. Strange roars and a goat’s bleat filled the field. Devon rode the demon to the ground, waiting for it to convulse and go still.

  A wolf hit the ground with an incredible smack. Dillon. He bayed in pain. Hard air slammed down on top of him. Bones cracked, his crying cut off, knocked out by the invisible impact that must’ve been solid air.

  Shock ripped through Devon. He’d never seen Dillon go down so quickly. Macy whined, frenzied, dodging a demon reaching for her and getting to Dillon’s side. She nudged him with her nose. He didn’t move, out cold. It would take him a while to heal from this one.

  Sorrow and desperation soaked into Devon. It filled his body and ate away at his coherent thought. He ripped through the next demon, feeling fire lick his hindquarters and ignoring it. A blow clocked him behind his ear, knocking him into the brittle grass.

  He caught a glimpse of Barbara, surrounded by a ring of fire growing into a bonfire. She howled in pain, trying to break free, but something held her in place.

  A zip of blue magic cut into the fire, dimming the flames somewhat. Emery swore, his and Penny’s hands moving. Their magic wasn’t counteracting the demon fire as they’d planned.

  These demons were more powerful than any they’d seen so far. They were mighty in a way his pack wasn’t, in a way that only Roger’s strongest shifters could combat.

  They were outranked. As much as he hated the thought, they needed the help of those elves.

  Devon struggled up, running to help Barbara.

  The demon closest to Barbara blew up. Its head flew in an arc and parts sprayed everywhere. The fire surrounding her winked out, leaving her lying on her side, a bloodied, charred mess of flesh and fur.

  Devon looked back in surprise. Charity stood straight and tall, dark bags under eyes the color of a bright blue crayon. This time, the strange color didn’t roll over her irises and disappear. This time, it stayed.

  Fear squeezed Devon’s middle. He hoped to God that was normal for a fae.

  “Sword,” she said, her voice scratchy, damaged.

  Yasmine dropped her pack and started digging through it.

  The next demon reached them before her hand was filled. Steve surged forward, but he was too late. Charity rose her hand in the air. Sunlight sparkled overhead. For a moment, Devon thought her power had misfired—that the light would do nothing to combat the demons—until sparks started to spit from false sunlight. Miniature lightning bolts rained down, striking the demons and sizzling through their bodies. They shook and screeched, arms out and bodies convulsing. The second the magic wore off, the wolves were there, perfectly synchronized, tearing them down.

  The elves slowed in their advance, fifty yards away, watching Devon’s pack with obvious interest.

  “Devon!”

  Devon glanced back at Yasmine, seeing her pointed finger.

  A crew of six vaulted over the hedge behind them, lithe and graceful, with swords in their hands and sleek chain mail to match. Blond or brown hair blew out behind them, and their swords flashed as they descended on Devon’s pack.

  Devon turned, his teeth bared, ready to meet the assault head-on, but their magic reached him first. His own magic was boosted by its soothing yet immensely powerful waves. His heart leapt.

  The warrior fae had come.

  They ran past him, straight at the demons. Their swords flashed, perfectly complementing their fighting movements in a deadly dance.

  Hand newly filled with her sword, Charity fell in among them, not even seeming to notice they were strangers. One of them hesitated a moment before skewering a demon with his sword, as though this was the first foe he had properly fought. Charity wasted no time in helping him out, lopping off the creature’s head and turning for the next efficiently. Another fae slashed at a demon’s leg. An electric hole blasted through the demon’s middle, although this time Charity wasn’t the one who’d put it there. Penny was replicating Charity’s magic. Steve fell onto the demon a moment afterwar
d, ripping through its neck.

  Two fae working seamlessly together rushed a squat demon with fire curling out of its mouth. The first slashed as the other waited just behind him. The demon dodged and struck. The second fae stepped forward and swung, severing one of the creature’s limbs. The demon roared and struck again, only to be blocked by the first fae, while the second danced around and plunged its sword through the demon’s side.

  Cole swung his great arm and smacked the head clean off the demon as he passed, aiming for another of the creatures.

  The two warrior fae jumped back as the creature fell, eyes wide, following Cole with their gazes. It seemed like this was the first time they’d seen a shifter of Cole’s caliber in action. Maybe he was the first shifter they’d fought beside, full stop.

  Everyone knew the warrior fae no longer left the Flush.

  The elves watched it all from a safe distance.

  Charity slashed through another demon, and Devon fell in beside her, carrying it to the ground and ending its struggles. A burst of fire shot at Devon, but before it could land, Charity blew the demon who’d attacked him sky-high. Her magic felt ragged and raw, but she wasn’t stopping. Maybe she couldn’t.

  The tide had turned after the warrior fae had joined them. Soon, only one demon remained standing, its great horned head and small black eyes homed in on Charity.

  “Lucifer wishes to see you,” the creature managed through a mouthful of pointed teeth.

  “Lucifer can kiss my ass.” Charity slashed down on its reaching hand, severing it at the elbow. It screeched, but she didn’t slow. She lunged forward, sword swinging, and sliced its side. She reached out with her palm, pumping out a surge of magic that brought Devon to his knees. The demon flew backward, somersaulting in the air. Before hitting the ground ten feet from the elves, it exploded, spraying the silent observers in blood and guts.

  The warrior fae all cowered, their hands thrown up, but not to ward off the guts. To ward off the debilitating sting of Charity’s magic. They straightened, wide-eyed. They clearly didn’t recognize her magic.

  Charity dropped her sword, stared at the remnants of the demon for a moment, then fell bonelessly to the ground.