Page 45 of Inked in Emeralds (Inkbound #3)

M y knees wobbled, nearly giving out as we surged back to reality. Hook caught my elbow, steadying me, his eyes dark with concern.

“Are you alright?”

I shook my head, searching for Billy. I was still reeling from seeing my mother, and that paled in comparison to what Billy must be going through.

She stood a few feet away, scowling and rubbing at her cheeks with the back of her hand. The second test had been cruel, but the last had taken it to a whole different level. To tease her with the thought of her brothers coming back, and then snatch it away…

I reached out, voice gentle. “Billy?—”

She threw up a hand, pulling away. “It’s okay, Princess…I remember it all…the choice…what was promised, but the pain isn’t there. It’s almost like I was a bystander, or it was a memory of the distant past.”

I nodded, a rush of relief rolling through me. They didn’t call my mother the “good witch” for nothing.

“What happened in there?” Duncan asked, concern furrowing his brows.

“We’ll talk about it later,” I said, my mother’s warning fresh in my mind. “But…” I raised a hand, somehow willing an orange flame into existence, right in the palm of my hand, “My magic is back, and stronger than ever.”

I reached inside, sensing the massive wall of energy inside me, pulsing. Something told me I’d need every ounce of it to defeat Almira.

Hook reached for me as the others pumped their fists, but I held up a hand. “No time to celebrate. The trials are over, and Emerald City is no longer protected. Almira is coming. We have to go, now.”

I led the way toward the mausoleum door, our footsteps echoing against stone as Marin’s words replayed in my head.

You’re out of time.

As we reached the top of the stairs, Hook stopped in his tracks, grabbing my wrist as he went completely rigid.

"What’s wrong?" I whispered.

"Listen," he said, gesturing toward the door. "Someone’s out there,and it isn’t Nora."

"We have to keep moving.” I set my hand on the hilt of my whip. “We’ll have to face it head on.”

I probed the space in front of us, and now that he said it, I could sense a presence out there. Or maybe more than one?

I pushed harder, then drew back. “Three men. Strong with some sort of magic I’m not familiar with.”

Hook unsheathed his saber, then held it up, raising three fingers in the air.

3

2

1

He threw open the mausoleum door, and we shot out, weapons at the ready. Rather than the chaos I’d been expecting, we were greeted by total silence.

Moonlight spilled across the graveyard, lighting tombstones and statues, but nothing else.

"I don't like this," Billy muttered under her breath, scanning the darkness.

Then, something shifted at the edge of my vision, a flicker of movement too fast to track. I whirled in time to see the cluster of shapes darting behind a thatch of shrubs on silent feet.

"Ambush," Duncan warned, pushing past me so he could stand at the front of the group with Hook.

A blade appeared as if out of nowhere, slicing Duncan across the forearm before he could react. He hissed, and wheeled around, holding his sword at the ready as blood dripped onto his pants.

“Damn it! Where?—”

Another strike, as if on cue, slashing Billy’s cloak at the shoulder. She snarled, drawing back her bow, but whoever it was had already melted back into shadow.

“Keep close,” Hook growled, maneuvering so I was in the middle of the group as they formed a wall around me.

I caught sight of another figure in my periphery and cried out as it lashed out at Duncan again.

This time he parried, lunging forward with a strike of his own as a dagger came hurtling toward his side.

James intercepted it, throwing the blade off course with his hook, and letting loose a bolt of lightning in that enemy’s direction for good measure.

The would-be assassin yelped in pain as the strike connected. Were those… ears ?

I filled my whip with magic right as Billy loosed her arrow. But a second, taller figure shot into view between us, sparks flying as he deflected both attacks.

Fenwick’s teeth caught the moonlight as he flashed a wicked grin. His cloak was pulsing and dark, and it emanated a strange magic. He let his cane-sword fall to his side, then dropped into a bow.

“We meet again, my dear guests.”

Hook lunged at him immediately, but the fox-man batted the strike aside in a shower of sparks.

Wind kicked up all around us as Hook charged forward with a follow up, but Fenwick hardly seemed to notice.

Instead, he threw caution to the wind as he charged forward to meet him.

Two blades emerged from the shadows in unison, one from either side, knocking Hook’s sword off course at the last second.

But rather than seizing the chance to stab him, Fenwick changed directions, narrowly avoiding a kick, then slapped the top of his cane-sword right into Hook’s back.

Duncan was dashing forward to help, but one of the shadows appeared in front of him, keeping him at bay as Hook roared, lashing out with a spray of lightning. But Fenwick didn’t even move. Instead, he sat there and laughed as it sputtered out into nothing.

“Remarkable, isn’t it? A gift from Almira. A brief pause on magic, nothing permanent. But so effective.”

Any question of who he worked for faded as Hook growled, squaring off with him as he regained his footing. “I don’t need magic to best you.”

Fenwick grinned, surging forward in a flurry of slashes. Their swords clashed over and over, sending up sparks, with neither of them gaining an upper hand.

I wanted desperately to help him, but Duncan was dealing with one of the foxes…so where was the third?

My magic.

I reached out mentally, tentative at first, searching for energy that felt like…fox. Only the second I sensed it, a black void snapped down, severing the connection.

What the hell? I felt the power inside me so strongly. Had I been wrong?

The shape fuzzed into view at exactly that moment, slashing Hook in his exposed side. Fenwick roared in delight, easily sidestepping an arrow from Billy as he continued his onslaught.

“We need to get to him!” I shouted, dashing forward.

A loud screech sounded overhead, and Billy cursed. “Monkeys, three of ‘em. Fucking scouts, too,” she grunted, shooting an arrow into the sky. “Keep moving, Princess.”

I would…as soon as I tried, one more time. Again, I opened my mind and reached out for the energy of the nearest monkey. And again, I was shut out. Almost as if?—

Almira.

She didn’t just have a hold of the army she’d created. She’d also placed a spell on them that kept them cleaved only to her.

Fucking hell.

“Hold them off. We’ll finish up fast,” I shouted to Billy, praying that she could manage without my help. The three monkeys were surging toward us, but her bowstring snapped yet again, and I watched as the arrow caught one of them in the head, sending the creature hurtling toward the ground.

Two scouts would still be a tall task, but she was in her element, and I had no choice but to put my trust in her. Not when Hook was magic-less and fighting two even more dangerous enemies on the ground.

“On your right!” I shouted, alerting Hook in time for him to dip out of the way of the second fox.

If only it wasn’t so dark, it’d be a lot easier to keep track of them…

I threw my hand up at the thought, calling on my newfound power with a single, focused thought.

Give me light.

I slammed my eyes shut as the sky practically exploded with it, illuminating the entire graveyard. Hook roared, seizing the opportunity as Fenwick and the other fox-man came into full view, their shadowy cloaks melting away in the piercing light.

But Fenwick was still unfazed, grinning ear to ear as he blocked. “Excellent. I do enjoy a fair fight.”

I sucked in a breath, remembering Duncan’s advice as I lashed out at the other fox with my whip. He leapt backward, trying to dodge, but I’d been ready for that.

I tore my arm backward, sending out a thunderous crack as the tip smashed into his chest. “If you wanted a fair fight, why resort to poison?” I spat, but I kept my gaze trained on his comrade, who was wounded but rising.

“Poor form, I’ll admit. Almira insisted. After I told her about your little sparring match and the power I sensed in you, she grew…concerned. She insisted on nipping it in the bud rather than letting you complete the trials.”

“And you obeyed her?” I shot him a cold smile. “Being the witch’s errand boy seems beneath you, Fenwick.”

“Careful, Harmony,” he snarled, skipping out of Hook’s range as the other fox recovered, taking his place. “I am Almira’s most trusted advisor, her closest confidant. She places more value on me than you could ever understand.”

“Sorry that you won’t be alive to see me kill her.”

Hook was fighting wildly, trying to move toward me, but the other fox stayed entirely on the defensive, parrying and keeping him at bay as Fenwick closed in on me. My pulse thrummed in my neck, but I met Fenwick’s gaze. “Bring it, fox.”

Fenwick’s smile widened, flashing rows of sharp teeth. "As you wish."

He seemed to disappear, as he flashed toward me, far faster than the scout that had almost killed me a few days earlier.

But, this time, I was ready.

I forced magic into both my eyes and whip at once, focusing in on him then snapping forward with an attack. His cane flashed toward me, the crystal tip slicing through the air. I snapped my whip forward, meeting his attack. Leather wrapped around steel, and we strained against each other.

"Where is Nora?" I shouted, yanking the whip back, trying to wrench the cane from his grasp. "Did you hurt her?"

"Hurt her? She wasn’t even here." Fenwick’s lips curled into a sneer. "Guess she abandoned you exactly like your parents."

"Shut up!" I growled, yanking my whip sideways and throwing my other hand forward in a single motion. Raw magical energy surged to my fingertips, blasting out at him in a bubbling orange mass.