Page 40 of Royal Hunt
“Whatdothey care about?” Viana prodded.
Pari smirked. “Killing as many humans as quickly as possible.”
We didn’t have time to react because the fae approached the boundary in one long line.
“We offer an alliance to the humans,” boomed out a rather large fae who looked similar to the one Lyra and I had killed. His skin was green, and his black hair was braided in long coils. With the way he was glaring death at me, I wondered if they were brothers.
“DON’T LISTEN TO HIM! IT’S A CLASSIC TRICK, FANGOR’S BLUFF—” Pari yelled, but the other humans had already come forward, pushing past the line of heirs who’d fought desperately to keep them safe.
They walked right up to the line of fae, and the green-skinned warrior grinned.
Trenton took the lead, smoothing his rumpled tunic. I wanted to smack the satisfaction off his face. Gregory and the guards jogged up behind the others, confused and wary.
At least they were smart enough to realize they shouldn’t get within a sword’s throw of the fae.
“What do you offer?” Trenton asked, his voice crisp and imperious. Pari vibrated with anger, but Viana shot her a look to cool it. She was at least interested to see what would play out. I was as well, if I admitted it.
I shot a look at Ellis, covered in blood and grime. His golden eyes were so, so tired.
“Any human who wishes to change sides to us will be welcomed with open arms.”
Pari tried to argue, to yell, to do something, but she was nearly run down by the dozen or so humans who sprinted willingly over the boundary line, right into the arms of the fae.
“Wait!” Pari yelled, trying to catch the arm of anyone running past. “You need to ask for point of—”
I felt a burst of awareness course through me, starting at my feet and shooting up through my chest and traveling down to my hands. Every nerve was frazzled, my eyes hypersensitive to every twitch and movement around me. I saw a brown fae raise his hand and the flash of his knife seared into my brain.
I didn’t consciously make the decision to act. My body simply moved. Two long strides to my left, and I threw myself into Pari’s smaller, yet harder body. We both hit the ground heavily, but no one missed the knife that flew over our heads, landing with a dullpingin the dirt. Gregory picked it up and shoved it into his belt. My head throbbed. I must have hit it off the ground.
I tried to help Pari up. “Sorry, I just—”
“Why did you do that? How?” she interrupted, her gold eyes wide and her voice breathless. Her nose wrinkled as she scrutinized me, tilting to her the head and brushing her hand of the rounded tops of my ears. She frowned.
I drew back, confused by the fearful tone of her voice. “What do you mean?”
Pari pushed me aside and scrambled to stand, eyes darting to the humans who had crossed the boundary. “Fuck.”
Ten humans from our side had crossed in total, including the annoying woman who kept trying to flirt with Gregory, and Trenton. Not that I cared.
They all looked thrilled and excited. And who wouldn’t be? To them, they’d just joined the winning team in their minds. Then Pari’s words came back to me.
Killing as many humans as quickly as possible.
“What a brave choice you’ve made,” the green fae continued, though his eyes were trained on me. If anything, he looked unnerved. The other fae around him were shooting me odd glances as well. He continued, his eyes sparking with glee, “We welcome you with open arms.”
The other fae attacked, viciously slaughtering every human in front of them. Trenton shoved the annoying woman in front of him, barely flinching as her throat was slit and her blood splattered over his front. Trenton dove back onto our side of the boundary, sucking in panicked breaths and ducking behind the line of heirs in messy, frantic barrel roll. He came to a stop at my feet, panting heavily.
I scowled at him.
It took mere seconds for the others to die. I flinched at the wet sound of steel hitting flesh, of groans and moans of confusion and betrayal.
They screamed for help as they tried to dive back over the line. Laughing fae dragged them all back, stabbing each victim multiple times in the back before they went still and died.
“Time has expired. The game is over. The half-bloods win.”
Cassus’s voice echoed over the field, but I didn’t process it. All I could see around me was the blood. It stained the entire field. It covered my clothes, my hands. It was mostly red, though it mixed purple where it met the fan’s blue blood. Did he say we’d won?
“Come on, we need to get back,” said a voice.
