He heaved, sweat pooling on his brow. Finnegan still danced with the other fae. They were as closely-matched as Reyna was with her opponent.
“You’re harder to kill than I thought you’d be,” she muttered.
He smiled, and that was when she noticed his teeth were stained red. “The power of blood. It’s a shame you’ll never get to try it. Because I’ll be feasting on your blood next.”
Footsteps thundered in the distance. Reyna lifted her head, but kept one eye trained on the wood fae.
“Ah, here they are,” the warrior taunted. “Did you think the clash of steel would not catch the attention of others?”
Growling, she threw herself back into the fight. If she struggled to take down a single blood-enhanced wood fae, how would they ever take on a dozen or more? She had to end this. Now.
Reyna called upon the last remaining strength in her bones and lunged forward. She leapt into the air, flashing her blade toward the wood fae’s head. Surprise flashed across his face. Screaming, she slammed the dagger into his neck.
He fell instantly.
She twisted toward Finnegan. He was still locked in battle with the third, and the sound of footsteps had grown as loud as thunder.
“Go, princess! Now!” Finnegan shouted as the wood fae slashed his sword toward Finnegan’s neck. The rebel knocked it aside easily, but exhaustion swirled in his eyes.
Reyna shook her head and launched toward the wood fae. Together, they took him down in an instant. He fell into the mud to join the others, but the victory would be short-lived.
“You must go now, princess,” Finnegan said with a hiss. “There are more wood fae on the way. We cannot fight them all.”
“I can’t just leave you here to face them alone.”
“I won’t.” He wiped his blade against his tunic and turned toward the street. “I’ll hide in the shadows and distract them away from here. I’ll keep them from following you into the wastes.”
Reyna’s heart thudded in her chest. “I don’t like this. There are a lot of them, and only one of you.”
His steady hand landed on her shoulder, and his fingers squeezed tight. “I’ve waited all my life to do something like this. Go. Now. Find Nollaig and that army. This city is counting on you.”
Unease swirled through her belly, but she nodded and took a step back. Finnegan shot her a wicked smile and then vanished into the shadows like smoke. She shook her head and whirled on her feet. And then she ran with all the last vestiges of strength in her bones.
Reyna slowed, her legs giving way beneath her. She tumbled to the ground, dark sand spraying up into her face. Time had unravelled as she ran. The movement of the moon and stars had lost any meaning to her. Maybe hours had passed, or perhaps a full day. She knew she needed to stop to rest, to drink, to breathe.
It had been far too long since she’d had Laoise’s brew.
With a heavy sigh, she climbed onto her knees and dug through Laoise’s leather satchel. Her hands shook as she found the herbs, each clustered together in its own individual pouch.
I see you found a way to hide from me. For a time.
Reyna’s fingers tightened on the herb pouches.
Did you think I would never return? You cannot drink me away, Reyna Darragh. I will always be here, inside of you, until I claim your life. And it looks like that will not be long from now.
She gritted her teeth as a terrible heat swept through her body, burning her up from the inside out. “You can’t kill me that easily. You said it yourself. Seelie’s powers are keeping me alive.”
Not anymore, Namhaid. You’ve used it all up.
Her heart almost shuddered to a stop. Mouth dry, she pushed up from the ground on unsteady feet. “What do you mean?”
Did you truly believe Seelie had blessed you with unlimited magic? Your great god bestowed enough power within you to destroy the thing you hated most. Me. The more you used that power, the less you had, until now there’s nothing left of it.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she argued, knowing full well how deranged she must look, shouting at the darkness all alone in the middle of the barren ash. “I’ve scarcely used Seelie’s powers. Even if you’re right, even if it’s not infinite…”
But there she was wrong. She had been using Seelie’s powers all this time. The magic had kept her from dying from the Ruin trapped