Page 20 of Fae Unleashed
We needed to get out of here. The army was endless. As soon as I brought a knight down, a beast would take its place. I saw dozens of other creatures, chimera just like me. They’d been warriors searching for more power, same as myself. In the end, they’d betrayed the clauses of their deal. Faust had taken them for his own.
This was what he wanted. Faust trapped us here so that he could find Cerri and force my hand. My heart swelled so large that I thought it might burst. If I didn’t find a way out of here soon, then Faust would get what he wanted. He would hurt Cerri and force me to feel the one thing that I’d been avoiding since she and I escaped the Seelie Castle.
Cerri had taken Ostara’s domain for her own. That told me that there was a weakness in every domain. Cerri had dug her roots into Ostara’s and torn it apart to remake it as her own. If I could find the weakness in here, then I could rip it open and escape.
I was grateful to have a massive dragon at my side during this. While Morgan swept enemies aside with his great wings and burnt them with his lightning breath, I darted around in search of the weakness.
It took me several heartbeats to realize that I had a following. At first, I thought the beasts behind me were stalking me like prey. They weren’t attacking, though. They stayed on my heels andwatched.
Slow as I was, I didn’t realize what they were at first.
They were the weakness in Faust’s domain. All of the others just like myself, people trapped bylove.
9
CERRI
Icrossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the crystal walls as if I could play cool. I wasn’t really that cool, and I definitely wasn’t chill. Faust lowered his chin and centered his attention on me like a predator sizing up prey.
For a moment, I froze like a rabbit.
Faust stepped closer. He dragged a finger along my jaw. His razor-sharp nail threatened to break skin.
“I really hope you don’t finger anyone with that manicure,” I said without thinking.
He rocked back. His laughter echoed inside the crystal bubble and made my ears ache. A warmth trickled down my earlobe and continued down my neck. I swallowed hard and tried to pull a bit of my arcana into myself to heal the damage he’d done to my eardrums.
This man wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen. Seeing Del tremble at the sight of Faust told me that he was far worse than anything I’d ever faced before.
How long could I last in here? I had raw power, but I didn’t know how to use it. I’d barely been able to protect myself against Del.
Faust didn’t move to hurt me, though. Of course, his laugh had stung, but he wasn’t actively trying to kill me. Faust paced back and forth, watching me all the while. He sized me up. I could see the gears turning in his eyes.
“You’re thinking of all the ways you can hurt me. Right?” I tensed when the realization hit me.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
“I can heal anything you do to me.” My fingers still went to the scars at my throat despite the confidence I’d forced into my voice.
What was a few more scars? So long as I could use my arcana to survive, then this couldn’t really hurt me. I would leave this bubble and move on with my life…right?
The fact that Faust didn’t want to kill me was a sign that the man was after something else. I remembered the way he’d looked at Rhoan back at the Seelie Castle. While Faust kept luring Rhoan away from me, that didn’t mean I was Faust’s intended target.
He wanted to use me against Rhoan. I wasn’t sure how, but that was the plan. If I could keep from breaking, then Faust wouldn’t get what he wanted.
“I’ve been bait before,” I said, forcing my stomach to settle and my muscles to relax. “Alvin Combs tried to use me. He almost killed me on his lawn. I didn’t know how to heal myself then, but I can do it now. Try me.”
Faust appeared in front of me inhumanly fast. He slammed his hands on the crystal wall on either side of my head. I barely kept from flinching. His rotten breath washed over my face. He smelled of death and screams…don’t ask me how I quantified the second scent. It just…felt right.
His attention flicked past me. He grinned at everyone watching from outside the crystal walls. I could hear muted voices. Addie’s arcana poked at me. We’d used our opposing magics to break curses before. Vi leaned on the crystal. Her light flashed bright inside the bubble while she tried to burn through it.
“They’re going to watch me hurt you,” Faust whispered in my ear. “They’re going to watch me tear you apart while you put yourself back together again. Each and every one of them will dream of it for nights to come. I will invade their nightmares and make them my puppets for the Sluagh that way.”
My lip curled. Anger flared hot as the sun, drowning the cold fear trying to consume me. I shoved off the wall, grabbed Faust by his sharp chin, and shoved him back. In his face, I said:
“You cannot take what ismine.”
His eyes narrowed. I waited for him to strike me, but it never came. The walls of the crystal bubble shattered. Red shards rained down over our heads. I threw myself back and covered my head with my arms.
