Queen of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,56
as I fought her grip, trying desperately to get away. I couldn't let her transport out of here with me in her grip, and I definitely didn’t want to get in the way of a killing blow.
“You bitch,” I hissed, and I did not mean it as a compliment this time.
Finally, I managed to break her grasp and crawl away, scrambling over the ground.
In all my life, I’d never hated anything as much as I hated this cowardly retreat. Given the circumstances, it was the only thing I could possibly do, but I wanted to be the one fighting.
I lurched to my feet and spun around, catching sight of Tarron shooting an enormous bolt of fire at the queen.
She yanked the dagger out of her shoulder and threw it aside, then thrust out her hand and diverted the fireball right at Tarron.
He lunged away, taking a hit to his wing but staying on his feet.
Shit.
So that’s where I’d got that power. My ability to absorb and redirect magic had come directly from her, just like my sense of premonition.
Yet she used it differently.
I needed to learn to do that. My powers were still settling into me. Still morphing. I’d delight in finding a way to use them against her.
Aeri threw another dagger and hit her in the chest. The queen staggered, gasping. Her enraged eyes met Aeri’s, and she thrust out her hand.
“No!” I screamed, not knowing what she was going to throw at Aeri.
I lunged in between them, taking the hit straight on. I barely had time to brace myself. The magic crashed into me, a sonic boom that made my insides shake. I directed it back at her. The magic plowed through the air, slamming into her chest and throwing her backward.
She landed right next to the glowing ball of Eternal Flame.
Through bleary eyes, I saw her grab it. She still hadn’t removed the dagger from her chest, but her eyes were bright with energy and life.
Aeri’s blow had not been a killing one.
I dragged myself to my feet, trying to stagger toward her. To stop her.
But she disappeared, the orange ball of fire clutched in her hand.
No.
I dropped to my knees, pain and horror overtaking me.
15
I knelt on the hard stone, flames blazing around me as I processed what had just happened.
“She got the Eternal Fire.” The words whispered were so quiet I could barely hear them.
I looked up, a huge empty space opening inside my chest.
Aeri ran toward me from a distance, but Tarron was closer. Standing right near me. He strode toward me, his brow set.
Terror like I’d never known gripped me. It felt like I was on trial with the punishment to be immediately served after—and I’d just been sentenced to death.
But it wasn’t my death.
It was Tarron’s.
I staggered upright. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not done yet.” His firm tone—so confident and sure—buoyed me slightly in the horror of what could come to pass.
I sucked in a deep breath.
Freaking out wasn’t my style.
Being crippled by fear wasn’t my style.
Extenuating circumstances or not, I just wasn’t here for this. That wasn’t me.
Another steady breath returned half of my brain. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. I stared at Tarron, thoughts racing through my mind. Plans.
We had to kill her with the blade. It was the only way. Her death would serve just as well.
No. It wouldn’t. When the blade released its massive burst of energy, it would kill the nearest Fae royal.
Him.
No matter what, if this blade were used, he and the Unseelie queen would die. They were two halves of a whole—Seelie and Unseelie. The royals from both sides.
Not an option.
“We have to get to your realm. Kill her before she releases the fire,” I said.
He nodded sharply. “I’ll alert the Court Guard.”
I turned and ran toward the blade that the queen had thrown to the side. When I bent to pick it up, I spotted the telltale sign of black Unseelie blood.
“Got you, you bitch.” A dark smile crept across my face as I grabbed it.
“Her blood?” Aeri asked.
“Yeah. I’ll get the antidote, then I’ll be able to attack her.” I wanted to be the one who took her out.
“What is Tarron doing?” Aeri frowned at him behind me.
I turned, spotting him leaning over one of the blasts of Eternal Flame, holding his dagger into the fire.
I stalked toward him. “What are you doing?”
“Preparing.”
“For your death?” Fear and rage collided within me. Both feelings so frantic, so amorphous, that I couldn’t control them.