“My goodness,” Ada exclaims, her eyes traveling over the unmoving bodies spread across the grass.
“Ada,” I gasp. “Don’t hurt—” One hand whips forward, and that sticky white substance she gagged me with before flies at my face. This time, I manage to duck out of the way. “Ada—”
“Try to use your voice on me,” she hisses, “and I’ll slice through this girl’s throat long before you’ve finished speaking.”
Aurora whimpers and squeezes her eyes shut. I don’t tell Ada she has nothing to worry about. That my Griffin Ability won’t be able to command a single thing for hours still.
“How did you find this spot?” Dash asks. His hands are steady at his sides, but I notice his fingers nudge ever so slightly at the air. No doubt he’s ready to grab guardian weapons the second he gets a chance.
Ada smiles. “No remarkable feat of tracking magic, if that’s what you’re wondering. Servants at the manor house saw a dragon fly past. One of them thought he recognized it as one of the palace dragons. He notified the palace. Prince Roarke received the news not too long after that. Then he contacted me and sent me to retrieve his treasonous sister. So here I am.” She directs her gaze at me and adds, “He didn’t realize you’d be here too. That’s a bonus. Although, at this point, I’m thinking of just getting rid of you. It’s becoming far too much of a pain trying to bring you in.”
“I think we’re going to have a problem then,” Dash says, “since I won’t be letting you kill Em or take—” He breaks off, his head turning to the side as something moves in the air several paces away. A doorway opens, and out step three guardians.
“Are you kidding me?” I mutter, my eyes taking in the woman and two men. It appears we do have a problem, though not the type Dash was referring to.
“Well, isn’t this interesting,” says one of them, a man with flaming ginger hair tempered with a few blond streaks. “It looks exactly like the scene the Seers predicted.”
The Seers. Crap. I’d totally forgotten about them. My hand clenches around the stylus I’m still holding. My gaze swings to Dash, my eyes asking, How the hell do we get out of this?
“Well, except for the three dead bodies they Saw,” the ginger guardian adds. “Clearly that hasn’t happened yet.”
My eyes dart away from Dash and across the bodies lying around us. Icy fear wraps around my heart. Which of these people are supposed to die?
“Three bodies?” Ada asks politely. “Looks like you’ve got more than three here.”
“Nah,” he answers casually, looking around. “These aren’t the bodies they Saw. There were definitely weapons and blood involved. These people are just stunned, right? Did you do this?” His tone suggests he’s only mildly interested in the answer, but as he looks at Ada, I notice the hardness in his eyes. I feel the tension underlying this casual exchange. I see the way his hands are poised, just like Dash’s, ready to grab weapons or throw magic. This is the calm before the storm. The final moments before everything goes to hell.
And suddenly it all seems so pointless compared to what’s going on in the rest of this world and the human one. A waste of time, magic, effort. Anger burns abruptly through my fear. After everything we’ve been through—breaking into Noxsom, our narrow escape from Reinhold, the torture these rebels have endured, the constant effort of having to stay one step ahead of the Guild—I want to yell, Don’t we all deserve a freaking break?
“You’re here because some Seers predicted this?” I snap, taking a step forward. Three pairs of glittering weapons point my way a second later, but I don’t even flinch. “Wow. Well-flipping-done. Just imagine what you guys could achieve if your Seers actually Saw something useful. Like, I don’t know, an Unseelie Prince taking over the whole of freaking Central Park!”
The guardian on the left, a white-haired man, advances slowly, his gold arrow trained on me. “Don’t you dare yell about things you don’t understand. You have no idea of the many visions that came just before the prince attacked Haverton Tower, or about the hundreds of guardians who worked tirelessly to put together the pieces of a giant, incomplete puzzle as they tried to figure out exactly where this massive assault was going to take place.”
“Hey, Rendyll?” the third guardian says. “I think we just scored big time. These unconscious guys?” She nods to the nearest body. “They’re Griffin rebels. The ones who were at Noxsom and then the Head moved somewhere else.”
“Must’ve escaped again,” the ginger guardian says.
“And you,” the white-haired man growls at Dash. “I recognize you, traitor.”
“Hey! What the hell is that?” The woman jumps out of the way of something.
Glass.
I look around, seeing shards of it everywhere, quietly spreading through the grass. Ada’s lips quirk into an amused smile. Her blade presses harder against Aurora’s neck. “The glass faerie,” Ginger says. His eyes lock onto Ada. “Get her!”
And the storm hits.
Flashes of magic, explosions of glass, the shimmering of shields appearing here and there. Ada tosses Aurora aside and throws all her effort into attacking the nearest guardian. And it’s all happening right here among the unconscious rebels. “Get down!” Dash yells at me, his hand sweeping through the air. An invisible force knocks me onto my knees as a glittering knife flies over my head.
I need to use my hands, so I shove my stylus as far as it will go into the front pocket of my pants. Everywhere I look, I see the glinting of glass. “No—dammit—stop!” I gasp, focusing furiously on drawing raw magic out of myself and throwing it at any glass that gets too close to the rebels. I’m not exactly quick, but at least my magic manages to halt and melt each trail of splinters it hits. The melted glass glows for a few moments before vanishing. Ada doesn’t seem to be sending any more glass this way while she’s fighting two guardians, but somehow there’s still plenty of her glass moving around from her sneaky attack before the fighting began.
“Em, I told you to—argh, stay down!” Dash grunts. Metal clangs against metal as his sword meets the two crossed daggers the guardian woman is fighting with.
“I’m stopping the glass!” I shout back. I crawl a short distance away from him so I’m not in his way. I’m close to Vi and Ryn now, making sure nothing gets anywhere near them. My eyes dart everywhere, searching for glass my magic has melted yet. Concentrating intently on pulling magic from my core, I manage to stop another few splinter trails. I start to think that I’ve finally got it all—when I see the glass on the other side of Violet’s body, heading straight for her outstretched arm.
“No, no, no, stop!” I gasp, throwing myself across her in my effort to stop the glass before it reaches her. My hand is inches from the splinters when my magic finally flashes out, striking the glass and melting it. “You’re okay,” I say to Violet, though it’s really myself I’m reassuring. “You’re okay. You’re both okay.”
“Em!” Aurora shouts.
I look up, see the glittering arrow, and then feel myself yanked roughly to the side. Aurora’s magic drags me closer to Imperia. She pulls me over the dragon’s back foot and into the gap between her leg and her belly. “What are you doing in the middle of all the fighting?” she demands.
“Trying to help,” I tell her, pushing myself up and looking over Imperia’s leg to see where the arrow landed.
“Dammit, Rora, there’s an arrow in Ryn’s leg now!”
“Better than it being in your chest,” she answers. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just …” I push both hands into my hair and grip the sides of my head. “I’m freaking out. I finally got them back—Vi and Ryn—and now—”
“Hey, it’s gonna be fine. Why haven’t you used your ability, though? Is it finished?”
“I used it all up at Reinhold.” I look up at the blue-green scales above me. “Is Imperia …”
“She’s okay, just stunned. This Ada woman must have gathered an enormous amount of power before she arrived here.”
“Then hopefully she isn’t quite as strong as she usually is. Those two guardians seem to be keeping her busy. At least Dash only has to fight one person. But we can help him.”
“What?” Aurora shakes her head. “Em, we can’t fight. Not like these people.”
“We can throw magic from here. Nothing fancy, just the basic stuff. Or—where’s the backpack? You can shoot arrows. You’re really good. You can take out those guardians from here.”
“It’s—I don’t know …” She rises a little and looks around. “It’s on the other side of Imperia’s leg.” With a wave of her hand, the backpack comes sailing over and lands in my lap. I tug it open immediately and turn it upside down. “There’s the bow. And the quiver must be here somewhere. I’ve got knives in my jacket, and—yeah, I’ll enlarge a sword. Just in case anyone tries to get too close to us.” I pick up the first sword I see and point it up into the air as I enlarge it, so it doesn’t stab either of us in this small space we’re huddled in.
“Quickly, quickly, quickly,” Aurora mutters as the bow expands in her hand.
I lower the sword to the ground as she enlarges the quiver of arrows. Then I pull a knife from inside my jacket and look over Imperia’s leg again. “What am I thinking?” I mutter to myself as I watch the guardians, Dash, and Ada lunge back and forth amid sparks and other forms of magic. “I’ll never hit a moving target with a knife.”
“Use your magic instead,” Aurora says as she fits an arrow against the bowstring. She aims over Imperia’s leg and whispers, “I can do this. I can do this.” But she doesn’t let the arrow go. After another few moments, as I’m about to ask what’s taking so long, she releases the arrow.
It soars past everyone and strikes a palm tree. We duck down immediately. “That’s exactly what I was hoping would not happen,” she mutters. “Don’t want to irritate the guardians and bring them running over here.”
I risk a glance over the top of Imperia’s leg. “Dammit, one of them’s coming this way now. The guy with the white hair.”
“Seriously?”
“Crap, no, why is he stopping by Vi and Ryn?” I scramble to my feet, but Aurora tugs me back down.
“Don’t be stupid!” she hisses.
“Get another arrow! Be ready to stop him if—”
“These are the leaders, aren’t they?” the white-haired guardian shouts, pointing his sword at Violet at Ryn. “They’re the ones who were caught first. The ones who used to be guardians.” He makes a disgusting sound at the back of his threat and spits on Ryn.
I drop my knife, grab the sword, and try to launch myself over Imperia’s leg. “You filthy piece of—”
“Em!” Aurora clings tightly to my arm, holding me back.
“Leave them!” the ginger guardian shouts to the white-haired one.
“Why?” he demands. “These rebels are a gigantic pain in everyone’s ass. It’s time to get rid of them for good. We’ll all be better off.”
“Lockson, don’t!” Ginger shouts.
“No!” I gasp, finally tugging free of Aurora’s grip and swinging myself over Imperia’s leg. But it’s too late. Lockson lifts his sword, point down—
—and plunges it straight into Ryn’s chest where his heart is.
My gasp is stuck in my throat. I can’t move. I can barely breath. Dash tackles Lockson before the guardian can hurt anyone else. Just behind them, Ada catches hold of Ginger’s wrist—and he turns to glass a moment later. Then her eyes meet mine. Without looking away, she bends and picks up her dagger. A smile twists her lips as she takes a step forward.
I lunge away from Imperia, but I’m too far away, and as Ada drives the dagger down into Violet’s chest, I finally find my voice and scream. I scream and scream, and my throat is raw, and somehow I can’t hear any of it. Sound is gone. Time has slowed down. And I can’t look away from the horrific sight.
Violet and Ryn. Dead. The gleaming blades protruding from their chests.
My parents. Whom I’ll never get to know.
My family. Shattered.
Abruptly, time speeds up. Aurora is beside me, trying to pull me somewhere. Ada is crossing the grass toward me. Behind her, Dash yells something as he swings a glittering blade at both remaining guardians. And somehow, in my shocked state, none of it quite makes sense.
And then Ada’s right in front of us, grabbing hold of Aurora. She tugs her away from me and brings a blade flashing down toward Aurora’s throat. “No!” I yell, my limbs coming to life. I kick Aurora as hard as I can, sending her flying out of the way. Ada’s blade sweeps harmlessly through the air. “You little troll,” she hisses at me.
“You MONSTER!” I scream at her.
She raises both fists, and glass shards spin in deadly circles around them. “You should never have told me they were your parents.” She pulls one fist back—
But I raise my sword over my shoulder and swing it down with all my might. The blade slices through air, through flesh, through the person I’ve loved my whole life—
“Em!”
I ignore the voice. I watch Ada’s body drop to the ground, her head barely still attached to her body. And blood. So. Much. Blood. It’s a hideous, horror movie moment that doesn’t feel real. Open mouth, unblinking eyes, blood, blood, and more blood.
It’s hard to kill a faerie. That’s what everyone says. But Ada didn’t survive this. I can see already that she’s gone. And I can’t help thinking it wasn’t that hard at all.
Then the reality strikes me.
I killed someone.
I killed Ada. Dani. The woman I believed for years was my mother.
“EM!” someone shouts.
Finally, I look up. I see Calla on the other side of the fighting and the unconscious bodies, running toward me. I don’t know how much she saw. I don’t know how she knew to come here. But I don’t care. All I know is that she’ll stop me from what I want to do next.
And I’m done with her stopping me.
Single-minded rage consumes me as I pull my stylus from my front pocket. I walk to the closest palm tree. With shaking fingers, I write a doorway spell against it. Then I walk into the darkness and don’t look back.