wings appear out of nowhere, in a puff of gold dust just as dozens of people smother the path’s exit, and I look behind to see more. Their shiny weapons reflect the moonlight, as do the sheer number of them. We are trapped. Poppy looks at me with frightened eyes as Torfinn flies right into the men behind us, with two axes that I didn’t see on him before. Where did he hide those? He is ruthless, cutting down the people like they aren’t even real. No one gets close, he is like a machine. Within seconds, all I can see is blood.
I pull the dagger out of my bra and jump off the horse. Alun jumps off and runs alongside me with his scythe. He looks my way and nods, an understanding forming between us. Kill or be killed is the new game. I slam into two of the men at the front, stabbing one in the chest with the dagger and he falls. He groans as I jump on the other and punch him hard in the face. He kicks my thigh, the force pushing me off him and onto the dusty ground. I grit my teeth and stand up quickly. Two more men appear behind me, and a fourth steps over his fallen friend to completely surround me.
“Come on, boys. Stop staring, I’m getting bored,” I say, waving the biggest of the bunch over. His size makes him the clear alpha of the group, and even though I can’t see his face through the black mask, I suspect he is an ugly asshole. He lifts a beefy fist surprisingly fast, and I duck, narrowly missing the hit. He grabs my hair as I drop, and I headbutt him hard in his stomach to distract him. Eyeing the silver whip tied to his hip, I grab it as I roll out of his grip and flick it out in my hand.
“Oh my. This is just what I’ve been looking for,” I say, tightening my hand on the handle of the whip before I jump and smack it hard into the face of one of the other men. He roars, falling to the ground, and his friend makes the mistake of looking his way. I rush and jump on him, landing a solid punch to his throat that makes him gasp for air and struggle as he falls. Two down, two to go. I turn around just in time to see Torfinn effortlessly grab the arms of the two remaining men, and they scream. Gold light blasts through their blood, making them look like the sun, before they explode into nothing but dust and blood, splattering all over Finn and me.
“You did well,” Torfinn sarcastically comments and holds his hands out at his side. Two axes swing through the air and land in his hands before disappearing into dust once again.
Hot damn, that was sexy.
“You aren’t exactly playing fair with that power,” I mutter, wiping blood off my cheek. I look around and see the remaining men that are left are either passed out or dead, and Alun is cleaning his blood-covered scythe on one of the men’s clothing. Poppy is crying and shaking on her horse. Crap, it’s going to be hard to keep her alive. Just like that pet fish I got and forgot it existed. Mossy has only survived because he can feed himself when I forget.
“Is it safe now?” Mossy asks, peeking his head out from Stormfire’s dark mane of hair.
“Yes,” I shout back. I step over some of the bodies and make my way to my dagger. I pull it out of the man’s chest and lift it, but someone takes it from my hand.
“You stole my dagger?” Torfinn growls in my ear, his whole body pressed into my back. It should scare me, but if anything, it’s actually a turn on it totally doesn’t.
“Technically I didn’t,” I answer. I turn around, and he glares down at me. “Mossy got me a present.”
“I hate that damn monkey,” Torfinn growls and storms off back to his horse. Mossy is well and truly hiding as I walk to Stormfire and pull myself back on. Poppy rides to my side as I grab the reins, and I meet her eyes.
“You can’t crawl into a ball and hide from the world every time you’re in danger. If you plan to always do that, you will die,” I tell her firmly. “Fear is in your head, push past it.”
“I’m