Page 86 of Hunted By Fae

Some people think they will fight in their last moments.

Don’t go gentle into that good night.

But that moment comes—that dark fae warrior snaps a neck like it’s little more than a fucking twig, then turns its gaze of death on someone…

Most people might be surprised how many freeze up when facing down a fae.

I’ve seen grown men wet themselves, silent tears streak dirty cheeks, mouths part for words that can’t be uttered.

I’ve seen more people freeze and fawn in the face of a dark fae than fight.

But all of them scream.

Every single one.

Even if it’s curt, in that final second of breath, they scream.

My cheeks swell around a harsh exhale.

I force the violence from my mind and rub my gloved hands over my face.

I’ve been out here a while now. Hours upon hours. The whistling winds are easing. Not stopping, never stopping, but at least calming down.

The cold lingers.

The upside of the cold air is what it does for my lungs. My breaths are smoother out here. Something in the concentrated chill, especially in the breeze, eases tension in my lungs.

I enjoy that while I have it.

I burn through time with the binoculars.

I see nothing out there, just darkness. But it doesn’t stop me from scanning the blackout for a flicker of a flame. One of those little fires always burning on the torches of the dark fae.

This city is only half burned, so more units will come for the rest.

That’s why Bee is out there, scouting.

We need enough time to move out of a section, but to stay close enough to track the unit to the next.

It gets hairy out here in the dark.

We sometimes lose the unit we’re tracking, and we have to find another one to follow, like now. The unit we were following has been and gone, destroyed half the city on their way, and we have lost them.

Bee will find them—or another to stalk.

So I wait, wait for the silence of the radio crackling at my hip. I can’t reach out to her. If she’s in a bind, hiding, and I start speaking through the CB, she’s done for.

All I can do is wait.

And in the isolation, I’m reminded of one glaring truth thrumming through me.

I’m so fucking scared.

SIXTEEN

BEE

I fucked up.