looked up to see the man… float off and fly over to us, barely skimming the edge of the light barrier. A sadistic grin pulled at his paper-thin lips to reveal sharpened teeth.
“To dine on the soul of a royal would give me untold power.”
Dine on.
I wanted to vomit. Hell, no, dude.
Slowly, I unslung the bag containing the crystals from my shoulder and passed it to Liam. He hesitated, knowing what this meant, but took it.
“Let my friends go into the portal, and then you and I can fight. One on one,” I said.
The creature tipped his head back and laughed. That hollow sound made my stomach turn. “No, no, that won’t do. My children must be fed as well.” He indicated to the dozens of scorpions that scampered across the ground at his feet.
I thought he might say that. This entire time, I’d been pulling on the power inside of me, and now I felt so full with light that my skin burned. When I wasn’t sure I could hold any more light, I thrust my palms out, in a wide arc, and blasted a supernova of light at the rider and his creatures.
“Run!” I shouted to everyone else and took off into the forest without waiting to see if I’d killed him. Liam leapt in front of me, flying a few feet into the air and zipping through the trees to lead the way. I had no freaking clue where the portal was. I was just trying to escape that monster.
The high-pitched wail that cut into the night told me two things.
He was alive.
He was pissed.
“My children!” he screeched in an inhuman wail. Then, the sound of hoofbeats thundered up behind me. The majority of Liam’s men didn’t have wings, so I couldn’t just fly off and escape this guy, leaving them to die.
“It’s here!” Liam shouted. Right in front of us was a tall glimmering… mirror. Right between two trees. I’m sure it held an illusion for humans, but I saw it well and clear. Our way home.
“Go, I’ll hold him off,” I yelled, pivoting to take on the rider and his horde.
“No,” Liam growled.
“GO!” I yelled without looking behind me. “I’m right behind you.”
I didn’t stop to see if Liam went through. I was too busy shooting beams of light at the demonic ghost rider to keep him back. His scorpion horde was gone, so I was guessing I’d killed them, and it was a relief to only have one foe to worry about. When the last of Liam’s men had run past me and everyone else in our group, I turned, ready to leap into the portal when a thought struck me.
If I didn’t kill the rider, Liam and his brothers would never be able to see their mother again. The fae from Montana who I’d invited to come live in Faerie would never reach it. But if I killed the rider, The Winter King would easily be able to pass into the portal and back into Faerie.
I was stuck. I couldn’t decide what to do.
My split-second indecision was just what the rider needed. Liam had just slipped through the mirror when an ice-cold hand grabbed my right wing and yanked me backward.
Hard.
A yelp tore from my throat as I was ripped backward, landing flat on my back. I hit the ground hard, first on my ass and then my head. Knowing that this was the worst possible position to be in, I threw my legs forward, trying to kick up to my feet… when he straddled me, pinning my arms at my side beneath him.
Frigid cold consumed my body, and panic jumped into my throat.
He was solid now… like a man with skin over his bones and eyes in what were once sunken pits. The ghost thing was something he could control, apparently, which made it all the more terrifying. When he wanted to avoid being stabbed, he went into ghost form, but when he wanted to pin you down, he became a man.
Basically, my worst nightmare.
When he opened his mouth, I shuddered to see not one but three rows of teeth. They glimmered with what looked like magic. Purple iridescent light glinted off his teeth. If he bit me even once, would that take my soul? The thought was horrifying.
My fear lasted all of two seconds before it morphed into rage. I could feel the coldness creeping up my body when a flash of heat chased it away. His eyes widened, and I