Page 49 of Faerie Fate (Fae Academy for Halflings #7)

My voice hardened as I stepped into the headmaster’s office with him. I’d known instinctively where he’d be.

The sumptuous furnishings Headmaster Leaves had chosen were shredded now.

Kendrick had raked his claws along the damasked wallpaper and left furrows in the plaster.

The leather chairs near the desk were intact but the Turkish carpet over old oak floors was littered with debris strewn from the desk. He’d emptied the bookshelves.

The last time I’d seen the room, I’d been on the wrong end of an interrogation by a werewolf detective. Back then, I thought my worst luck was the uncanny ability to stumble over every dead body in a ten mile radius.

Now I knew better.

“The mate who tried to kill me and then disappeared?” Kendrick snickered. “Why would I greet you with anything but disgust?”

It only took him a second to regain his composure. He snapped his fingers and several wolves swarmed from the open doorway to the office, the door torn off its hinges.

“I knew you’d be back. Which is why I’ve brought insurance with me.”

I swallowed a gasp when two wolves dragged Livvy in front of Kendrick. Her legs were bound together with a spell, her boots dragging over the rug. The same magic cut off her vocal cords to keep her from screaming.

I held firm. “You think your wolves scare me?” I forced the words out. “Or do you enjoy trussing my mother up like a turkey?”

Kendrick’s eyes flickered to the people behind me, then landed on me again. The king, Mike—they were insignificant.

I forced myself to stare unflinching at Kendrick rather than show any surprise that he’d taken Livvy. A tiny sliver of fear remained however, ingrained in my psyche from too much abuse. It was an automatic and gut-clenching reaction because Kendrick Grimaldi cut a terrifying figure.

The black magic he used might make him look younger than his actual years but his face showed strain. His eyes were old and vicious. The tattoos and piercings branded him a bad boy but I recognized the rot straight down to his soul.

I shoved the alarm aside. He had nothing on me now.

Not even the bond he’d forced. I met his gaze without blinking and after a time, his expression shifted.

His eyes widened slightly, the dark pupils expanding.

I caught a glimpse of his fear before his scent changed, as though my senses were finely attuned to him now.

But my careful composure fractured when the wolves brought a second hostage forward.

Shock flared my nostrils. “Selene?” I stepped closer.

He held up a hand. “Stop.”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “What game are you playing, Kendrick?”

He shrugged eloquently. “No game. Just more insurance that you will obey me from now on.”

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” I purred. “Afraid of the big bad wolf?”

“Ah, if only your re-branding were successful. What, my leverage means nothing to you, Tavi?” he asked with forced levity.

Power pulsed inside of me, ready to be used. Ready to blast this motherfucking wolf into oblivion where he belonged.

“Let them go.”

“I expected that,” Kendrick growled. “You’re notoriously easy to predict, baby.”

“Then you know what I’m going to do next.”

We held each other in a gridlock. He might have my mother and my mentor as hostages, but he didn’t understand what was actually happening inside of me. He had no idea what I could do and that any chains I’d kept on myself were gone.

I acted before he had a chance to move, transforming in an instant and swiping my claws across his face.

Kendrick reared back with a growl as blood spurted from the fresh furrows on his cheeks. I followed with a blast of power, the witch magic bubbling up and mingling with my fae power until it became an arrow shot right at his black heart.

He raised his arm and blocked the hit but the rest of the room refused to stand still. Refused to stay in a circle around the two of us while we duked it out.

Selene . She was always an opportunist. Or maybe she’d been a traitor from the start.

She shrugged off her bonds and the spell sluiced away from her like rainwater. Not a prisoner, but a partner.

Selene was never my friend.

From the corner of my eye I watched her use her key to open a portal. Kendrick held firm against my attack, and with a snarled command, his wolves all rushed me at once.

The portal was open. Selene had pushed Livvy through the portal in an instant. She flashed a last victorious grin at me before stepping over the threshold herself. And there in the distance?—

Dorian Jade shot me a salute from where he waited for them.

Panic seared my veins. I could so easily unleash the full might of my power, as I’d done at EverRose, but I had yet to learn to control it.

For all I knew, my magic could not only devastate everything around me, but travel through the open portal as well.

I couldn’t risk killing everyone. My own mother included.

“Stop!”

The nearest wolf shifted and nipped at my heel, dragging me backward before I made it to the portal. I fought through the pain and punched the wolf in the eye, caving in his skull.

His death barely fazed me. Kendrick had bolted toward the portal. Dorian reached out and clasped him by the forearm, helping him through into Faerie.

So that was how Kendrick did it. How he’d been able to get in and out of Faerie all this time.

“No!” Blood dripped from my torn ankle as I struggled to my feet.

The wolves were just enough of a distraction to slow me down before I made it to the portal. It closed quickly behind Kendrick, Livvy’s terrified eyes the last thing I saw before the glow disappeared.

The scream ripped out of me. Pulsing with my newfound power, my fury crashed against the four walls of the office, threatening to blow off the roof.

I tried to open a portal to follow them but it didn’t work. Why? My magic roared for the right outlet but no matter where it sought, there wasn’t an opening to catch.

“Tavi! Tavi, calm down. You’ll kill us all.” Mike’s voice trickled through to my consciousness.

By the time I managed to slow my heartbeat, by the time I focused my eyes, the other two wolves were dead, piled on the floor of the office. Mike stood in the doorway staring at me.

“I’m going to take down Kendrick Grimaldi and Dorian Jade,” I told him through gritted teeth. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make them pay .”

THE END

Finish the adventure with Tavi and the others in the final book of the Fae Academy for Halflings series, Faerie Warrior.