Page 71 of Liar Witch

The three warriors Adella brought with her try to dive out of the way, but they can’t outrun enchanted metal. One by one they jerk to a stop as a knife presses upwards on the underside of their jaw, forcing their mouths closed even as the second blade lodges itself under their ribs, finding the gaps in their armour and digging in.

Enough to hurt, but not hard enough to kill. Not unless I want them to. A single thought and those daggers will embed themselves into the warriors’ hearts.

They gasp. Curse. One even lets out a strangled whimper.

But it has the intended effect.

They’re all frozen in place. Petrified to move. Their voices are useless with their mouths forced closed.

Adella’s eyes narrow as she takes in their plight.

“You have no honour,” she spits.

“Says the woman trying to steal my mate,” I growl back. “I’m just levelling the playing field.”

With another tug of power, I summon a spirit blade into my hand. Adella’s no witch; but only a fool could look at the weapon and not see how lethal it was. The darkness radiating from it brings a chill to the whole arena.

“Yield now,” I say, praying that she’ll do it. “Don’t make me kill you.”

Adella’s mouth opens, but instead of the ‘fuck you’ I’m expecting, a wailing screech rips the air between us, knocking me back a step.

I’ve never felt sound as a physical force before now. It batters me down into the sand as Adella charges. I’m shoved backward, my feet failing to hold their purchase on the awful floor.

Pain flares in my ears from the deep, crashing thunder of her voice. My sigils flare with icy cold as I rely on them to keep me upright under the onslaught.

Goddess, my eyes are watering.

So much for the dishonour of using an unfair advantage.

Even a siren has to breathe eventually. The second Adella’s song lets up, I have to suck in a deep breath of my own, and in that second of time, she moves until she’s almost on top of me.

The very place I didn’t want her to be.

I lurch sideways, my right hand rising automatically, cleaving Aletta’s spear in half with the spirit blade I’ve managed to hold on to.

Undeterred, she draws in another breath and lets out a piercing shriek.

This time I’m ready. I slip into the spirit realm, avoiding both the sound and the roundhouse kick which would have winded me.

Adella overbalances without making contact, but she recovers fast. I reappear behind her, knife to her throat.

She proves, once again, how well trained she is when she doesn’t even flinch. One hand comes up to wrestle my wrist down and away while her shoulders come up under my knife arm. Her head pops free of my control and I disappear again before she can twist my hand further and make me stab myself.

Back in the spirit realm, I clutch at my side and glare at her shadowy form.

It’s taking a lot of power to keep her friends in check. My amulets are almost drained, and Opal doesn’t have enough for me to keep this up forever.

I have to end this.

Adella is circling the spot where I disappeared, but she’s also moving subtly in my familiar’s direction.

She wouldn’t dare.

But Adella keeps moving closer to the cat trying to groom the sand out of her grey fur. When her hand darts down to pick up the pointy half of her fallen spear, I growl.

Opal can handle herself, but Adella doesn’t know that. She’s willing to attack my cat to draw me out.

What kind of sick bitch does that?