Queen of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,38

fallen marble column and curled up. Tarron joined me a half second later. We were surrounded by huge pieces of fallen marble.

I blinked, trying to clear my vision and use the gift that the satyr had given me. The ruins did not turn themselves into a fully formed temple.

“I think she’s destroyed the place,” I said.

“He has.” Tarron pointed to the same enormous Fae that had hit me with a blast of debilitating energy magic yesterday.

He threw blasts of energy at the remaining parts of the goddesses’ temple. Enormous pillars crashed to the ground, shaking the earth.

“He could collapse the tunnel on the fluffy murder mice,” I said.

He moved into a crouch, ready to leap up. “I’ll take care of him. We should stick together.”

“Sure.” I so wasn’t going to do that. I knew he wanted to protect me, but I had to find my mother before she got the information she’d come for.

Tarron charged forward, wings spreading majestically from his back as he conjured a sword and shield. Now that he had the giant in his sights and wouldn’t be caught unawares like last time, I knew he’d be fine.

I conjured my own shield and followed him. When he’d passed through a stone arch, I deviated and went left, slipping between two pillars that still stood upright. The sound of screams drew me forward through the rubble. My mother’s scent—putrid night lilies and brimstone—made me gag. The fallen pillars and giant blocks of marble made the temple into an obstacle course, and I climbed over and ducked under huge white stones.

A flash of movement to my right caught my eye, and I whirled. From behind a pillar, a tall Fae lunged at me. His dark hair and pale skin gleamed under the dawn sun, and he raised a slender obsidian blade.

His eyes glinted with malice as he threw it, and the black glass sparkled in the sunlight. I raised my shield and ducked behind. The glass shattered against the metal, and I dropped my sword, drawing my own dagger from the ether. I went for steel, willing to pull no punches when I was so close to my mother.

I peeked out from behind my shield and threw my blade. The Fae darted right, so fast he managed to nearly avoid my dagger entirely. It stabbed him in the shoulder, and he howled, clutching at it.

Quickly, I grabbed my sword and charged, leaping over a pile of rubble and taking to the air with my wings. I flew fast and low. The Fae’s eyes widened, and he called on his own wings, rising up into the air as he grabbed another dagger from a holster at his thigh.

I was faster than I had been, the practice clearly having paid off. We collided five feet above the ground. He swiped out with his dagger, but I darted right. The blade sliced shallowly at my arm, burning like hell but not debilitating. I stabbed him through the middle with my sword, and he shrieked.

Roughly, I jerked the blade free and kicked him away. He fell and slammed to the stones below. I turned and flew back to the ground, spotting Tarron in the distance.

He was fighting the huge Fae who sent the deadly blasts. Tarron’s sheer power and speed were incredible, and he landed a kick to the Fae’s face that sent him spinning. More Fae surged toward him, raising weapons.

As much as I wanted to keep watching or fly over to help, I didn’t want to stay too high in the air where I could be seen. The cover provided by the ruined temple was too good to pass up, and I still needed to find my mother.

Tarron could take care of himself. And while he distracted most of the Fae with his huge, loud fight, I’d take out the queen.

Quietly, I crept through the ruins, keeping low as I moved closer to my mother’s dark magic. It took everything I had not to race forward—but if I did, I’d have to lower my shield. I couldn't afford to get hit by one of her mind-controlling potion bombs. Not when I was so close to her.

I found two more Unseelie along the way, managing to narrowly avoid death both times. As I got closer to my mother, the skill of her guards increased.

Smart.

But then, it probably ran in the family.

I reached a clearing in the middle of the temple. Here, the pillars were far enough away that my mother had found