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I had not waited centuries to have her—only for her to be torn away from me so soon.

I unsheathed the sole dagger I’d been permitted to carry at Tar Mesa, watching as the creature’s eyes dropped to the iron blade. I couldn’t use my magic against it, not when feeding it would only make it stronger.

He struck—the center of that massive palm colliding with my chest. Something cracked within my body, propelling me backward. A tree broke my fall, the rough bark digging into my spine as the trunk snapped in half.

“Pathetic little Faerie is nothing without his magic,” the daemon said in that eternal, rough voice.

The creature was both nothing and everything, a void of all magic and life—consuming everything it touched. Plants died beneath his feet as he stepped toward me, a ripple of rot spreading through the forest.

I pushed to get to my feet, white hot pain filling my chest. Whatever he’d broken hadn’t been clean. Agony consumed me as I moved. Still, I pushed until I got my feet beneath me, curling over myself as I glared up at the creature.

Time. I needed to buy more time.

Estrella stirred behind the creature as I swung my dagger, distracting him as he chuckled and pulled his arm away. She rose, her legs collapsing beneath her as she cradled her arm to her chest and looked disoriented. That arm was bent at an unnatural angle, broken and bleeding from where the bone protruded from her skin.

I slashed again, silently willing her to run. Sending the command down our thread.

The daemon stole my blade, swiping it out of my hand and tossing it to the side before the back of his hand collided with my face.

Bones crushed; the crunching sound far too loud in my ears as my vision swam. I collapsed to the ground, spitting blood on the leaves.

It was too red for this place, too jarring against all the green.

The creature spun to look over his shoulder at the same time I did, far too late, as Estrella raced forward with a grimace. She grabbed my knife in one hand, a branch of the holly tree clutched in her other. She slid through the creature’s legs—stabbing my iron dagger into the back of one knee.

Time slowed as I watched her pull that blade free, twisting it in her hand and stabbing into his other kneecap as she came out the other side. Her ruined arm clutched that holly tree, shoving it against my chest to hand it to me as she brought the iron dagger down upon the top of the creature’s foot.

He howled in pain finally, blood pouring from his wounds as I shoved to my feet. One end of the holly branch was still on fire, the eternal flame burning as I thrust it up into the underside of the creature’s chin.

He roared, wrapping his taloned hands around mine. Shredding the skin of my arms through my armor and crushing my bones into dust. My grip loosened, refusing to let go altogether, but the strength was gone.

I couldn’t drive the branch farther into his skull, not with my flesh and bones in tatters. Estrella swept her blade across his stomach, disemboweling him. His innards fell to the forestfloor in a wet splash. Estrella moved to the creature’s back when he still didn’t let go of the branch.

He couldn’t, not when he’d be dead the moment the burning holly found his brain. The daemon howled as she thrust her dagger into his back, using it to pull herself up onto his shoulders. She abandoned the blade there, wrapping both her good and injured hands around the front of the creature’s forehead. She pulled, her scream of pain sounding through the clearing as she tipped his head back.

He fought her, releasing the branch with one hand to reach behind him. The scent of her blood washed over me as he swept those claws across her face, leaving her cheek in shreds. I shoved higher, pushing that branch through tissue and bone just as Estrella kicked out with one of her legs, colliding with the creature’s arm that still clutched the branch.

She pulled back, stomping that foot down on it again as the creature clawed at her.

Blood.

There was too much blood.

“Estrella!” I warned as she kicked again. The daemon’s hand left the branch. I thrust it up into his skull as soon as his resistance left, piercing his brain.

He vanished into shadows with a pop, his yell sounding through the clearing as he returned to Helheim, where he belonged. The branch continued upward with the momentum of my shove, narrowly missing Estrella’s face as she flung her body backward.

The flame singed her cheek, illuminating the damage she’d suffered in order for us to kill the creature that would have claimed both our lives.

Estrella crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from her wounds as I dropped the branch and fell to her side. Her face was a ruined map of skin and flesh, her cheek hanging off in strips.

He’d shredded her arms, the back of her neck, her shoulders. The deep gashes pumped blood onto the leaves below us as I drew her into my arms.

“Need to complete the bond,” she gasped, looking into the forest.

We both knew our time had run out, that any chance we’d had of completion had been lost to the daemon stalking through land meant to be sacred. I had no doubt who had unleashed the beast upon the Cove—who had allowed the monster to keep me from claiming my mate.

“You’re hurt,” I said, leaning my body over hers. Protecting her from the other monster who stepped into the Cove. I felt Mab’s wrath the moment she emerged into the clearing.