Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Your internal wounds are healed enough for you to defend yourself, Faelynn whispered in Daisy’s head as she pulled a dagger out of a sheath. Be prepared in case something gets through us. Tarian has called the Fallen. They are hurrying. We just need to hang on. Don’t let anything affect your heart. These types of creatures always go for the heart.
Great. She didn’t have one of those. She was all set.
25
Daisy
Darkness moved all around them, coalescing into shapes and figures. Creatures grew from the ground, the same sort Tarian had pushed on her outside of the charity auction hotel. Even then, he’d been preparing her for something like this.
Faelynn sliced her palm as the creatures filled the hallway. Blood welled up, and she ran it over her blade. It started to glitter gold in the low light, her magic coating the sharp edge. Gorlan did the same, the three of them forming a protective circle around Daisy, knees bent, postures battle-ready. Tarian’s glowing weapon had turned into his favorite, the staff with a blade on either end.
Daisy rose, pulling out her own blade. Her ankle hurt, and her stomach pinched, but she was good enough. She wasn’t the type to stay idle. If Tarian had met Lexi, they could’ve bitched about that fact for hours.
The creatures jostled each other as they closed the distance between themselves and Daisy’s crew.
No, Daisy specifically. All “eyes,” hollowed-out holes filled with flickering fire, were on her. The soulless orbs gave her a chill to look into.
At once, they started running, slowly at first, then faster. Claws elongated into disproportionate lengths on the ends of spindly arms. They clacked against the ground on tripod-style legs. The first one reached Tarian. He dodged a swipe gracefully, stepped, and plunged his staff through the chest, then pivoted, yanked his blade, and swung for the next. His movements were effortless and beautiful, someone who’d taken great pains to learn and master the forms of fighting.
Gorlan was next, followed quickly by Faelynn, both of them also showing a mastery of their blades. Gorlan hacked off a limb as Faelynn twirled and sliced her blade across a creature’s neck. She stepped as she pulled free and plunged the blade into another. Gorlan did the same, hacking and slicing and stabbing. Their skill was far beyond that of the nightmare creatures advancing, but their number was too few. Way too few. They’d be overrun in no time.
Normally, Daisy would’ve stepped into the space between Faelynn and Gorlan, hiding her involvement from the person—fae—who had told her to stay out of the fight, but she didn’t know them. She hadn’t fought with them. She did know Tarian, and so she filled the space between him and Faelynn. He’d just have to get over it.
She sliced through a reaching arm, hacking it at the elbow before sticking her dagger into the creature’s chest. The magical blade cut right through. Unlike the first time she’d battled such creatures, these didn’t scream. Daisy and crew would be treated to a lovely, quiet fight. That wasn’t so bad. Less annoyance.
“She’s even entertaining when she’s fighting,” Gorlan called over the wet sounds of blades finding purchase.
“You fuckers need to get out more,” Daisy said, and Gorlan snickered. She plunged with her knife. Searing pain raced across her stomach. It felt like she’d torn something.
She ignored it. The pain wasn’t bad enough to suggest she’d done something terminal.
She jerked the blade out and went on to the next, her mind settling into a comfortable haze. Her muscle memory took over, hindered by her wounds but not thrown off track. Her middle tingled as Tarian reached for magic.
Magic.
What the fuck was she doing? Besides not trying to use magic. She had some now but was acting like she didn’t. Idiot.
She cut and slashed, stepped and parried. Tarian moved around her like they were dancing, so much more interesting than on a ballroom floor.
That’s because you’ve never danced with me on a ballroom floor, he murmured, his voice strained.
That was true, she supposed.
The teachings from that contraption filtered through her mind. She sighted in on one of the creatures, then switched to another when Tarian killed the first. She tried to deaden its magic…only to have it swipe at her, raking its claws across her arm.
She gritted her teeth and stabbed it through, focusing on one farther back. The press of creatures pushed her crew in tighter, everyone battling with everything they had. Tarian slashed one through with magic, another with his staff. Faelynn did the same. Gorlan whirled like a machine.
Daisy couldn’t feel the creatures. It wasn’t like working with that magical device—real life felt totally different.
You’ve practiced in real life, Faelynn said through a spark of pain. She shoved the feeling away like Daisy might’ve. This fae might not say a whole lot, but she was just as tough as all the others. You’ve nulled me, remember? Lennox, Gorlan—you’ve nulled us. Even Tarian. It isn’t different. You’re just not targeting the source.