Blackbird Crowned (The Witch King's Crown #3) - Keri Arthur Page 0,30

I said evenly, “but you certainly didn’t say I couldn’t bring in a sharpshooter. Oh, and send one of those red bastards after her, and he’s dead. She has special bullets for the likes of him.”

The woman bared her teeth, a low sound rumbling from her throat. It reminded me of the growls I’d heard in Mryddin’s cave and left me wondering if she was perhaps a halfling—one crossed with some sort of dark hound. It was a hell of a leap, but the more I stared at her, the more her features leaned toward canine rather than human.

“Fine,” she barked. “We’ll release her.”

Her companion made the call while she kept her gun trained on the lower part of my body. I didn’t so much as twitch—I had a vague feeling she was itching to follow through with her threat.

The wind picked up, tugging lightly at my hair as she continued her trickle of information. I glanced sideways; Mia and her two guards had disappeared from the hilltop. Tension surged, as did the inner energy. I crossed my arms to hide my clenched hands. The last thing I needed was visible sparks dancing across my fingertips; they’d give the game away far too soon.

Minutes ticked by. I kept my gaze on the boat below, well aware of what was happening with Mia thanks to the wind. Every other sense was trained on the two people in front of me and the one behind. He might not have moved, but he was definitely armed, and his weapon was aimed at my spine. Not a killing shot, perhaps, but certainly a disabling one.

Mia finally appeared below. One of the men roughly shoved her forward, and she stumbled more than climbed into the boat. As she regained her balance, the seas surged, tugging the boat away from the shore, then whisking it across the turbulent waters back to the mainland.

The red demons swooped toward her, but a sharp bark from the woman had them retreating. She was obviously the leader of this little lot, which in itself was rather unusual. The winged demons were generally a higher rank than halflings—who were mostly considered disposable—and they’d always been the ones in charge the few times I’d come across them. The only other halfling I knew who’d had any sort of control over Darkside ranks had been Winter, and I’d presumed that had come about simply because he’d been Max’s lover.

This woman suggested there might have been more to it than that.

“Right,” she said. “Get a move on.”

“Not until she’s on the mainland and safe.”

The woman made another of those low sounds but didn’t push the matter.

The boat skimmed swiftly across the sea and hit the shoreline with enough speed to push it high up the stony embankment. Mia immediately scrambled out and quickly disappeared into the trees. A few minutes later, an engine roared to life. As it left the parking lot, two of the red demons broke away from their brethren and followed.

Though there was no sound of a shot, one of them jerked sideways and then fell as his wing collapsed. A heartbeat later, his face exploded. He dropped like a stone into the sea and was quickly dragged down.

The wind stirred urgently, but even as my gaze darted back to the woman, something hit my arm with enough force to spin me around. Pain bloomed, and I swore, dropping to one knee as I sucked in air and fought the wave of anger and agony that burned through me. She’d shot me. The bitch had shot me.

But as much as I wanted to cinder her ass right here and now, I couldn’t. Not until I’d gotten the all clear from Mo. Jess might have taken out one red demon, but the other one still chased after Mia, and two more still circled the island.

I just needed to be patient, even if it went against every instinct I had right now.

“Try something like that again,” the woman shouted, anger contorting her features and making her look even more hound-like, “and she’s fucking dead. Clear?”

There was no response from Jess—it would have given them her location.

“As for you,” the woman continued, “get up. Now. It’s only a fucking flesh wound, so stop the carry-on. Or I’ll shoot out your legs and we’ll carry you across to the island.”

I slowly pushed to my feet. Breath hissed through clenched teeth and, for an instant, everything spun. It might only be a flesh wound, but the