Spirit of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #4) - Linsey Hall Page 0,27

dropped. The Seelie called upon his wings, and I caught sight of them briefly flaring behind his back. But too late.

He couldn’t fly. He was only a few feet above the ground. He slammed into it, going limp.

Dead.

“I can’t protect them.” Tarron’s voice sounded agonized. That was his greatest fear. Of course. “I have no wings.”

We’d given up our magic amulets. And damn, those could have helped here.

He searched the sky, gaze frantic. The Slaugh dived for another Seelie, and I prayed that these weren’t real people—that they were just figments like my mother had been.

Tarron seemed to yank himself out of his stupor. “Come on.”

He sprinted for the building that was nearest to the Slaugh, who was carrying another figure into the air. It rose three stories in the sky. He darted into the alley beside the ornate structure, making sure to stay out of sight of the Slaugh, then scaled up to the roof. I followed, climbing as fast as I could and scrambling onto the roof behind him.

He was already sprinting across the roof tiles, hurtling toward the Slaugh who hovered in the air not far from the edge of the roof. The monster held a Seelie woman dangling over the ground, seeming to enjoy her screams. Another Slaugh had joined him, hovering next to him and cackling.

The bastard dropped her before Tarron reached the edge of the roof, but the Seelie king didn’t slow. He just leapt off the roof, hurtling recklessly through the air toward the monster who’d just dropped the woman.

He grabbed him, holding tight as they spun through the air.

I grinned, liking the look of this plan.

As Tarron reached for his own blade to attack the Slaugh, I raced for the second one. It seemed shocked by Tarron’s attack, temporarily frozen. Because its back was to me, I had a split-second to attack without being seen.

I drew my sword and gripped it tight, sprinting for the edge of the roof. I raised the blade high overhead, pointing the tip toward the second Slough’s back, and leapt. Wind tore at my hair as I flew, and as soon as I neared the Slaugh, I slammed the point of my blade into its back.

The blade pierced deep, all the way to the hilt. I kept my grip tight, my body weight dragging the Slaugh toward the ground. The creature keened, a high wail that sent icy shivers across my skin.

My feet hit the ground, and I yanked the blade free of the Slough’s back. The creature stumbled to the ground, and I swung my sword, going for the head.

Before I could land my blow, it reached out with long claws and sliced them across my arm. Pain flared and blood welled. Burn attacked from the side, leaping onto the creature and throwing it to the ground.

I lunged for it with my blade raised, slicing clean through its head. Red eyes met mine right before the entire body poofed into smoke.

Gasping, I stumbled back, clutching my arm. Pain burned like acid.

Freaking poison.

Not again.

I turned to look for Tarron, spotting him beheading the second Slaugh about thirty feet away. As soon as the head rolled free, he lunged for something gold that was clutched in the monster’s hand.

The key.

“Thanks for the help,” I said to Burn, before running toward Tarron. “You got it.”

He turned to the two bodies that lay crumpled on the ground. The Seelie man and woman who’d been killed by the Slaugh.

I reached for his hand and gripped it tight. “They may not even be real.”

He went to them and knelt by their sides. Carefully, he reached for the woman’s neck and felt for a pulse.

I could have told him there would be none. From the way she way lying, broken and crumpled, that was obvious.

He knew it.

He tried anyway.

“They look real,” he said, his words tight.

I knelt by him and tried to touch his shoulder. My hand passed right through, but he leaned toward me anyway.

“You won’t always be in time,” I said. “It’s not possible to protect them from everything.”

He nodded, his lips thinned. “I know.”

“You just have to do your best.”

He looked up toward the blackened spots where the Slough’s bodies had disappeared. A grim satisfaction gleamed in his eyes. He nodded, then stood. “Let’s get moving. There will be far worse than this if we don’t get out of here.”

Pain still echoed in his words, and I hated that there was nothing I could do about it. I stood, joining