Page 12

“My quarrel isn’t with you, though I’ve been given instructions to bring the whole lot of you in. Dead or alive.” Kane raised the broadsword in his hand and pointed it at me, his murky brown eyes narrowing. “You. Now you , I will bring in dead.”

I swallowed hard. “I understand your pain, but I had no choice. It was me or him, and I wasn’t about to lie down and let Fletcher kill me,” I replied, voice gruff.

“I don’t give a shit. A life for a life. You killed my brother, so now I will kill you. I’ll give you the mercy of making it quick.” His voice was full of rage as he moved forwards again.

Puck stepped in front of me, sliding his Katana free of its sheath and holding it in the space between us. His expression was a warning. “You won’t take her.”

“We’ll have to see about that, won’t we?” Kane asked, his smile menacing as his eyes fell on me. “Nikolai wants to see you again. Begged Donika to let him be the one to capture you. Best I can do is bring him your limp, lifeless body.”

The mention of Nikolai had my blood singing in my veins and my magic moved forwards forcefully, pressing under my skin so urgently I almost wanted to let it loose.

It was too unpredictable, and I could hurt one of us as easily as I could hurt Kane or his men.

I pressed my eyes closed as I pushed the magic down, my hand gliding to the back of my belt, and the throwing blade tucked beneath my leather jacket .

My fingers found the hilt of the throwing dagger and as I slid the dagger free, my eyes snapped open, my throwing arm surging forward.

The knife struck home barely shy of its target, sinking into the flesh below Kane’s left shoulder and lodging into the thick muscle. He tore it free and threw it to the cobblestone, where it skittered away from him into the shadows.

His mouth opened in a snarl that was half human, half wolf, his fangs protruding from his mouth and splitting his lips in a menacing grin.

Blood trickled down his chin and the wound in his shoulder, soaking through his shirt as he surged forwards, his blade meeting Puck’s as he moved to stand before me. To guard me.

Everything felt as if it happened all at once, my blade meeting that of one of Kane’s men as I narrowly ducked under his blow.

The force with which his blade hit mine had me faltering, almost slipping to my knees.

I pushed back with all my strength, the man taking a few steps back, an expression of surprise crossing his features.

I darted forward swiftly, using speed to my advantage. But Kane’s soldier fell away before my blade could hit home, barely catching the material at his shoulder. The training gear split open, revealing the thin slice I had made against his skin with my blade beneath.

I turned with the blade in my hand as he raised his own between us, but this time I was ready for the jarring force with which our blades met.

My other hand slid to the back of my shirt to grab the other throwing knife stashed there.

As my hand closed around the hilt of the small knife-edge, I eased the force with which I was pushing Stormslayer, allowing the soldier to fall forwards towards me.

I easily slid the throwing knife into his chest and he fell to his knees, slumping over. I bent to retrieve the sword he carried and pulled it from his limp grasp. As I stood to full height, I sensed someone behind me. I ducked barely in time to see a blade go sailing over my head.

Once second later and that blade would have separated my head from my shoulders.

I turned quickly on my heel, the sword I had taken from the fallen soldier cutting across the man’s knees. He fell back with a cry as I stood, sliding my other hand with Stormslayer tight in my grip across his throat. I pushed him to the cobbles with my boot and wiped the blade against my jacket.

That was two men down.

I turned to see Puck still fighting Kane, their skills evenly matched.

Kenna and Saanvi had each taken down one soldier as they battled another together, and Tess fought at Puck’s back, protecting him.

I watched as Kenna sunk her blade deep into the belly of the soldier she and Saanvi fought, pressing against his shoulder with a bloody hand to dislodge him from her blade.

I turned towards Tess to help her dispatch the last soldier, leaving only Kane still standing.

He fell to his knees before Puck, bowing his head in defeat.

“Please, please allow me to live.” His voice was hoarse as his eyes were cast down to the puddle of blood that pooled around his knees. His shoulder wound from my throwing knife was bleeding in earnest now .

“Afraid I can’t let you run back to Donika and reveal you saw us here, mate. You understand.” Puck’s voice was sharp, despite the sarcasm in his words.

“I meant what I said,” Kane said, his eyes meeting mine. “Nikolai wants to see you. He’s been asking about you.”

“How dare you speak his name,” I seethed, stepping forward and pressing Stormslayer to his throat hard enough for blood to trickle down and darken the collar of his shirt.

“He leads the Noctani now. He is more powerful than he has ever been before, and he is searching for you,” Kane replied, his gaze raised to mine. He shrunk back at whatever he found there.

My lips were bared over my teeth and I felt more animal than human as his words found my ears.

Nik had been taken from me, and Kane wanted to use him as a bargaining chip to save his own life.

Was there truth to the words that he spoke?

Was Nikolai leading the Noctani and searching for me?

Whatever we did from here, we couldn’t let him find me.

Nikolai wasn’t mine anymore. He was Noctani . He could steal my magic with his fangs and leave me completely mortal.

The sound of Nik’s name in my ears ripped something open within me that I had thought I had sealed shut. Rage simmered, barely contained right beneath the surface.

How dare he speak Nik’s name as if he knew him?

Without another thought, I sliced the blade across Kane’s throat in one fluid motion as my emotions threatened to flood me. The wall I had carefully built between me and my emotions was failing. Tears of anger welled in the back of my eyes, but I blinked them back.

I would not cry again.

What I hadn’t seen in the blindness of my rage, what I had failed to notice, was that Kane had lifted his hand in his last moments. Had that been a blade that had caught the light?

I turned from his limp body against the blood-soaked cobbles, my boots soaking through with his blood as it pooled around me.

Saanvi was behind me, on her knees against the cold, wet street. Her hand was splayed against her stomach as her mouth opened in a gasp.

One of my throwing knives was buried in her chest.