Page 35 of Fae Unleashed
I twisted my lips in a snarl and struck out with a sharp root. The man above me flickered out of existence. Alvin had been an illusion. Rhoan had explained that Faust fed off nightmares. The man delved into your mind to find what scared you the most.
I hated to tell him, but Alvin couldn’t scare me anymore. The man infuriated me, but he couldn’t scare me.
When I tried to sit up, Faust planted his boot on my chest and slammed me back down.
Rhoan roared across the grass. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black-furred beast. He snapped open his wings and rushed our way. This felt wrong. It wasn’t the sight of the beast that bothered me.
Faust was too happy. He was in control of this situation, and it was going his way. I had to throw a wrench in this before Faust got what he wanted. Most of the fae following me were safely tucked away in the Seelie Castle. If I left with Rhoan, then I was only leaving Tal behind.
My mind slowed. I could feel my thoughts churning through molasses. The ground beneath me must have been red with my blood. Every time I tried to heal, Faust put another hole in me.
We needed to escape.
I reached out for Rhoan. Arcana swelled in the air. I gave the blight on my power no thought. It could grow and spread for all I cared. It didn’t matter if I became Unseelie so long as the people I loved could survive.
Fae magic used the power of belief. If I believed that Rhoan and I were bound by his vow to my family, then I could grab ahold of that vow and bring him with me. Meanwhile, I healed the wound in my chest so that Faust would lift his blade again.
There it was—another in-between.
This was one hell of a stretch. While Faust turned me into a sieve, I held onto the idea of a bond between Rhoan and I. Everything I was about to do required belief. My muscles turned heavy and my breath dragged between my lips, but I had enough belief for everyone involved.
Faust’s sword plunged towards me, and I turned that moment into a chance to move in-between.
Rhoan
One second,I rushed across the grass outside Cerri’s apartment. The next, I found myself between the Seelie Castle and the hedge maze. The click of my beast’s claws echoed across the grounds when I moved. I lifted my head and took in my surroundings.
Cerri’s form sprawled, unmoving, across the ground. My heart dropped. Between one step and the next, my form changed. Boot-covered feet stormed forward. I couldn’t even hear the thunder of my steps over the drum of my heartbeat in my ears.
I dropped to my knees beside her and pulled her into my arms. Cerri’s skin was whiter than usual. Her shirt had been sliced over and over. Blood stained the front of it and dripped down the sides.
“Queen,” I whispered as I gently touched her face. “Wake up. Please, wake up.”
I couldn’t do this again. I couldn’t watch another royal bleed out in front of me. My gut clenched. The need for alcohol rose and tried to consume the forefront of my mind. The beast smashed the thought to bits and snarled.
Faust took her from me. I thought he only wanted to dangle her in front of me until I finally confessed my feelings. Instead, he’d cut her life short so that I was all alone again. To Faust, my only choice would be to join him now.
I was going to rip the pookah man to shreds. I would become his greatest nightmare.
Something warm dripped down my face. I wiped it away. Now wasn’t the time to let feelings take ahold of me. If I did, then Faust would own me. I had to serve vengeance before the beast inside me took ahold and became Faust’s pet.
A warm breeze ruffled Cerri’s curls. Every plant in the front garden bent towards her. The tips of the leaves and petals turned red as they grazed her skin. I froze and watched the garden mourn its lost queen. The aura in the garden changed from a deep green to a blood-stained crimson, but beneath it was a touch of gold that I’d never seen before.
I had no words to explain to the castle how I’d failed again. The castle wouldn’t understand. I let the magical aura in the garden shift and change as the castle domain mourned.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“For what?” Cerri rasped.
My head snapped up. Heart in my throat, I couldn’t speak.
Cerri wrinkled her nose, grimaced, and stretched her arms over her head. Color slowly returned to her face. The golden aura that’d blossomed beneath her slowly bled into her body.
“What’s happening?” I asked. My voice cracked and betrayed the nervous crackling taking over my body.
Cerri ran both hands down her face and groaned like I’d just woken her from the deepest nap of her life. I mean, nearly dying could feel like that, so it was understandable.
I became aware of eyes on us and glanced back to find several fae watching from the castle windows. Scooping Cerri into my arms, I carried her inside. The foyer that’d once held a pile of Cerri’s other selves—bodies from other timelines that Beryl had cut down—now held a blooming garden.
