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Chapter Twenty-Three

HAWKE

I woke mostly on my back, angled slightly by the pillow under my shoulder, with Wilder's head on my chest. His arm was around my waist, the weight of it a wonderful sensation.

For a moment, I let my eyes close and almost went back to sleep - then realized Wilder hadn't moved, so he hadn't woken me up.

I had no clue what time it was, but somewhere between one in the morning and six. The sun hadn't come up over the atrium. The small window in Wilder's room made that clear. It was completely black in here, just the way I liked it.

But his plants should be glowing.

I opened my eyes again and inhaled slowly. The scent of fresh grass and wildflowers was faint, but I could still pick it out. That was Summer magic, and no one in our suite had it. Carefully, I cracked my eyes again, trying to subtly scan the room.

Darkness.

Maybe someone in the hall had been enchanting themselves to do well on a test today? No, it was the weekend. Granted, it could be some weak attempt to circumvent the curfew magic. Someone always tried, thinking they'd figure out a way to hide from Ms. Rhodes' power. Fools.

So I let my eyes close and sank back into sleep.

My power reserves were completely full for the first time in far too long.

Wilder was warm against me, and his leg was wrapped over mine as if holding me in place even though I couldn't sneak away.

If I tried to crawl over him to head back to my side of the suite, he'd know. He didn't sleep that deeply.

I turned my head toward him a bit more so I could smell his Winter sharpness, and began to drift off again.

Damn, but I loved this guy. He was nothing like I'd expected from fae nobility, and yet everything.

He was such an amazing enigma that I couldn't get enough of him.

Even better, he never made me feel bad for what I was.

He just accepted me. All of me - and loved me for it.

Sleep came easily. I was almost there when the air began to chill. I could feel the difference in my nostrils as I breathed, but before my brain could even process it - the plants lit up.

"You - " a guy growled as he grabbed Wilder and pulled.

My eyes flew open, landing on a crystal blade. The fae light reflected and refracted off the edge, adding tiny rainbows across the darkened walls, but the weapon was moving. Wilder rolled into me as he jerked away from the threat. I saw the guy holding the blade - and the two behind him.

"Shit, he's not alone!" someone hissed.

"Kill them!" the other demanded, fog puffing from his mouth proving the room was too cold.

But I was already moving. "You cannot have him!" I snarled as I reached for my power and just pulled.

There was no conjuration planned. I was reacting too instinctively for that. Instead, I relied on what I was rather than who, and I was the monster every fae feared.

My wings snapped out and I lunged toward the idiot with a blade, a single flap propelling me. "Wilder, stay back!" I ordered as my hands found the man who'd been about to stab my boyfriend. I felt his skin break when my thumb pierced his arm, yet my eyes were already jumping around the room.

"Eyes!" Wilder warned a split second before the lights magically came on.

Then the doors iced over. This time, it smelled right. That was the clean scent I expected in here, which meant Wilder was locking these fools in with me. The man I was holding tried to pull away, and I was completely fucking naked, but right now, none of that mattered.

I just wanted to make them pay.

My mother had worked hard to teach me to think . She'd struggled to make me fit into the sidhe society, but it was merely a mask. I may have been raised to be a person, but deep down, I really was the monster they accused me of.

"You thought you could come after him ?" I asked, slinging the attacker towards the bed without letting go.

I wanted to rip his arm off. I longed for the bloodshed, but I needed to keep my hold attached to the threat.

The knowledge wasn't even truly conscious.

I just felt that I couldn't pull him apart, but the urge was growing as the fool snapped out at the end of my arm, but then I pulled him back, preventing him from doing more than whimpering as he was whipped around.

Then, and only then, did I pull at his magic.

I drained that fucker as hard as I could. I wanted more than his magic. I wanted his life as well. Maybe the sidhe relied on planned use of their magic, but we wildlings were made from it. We were designed to survive in a world of impossible things, so we had to be even more impossible.

Behind me, my rust-colored wings were spread wide as a shield. One of the intruders stared at them in something like horror. The other was trying to break the ice on the bathroom door so he could get out. Panic was taking over. They knew they'd picked the wrong target this time.

Three of them; two of us.

Yeah, they were fucked, and the guy I was draining was weakening fast. I could feel his body weakening, and my eyes had narrowed, making every movement in the room stand out even more.

I could see their chests rising as these idiots panted in fear.

It excited me in a way I couldn't explain.

Not sexually. No, this was more primal: I wanted to hunt them.

Then Wilder said, "Don't kill them, babe!"

I immediately dropped the carcass I was holding, letting him slide off my talon. "What? Why not?!"

"I can't interrogate them if they're dead," he hissed.

Yet in the few seconds I'd turned to talk to my lover, the other two men had become brave. The first, the guy shocked by my wings, rushed in. I heard him, so I spun, using one of those wings to fling him across the room like a battering ram.

Our dorms weren't small, but they weren't big enough to get a good throw either. The guy bounced off the wall, hit the ground, and then began scrambling up to his feet, dazed. The other? Guy number two came at me, conjuring an ice blade while he moved.

His first swing made it clear he knew how to use it. I felt the cold slice across my shoulder and was shocked enough to miss grabbing him. The asshole jumped back, barely dodging my hand, but he was watching my thumbs as if aware those were the weapons he should be scared of.

"Wilder, secure the fucker I drained," I snapped as I rushed the fighter with the ice blade.

"This is proof the Winter Court has been corrupted!" the fool screamed. "Monsters! You have no place here."

"Hawke, your back!" Wilder warned.

I turned to grab the guy I'd flung with my wing, but the other tried to rush in, using my distraction to his advantage. I jerked back, getting neither.

Fuck, they'd cornered me. These two were placed just right so I couldn't fight them both! I needed to back up and turn, forcing them both to be in front of me, but this room wasn't big enough.

So I feinted, loving the way they both flinched when I took a step closer. My eyes were jumping between them, hoping for someone to give me an opening. Behind me, I could hear Wilder moving, likely making sure the asshole on the floor couldn't join in. Sadly, we were at a stalemate.

Then something dark rose from the floor. Two circles appeared at the top even before the pool of darkness formed into a solid silhouette. Then the crack of a terrifying smile began to spread.

"Shadow!" Wilder gasped, clearly seeing it too. "Don't kill them? We need to find out what they know."

Shadow just pointed at the door.

Fuck if I knew what that meant, but the ice blade guy was rushing me again. I had no clue if Shadow could hold off the other one, but I couldn't risk them getting near Wilder. If they wanted him, they'd have to come through me.

I snatched at the man before me, needing to get my talons into his skin. Flashes of pale light on the walls proved Wilder was engaged, likely helping Shadow with the other. Something crashed in the vicinity of the table at the back of the room, and I'd had enough of this. Fuck trying to spare them.

"He," I snarled, narrowing my eyes on my prey. "Is." I waited for him to look at me. I just needed to see his eyes. Just one glance would do it. "Mine!"

He looked up. Fae-blue eyes hit mine, and I knew I had him. My mind took control of his, halting his movement. The attacker's body jerked as if fighting him, and I grabbed him by the throat before slinging him to the ground.

He bounced, then tried to get up.

I couldn't kill him. I wanted to, but I couldn't - and I repeated that over and over in my mind as I grabbed him and pushed again. This time, I heard his head crack and the fool's eyes rolled up in his head. He wouldn't be attacking me from behind now.

So I spun to the other, impressed to see him backed into a corner by Shadow and Wilder's conjurations. The walls had grabbed onto his arms and legs. Darkness was wrapped around his neck. Something shimmered between us, a hint of iridescence proving it wasn't my imagination.

"This is why you do not play with monsters," I told the captive as I moved closer.

Oh, I could rip him apart so easily now.

No. Wilder didn't want me to. But I could.

The sound of his joints popping as I pulled them apart would be wonderful.

Seeing him whimper as I made him regret ever coming for my lover?

No. That wouldn't make it easy to interrogate him.

The desires pulled at me as I closed the distance, imagining all the ways I could make this faeling hurt.

But Shadow thrust a hand out, holding me off - and something banged on the door.

"Shadow…" I growled, because I wanted that man.

"Open the fucking door!" Torian yelled from the other side.

"Or I'll break it down!" Bracken added, proving he was there as well.