Spin the Shadows (Dark and Wicked Fae #1) - Cate Corvin Page 0,76
on the floor.
The jagged ripple of the Fae’s spine showed through his skin. He turned around, mouth open, revealing the smooth stretch of his skin where his eyes should be.
The Blind Man let out a deep croak like a giant bullfrog, and lunged out of the room, his trailing arms knocking the girls over.
One of them kept eating the fruit even as she fell. I saw it all in slow motion as the Blind Man rushed at me, his mouth gaping open to reveal the stumps of his rotting teeth.
Gwyn swore and pushed me aside. I hit the wall and reached into the dirt, ripping new trees out of the ground and sending them towards the Blind Man.
The Fae didn’t stop fighting, making more deep croaks as he tried to bite Gwyn, but in the tight tunnel his arms were too unwieldy for him to use.
My branches twined around him, binding his legs and arms and creeping up over his chest.
When I felt them tighten around him, I pushed the tree to grow thorns.
They emerged from the bark, smooth and glossy black. The Blind Man groaned as they pierced him, but he was completely pinned in place.
“Come here, Briallen.” Gwyn held out a hand, helping me over the tangle of roots I’d created.
I looked around for Brightkin, but… he was gone. Hellekin leaned against a wall, arms crossed over his chest, and raised an eyebrow at me. “The fuck are you looking at?”
I wondered if he’d like some new piercings, the kind made with thorns. “Where did Brightkin go?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. But maybe I could tell you in exchange for a favor from the Seelie Left Hand.”
Gwyn gave the Gentry the kind of stare that promised death, but I didn’t have time to sit here and wait for them to fight it out. “Fine. You get a favor from the Left Hand. Where. Did. Brightkin. Go?”
I realized I was trembling from the adrenaline rush. My trees were deeply rooted, sending me their energy even as they grew fat and healthy on Fae blood.
Hellekin grinned at me. “That’s more like it. He went that way.” He nodded to a tunnel, and I turned back to Gwyn.
“If you’re willing to do one more thing for me, please stay with the humans.” His garnet eyes glittered under furrowed brows as I spoke. “Protect them. They need you. Don’t let anyone but Robin Goodfellow in until I return.”
He touched my arm. “I got it, Bananas. Move that ass.”
I smiled at him and turned to go as Gwyn and Ceri stationed themselves outside the door. He was glaring daggers at Hellekin, who was the last Fae I’d ask to watch over the girls.
The tunnel Brightkin had taken dipped downwards. He’d left scuffed prints behind him.
I trailed my fingers along the wall as I walked. Instead of growing trees, I planted the seeds of roots. They wound through the dirt, creating a network that spoke to me.
The roots felt the vibrations of feet through the stone and fed them back to my senses. Brightkin wasn’t far ahead of me.
The more of them I created, the more confident I felt about releasing them. I climbed over a pile of rocks that blocked half the tunnel, and the sound of running water became clearer.
The tunnel opened on a massive cavern and a glittering lake that glowed with a deep green light. Several mermaids hovered at the edge of the lake, running their tongues over translucent teeth and gazing up at the figure standing over them.
“There’s nowhere else to run, Brightkin.”
He whirled around. The prince was still fucked up by the sheer amount of evanesce he’d consumed, and blood ran out of one nostril.
“Take the cattle, then,” he snapped. “Get fucked.”
Brightkin jumped into the water, sending up a sparkling torrent of droplets that hung suspended in the air.
I strode to the edge of the water. The cavern was all glittering granite, but my trees had never cared much where they grew.
I placed my hands on the hard stone and pushed my magic down.
Through the clear green mirror of the lake’s surface, I saw a mermaid reaching for Brightkin, feeding him air from her own lungs as they pulled him away.
Enormous trunks burst out of the stone. My vines grew upwards, reaching for the ceiling of the cavern, then tilted over and plunged down into the lake.
One of the mermaids saw them coming. Her eyes widened and she released Brightkin, darting