I tried to turn around. I wanted to turn. I should.
Somehow my pistol was in my hand.
Fae children were a rare blessing. Many fae never managed to get pregnant, and there were fewer than a hundred children in the city. That was why they’d struggled to rebuild their population after their wars.
I checked my pistol—loaded and ready. Though I couldn’t get a shot from here—not with its back to me.
I could distract it, make it turn. With a little luck, my shot would drop it long enough for the family to escape and for me to get out of sight.
Or not.
It might charge at me immediately, giving me no time to get a clean shot on its eye.
Unless…
Unless.
The woman’s magic hadn’t worked, but mine might.
Every hair on my body strained to attention as I slipped from the doorway and, instead of running away, approached the Horror.
It was stupid.
Not safe.
So fucking monumentally not safe, I couldn’t believe I was actually doing it.
Yet here I was, placing my feet in careful silence as I eased off my gloves and placed them in my pockets.
I hardly dared to breathe.
Somehow I closed the distance and the Horror didn’t turn.
Unblinking, I watched as the details of its segmented body became clearer and clearer, revealing faint streaks in its carapace.
Almost there.
Then I was.
I swallowed down every instinct screeching at me to get the fuck out of here.
Trembling, I reached out and touched the Horror.
It wasn’t cold. Smooth like polished wood, but not cold.
The poison in my skin tingled as it had last night when Ella’s cheek had touched mine, and I waited for the dark tendrils to stretch over the Horror’s body.
And waited.
And waited.
My heart lurched into my throat.
My poison wasn’t… poisoning.
There had to be…
I tucked away my pistol and tried both hands.
The breaths twitched in my chest, fighting to become overwhelming gasps, but that would be too loud. The thing would hear.
Still nothing.
Then the Horror moved.
It didn’t collapse as Ella had, overcome by my poison.
It rose on its back legs, turning.
I looked up and up and up.
And found its void eyes looking back.
49
Bastian
Strange looks followed me to my office that morning. But did it really matter after last night? I could still feel her skin against mine, her hair tickling my face—could still smell her if I inhaled deeply enough.
Fuck, she was intoxicating.
Even better was the fact that, at last, I truly felt like she’d forgiven me. Maybe I’d even gone a small way towards earning that forgiveness.
There was more I could do. And I would.
“What’s put the spring in your step?” Brynan looked up from his desk, eyebrows raised as I entered his office.
Ah. That explained the odd looks.
I smothered a smile and shrugged before disappearing into my office. Not even the stack of reports on my desk could sour my good mood.
That didn’t happen until Brynan appeared at my door, ashen-faced.
An attack.
Horrors.
Here in the city.
On the busiest day of the year when folk had gathered from nearby towns and performers filled every theatre and square to celebrate the Winter Solstice.
When Kat was out in the city with our friends.
I was moving before I fully took it all in. I didn’t need to know more than that.
Sword. Leather armour. Gauntlets. With those in place, I gathered guards outside the palace. None questioned my orders, even though the sun was high and half their number was Dawn rather than Dusk. There wasn’t even a whisper of “oathbreaker.”
The swiftest I sent out on foot to gather intelligence from the rooftops. How many Horrors? Where were they? Their orders were not to engage but to keep eyes on the monsters.
And to watch out for any sign of Kat. I shouldn’t have mentioned her, but… I couldn’t not.
The others I led towards our stables.
Emerging from Dawn’s stable yard came Cyrus on a huge golden stag, followed by his elite guard on marginally less impressive steeds.
“Don’t worry: I’ll kill them all.” As his stag reared, he raised the Brightblade, Dawn Court’s ancestral sword. He tilted it to catch the sun’s rays and set its magic ablaze. “On me!”
Cerulean blue cloaks streaming, he and his guards charged away.
The Dawn folk around me faltered, glancing back after their prince. But he had no plan and no interest in leading. He wanted only glory. I’ll kill them all. Not we.
I continued into Dusk’s stable yard and left them to decide whether or not to follow.
Stags and hinds snorted and pawed the ground, picking up on the fear and anticipation. With low words in the ancient tongue, stable hands calmed the creatures and warned them of what was to come.
Trainees and those with only basic weapons, I ordered to help civilians. Panic was as much our enemy as the Horrors themselves. They would help get people indoors to safety, coordinating with the lookouts to keep them away from the roaming monsters.
I barked order after order, muscles tight and ready. I should be out there finding her, not here dispatching units to different quarters of the upper and lower city.
The Head of the Palace Guard, Evin, arrived and I gestured for him to take over, but he shook his head and motioned for me to continue.
Those with enchanted weapons, I split between him, his first and second in command, and myself—a dozen per group.
The Queensguard and Kingsguard would keep to the palace—a last line if it was needed.
I prayed to every last god that they wouldn’t be.
We mounted and rode out. I flew across the bridge, barely registering the sheer drop.
How did the Horrors get past the wardstones? Past the patrols? The questions burned in me, but they would have to wait until the threat was neutralised.
We passed abandoned stalls, chestnuts burning on portable stoves. The smoke blotted out most scents, but they wouldn’t be enough to cover the stink of Horrors once we got close.
One stove had been tipped over, and I jerked my chin for a guard to speak over the fire and quench it. They weren’t meant to spread, but if Horrors sucked up the magic, it might turn into a normal fire—as hungry and deadly.
We had enough to deal with for one day.
We aimed for the screams coming from the lower city. In a neighbouring quarter, it sounded like the monsters had breached the upper city, but that was Evin’s problem to deal with.
As I rounded a corner, I picked out a flash of red hair against a wall. Kat? My heart leapt.
But when I slowed, I saw it was lighter—strawberry blond rather than rich red. “Rose?”
She slipped from the doorway, a larger shape unfolding behind her—Faolán. Just the two of them. Kat had to be safely indoors somewhere with Ella, Perry, and Ariadne.
“Stars above, am I glad to see you.” I flashed them a grin, which neither returned. “You’re both all right? No injuries?” I examined them more closely. No sign of blood.
Rose kept her eyes downcast, and Faolán edged forward, placing his shoulder between us.
“What’s…？” I frowned between them. “Where are the others?”
His nostrils flared as he raised his chin. “Ari, Ella, and Perry are holed up in the shop. Asher’s stationed himself there healing folk who need it. They’re assisting with bandages, triage, that sort of thing.”