her FireSoul ability.
I sprinted down the hall, looking into each window as I went. All the cells were empty.
All until the very end.
Aeri’s pale face stared out of one, her hands gripping the bars. “Mari!”
Elation lit in her shadowed eyes. Next to her towered Declan, her boyfriend. He looked exhausted and frustrated, his dark hair streaked with dust from the cell. He nodded a greeting, his expression grim.
“Aeri!” I raced to the door and gripped her hands with mine. “Are you okay?”
“Beat up, but okay.” Her eyes darted between me, Tarron, and Cass. “Do you have the key?”
“No.” I turned to Tarron. “Let’s try it.”
“Step back,” Tarron said.
Aeri and Declan moved away from the window.
Tarron reached for the big metal door handle. I joined him, adding my strength. We braced ourselves against the doorframe, pulling as hard as we could. I gave it all of my Dragon Blood strength, but it didn’t work. Sweat dotted my brow, but it didn’t so much as budge.
I dropped my hands. “Enchanted.”
“Let’s try fire.” Tarron stepped back and threw out his hands, blasting the door with a huge jet of flame. Cass joined him, adding her own fire.
Despite being wood, the door didn’t so much as blacken.
When the fire finally faded, I stepped up to the window and looked through, finding Aeri and Declan standing against the far wall. He had his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.
I met her gaze. “Who has the key?”
“The big guard.” She raised her hand up past her head. “This tall. Hulking bastard. I think there’s a room they all hang out in down here. To the right.”
“There will be at least a half dozen of them,” Declan said. “They travel in packs. Like rats.”
I nodded. “We’ll be back.”
“Hurry.”
My heart clutched. I hated seeing Aeri like this. “I’m coming back. I swear.”
She nodded.
I turned and followed Tarron and Cass, heading farther down the hall. We moved silently and quickly.
Near the end, I caught the sound of voices. A grumbling argument. A door stood ajar just ahead of us.
Tarron pointed to it and nodded.
Yep, they were definitely in there.
It would be impossible to tell which Unseelie Fae were acting of their own accord and which were under the false queen’s mind control. I drew my potion bag from the ether and took out several stunning potions. They were the sort that exploded into a mist, and if I chucked them at the ground, they might take out at least a few of the guards.
I held up a hand, gesturing for my friends to stop.
“Hold your breath when you enter,” I mouthed.
They nodded.
I crept up to the door and peeked inside.
Seven guards were seated around a big table playing cards, including one big bastard who was almost twice my height.
It was the same one who could throw the sonic booms. We’d met him in the Unseelie forest before, and he was a strong bastard.
Shit.
Before they could spot me, I hurled my potion bombs at the table between them. The glass globes smashed onto the surface, exploding upward in a blast of blue smoke. The guards fell back, panicked, sucking in the smoke before they realized what it was.
I’d saved one potion bomb for the big guard, so I threw it right at him. It smashed against his chest, but he didn’t collapse. He was too damned big.
He blinked woozily as he surged to his feet, but otherwise he was fine. All around him, the other guards tried to stand, swaying drunkenly. The potion mist hadn’t been enough to knock them out, but they were delightfully impaired.
I charged in, drawing my sword from the ether. Tarron and Cass followed.
The big guard raised his hands, readying to throw a sonic boom at me.
“I’ve got him,” Tarron said.
I dodged right, leaving him to it, and went for the nearest swaying guard. I slammed the hilt of my sword down onto his head, and he collapsed, unconscious.
Cass went for the others, while Tarron threw a huge fireball at the big guard. I could smell the giant’s magic from here, and it was nasty. He was definitely on the false queen’s side of his own volition, that was for sure.
Another guard charged me, his sword raised. Despite his impairment, his motions were fast, his sword moving in a blur. I dodged left, but took the blow to the arm. Pain flared and blood welled. I charged, stabbing him in the side, far away from any vital organs.
He shouted, clutching the wound, and swiped out with