angry Fae king. I’d lost him. Barely slowing when I reached the wooded area where I stashed the bike, I crashed into a tree and smacked my wing. Landing hard on my right ankle, I had to keep my arms out to steady myself.
Elle popped out from the tree. “Did you get it?”
Oh thank the gods. I nodded, starting the bike. “But the Winter King came after me. I think I lost hi—”
“I believe you have something of mine.” His cold dark voice crept over me, bringing a chill with it. There, in the clearing just behind our bike, stood the Winter King, his huge wings flapping behind him. A white dusting of snow fell from them, and I tried not to gape in awe. How could his wings smoke with embers and produce snow at the same time?
Elle was less entranced than I, and wasted no time gawking at the powerful king. She sprang into action, chucking one of her throwing swords right at his face. He ducked, tucking his wings in, and dodged it, but this gave her just enough time to pop on the back of the bike as I gunned it. The tires dug into the dirt as we lurched forward and burst from the trees.
Elle shifted her weight, but I couldn’t worry about what she was doing, I just kept my eyes peeled to the road, going eighty miles an hour.
“Oh shit,” Elle shrieked, as a razor sharp icicle whizzed past my head and crashed onto the concrete, shattering into pieces.
I froze, trying not to let the panic get to me.
Think. I’d had lessons with Trissa since I was five years old, but they were failing me now in the field under stress.
“Shield!” I cried out, suddenly remembering the basics of our training.
“I’m trying!” Elle screamed back. Erecting an energy shield to bar a physical object from entering your space took complete concentration and depleted your power. No way could I do one while driving, but Elle might be able to if she could focus.
“I need a fucking harpoon!” she bellowed over the wind. “This asshole is too fast.”
Elle was a master at throwing knives, so if she wasn’t able to nab him, then we had a real adversary on our hands. I mean, no shit, he was the king of gods damn winter. My mind was still reeling from that and all it meant. So Liam was his halfling son…
“He’s gone,” Elle called out suddenly.
I felt her body sag with relief against me, but I knew better. This guy didn’t just retreat. “No. He’s playing us,” I yelled back; we were getting close to the blue door apartment, but no way was I leading him there. I’d have to drive in circles until we really lost this guy or injured him—or he killed us. Okay, that last thought went dark, but this was the first high speed chase I’d ever been in.
I was just going to turn around and risk a glance behind me, when the king flew right out in front of us, dropping to the street.
“Take flight!” I screamed as I swerved, the bike leaning too far to the right as I lost balance. I had to think fast or this was going to be a really bad accident. Using my powers, I clicked the jewel on the handle and started to transform to bike back to the rolling pin at the same time my wings beat furiously to lift me off of the ground. The king shot ice shards from his hands right at Elle, as she threw more and more small knives. It was a battle, my first real battle, and I was woefully unprepared.
We were way out of our fucking league here.
His cold voice cut across the road: “My men are right behind me. They’ll skin you alive. Give me the crystal and walk away with your life.”
It was tempting, but his sick little breeding program, or whatever the hell that was back there, had my head reeling.
“These aren’t yours!” I shouted boldly. “They belong to Faerie.”
I tightened my grip on the bag that held the crystal and grabbed my small obsidian knife with the other, preparing for a fight I knew I could not win.
“Stupid girl. Just like your mother.” With that, he flung his wrist out and a shard of ice headed right for me, cutting across the space between us in a blur.
I jerked to the side just as a streak of wings burst in front