Smolder (Crown of Fae #3) - Sharon Ashwood Page 0,36

She snatched at the knife handle, but Fionn grabbed her wrist. His flesh felt wrong—cold and clammy, almost slippery. Her revulsion rose like an irresistible pressure. She drew breath to scream.

“You should not try to stop me,” Fionn said, his voice dropped to a growl.

“Please, I’m your sister. I love you.”

“Then you should have listened.”

The knife caught the sun as Fionn fell to one knee to deliver the killing blow. Leena finally let loose a wail, sure she was about to die.

As if in answer, white lightning filled the cloudless sky, sheets of brilliance flaring until the heavens lost their daylight hue. Startled, Fionn looked up.

Suddenly, Morran grabbed Fionn by the back of his robe, hauling him to his feet so hard his boots left the ground. Leena scrambled to her feet and grabbed the knife from her brother’s hand, throwing it as far into the chaos of the street as she could. That was an instant improvement.

Thunder crashed, making them all jump. Fae magic hung in the air, indicating it was no natural storm. Leena looked wildly around for more fae, but saw only a clutch of startled humans. A few had been running their way, hoping to stop the fight, but they had other distractions now.

What came next was pure earth magic. A tremor vibrated through the soles of her feet, making her stagger. Leena had grown up in the mountains, and she recognized it was an earthquake. A sandwich board at the end of the block fell over with a clatter. Alarms sounded. Excited voices rose to compete with the complaints of the gulls and pigeons taking flight. Kifi crouched, her ears back and tail lashing.

A split second later, the cat sprinted away.

“Kifi!” Leena cried.

The shaking abruptly stopped. The cat didn’t.

Fionn picked that moment to attempt an escape. Morran gave him a savage shake before tossing him to the ground. Leena lunged toward him, but Fionn rolled and scrambled upright without losing momentum. Lunging into the street, he snatched up the knife Leena had thrown. Then he bolted through the traffic, weaving between moving cars like a madman. Morran sprang after him, light as one of the temple cats despite his size. Neither man seemed afraid of the hurtling cars.

Leena ran parallel to the traffic, trying to keep up while watching in all directions for Kifi. The chaos of buildings and people seemed muted now. A strange quiet had followed the terror, thick with anticipation for an aftershock.

The peace was broken by the roar of thunder. Morran’s back vanished from view, drawing every curse from Leena’s vocabulary. She had speed and endurance, but she was too cautious of the cars. And now her bare feet ached from running on the smooth walkway. Leena slowed and finally stopped, ablaze with frustration.

What was she supposed to do now? And how had they all become separated so quickly? She bent to catch her breath, feeling the start of bruises where Fionn had knocked her to the ground.

As she moved, she felt the hard form of the small knife she’d hidden in her clothes. She’d forgotten about it—hadn’t even thought to use it against her own brother. Not even to save her life.

Leena looked at her hand, smeared with blood from the slash of Fionn’s blade. She couldn’t afford to hold back again. She had to start thinking like a warrior.

Her eyes burned with tears, but there was no time to grieve. Her immediate problem was finding her friends and keeping them whole.

A familiar, imperious mew said Kifi had been calling her for some time. Leena straightened to see the cat crouched in the mouth of an alley to her left. Heart leaping with relief, Leena started toward her, but the ripple of an aftershock rattled the windows in the buildings above. Kifi scampered deeper into the shadows.

“Come back here,” Leena called. “You’re safer with me.”

Kifi stopped and spun, her golden eyes huge in her tiny face. For all her talents, Kifi was still a spooked kitten. Chasing her wasn’t the answer.

Leena skidded to a halt, gasping again. She normally could have run forever, but the air smelled bad here, and it hurt her lungs. A second or two passed before Kifi crept up to Leena, tail down, and brushed against her several times. Then she put her front paws against Leena’s knee in a familiar request to be picked up.

Leena complied, pressing her cheek to Kifi’s soft black fur. Thunder growled above, still fueled by unexplained magic. The cat shivered