As his eyelids fluttered shut, I gaped, dumbstruck.
What the—?
Caspar snickered and I jerked around. He pointed at Akeno who held a thin tube. When the twins patted him on the back, he shrugged, grinning sheepishly. “They still work in a pinch.”
It took me a moment before realizing what he’d done. “Did you just take down a dragon with a peashooter?”
Akeno opened his mouth to reply but a shout echoed from farther down the dark tunnel. Pounding feet. “We’ve got company,” he said, readying another sleep dart.
I spared a second to check on Reagan— supported by Nevaeh but still on her feet—before I slipped a knife free of my belt and whirled to face the new threat. But the need to figure out what was wrong with her, to heal her, barreled through me again. I ground my teeth together in frustration. Scrapes and clicks sounded behind me as the others readied their weapons.
A shoulder brushed against mine. Sebastian. “We fight our way through. No turning back.”
I nodded, a smile creeping across my face. “I’m down with that.”
Our mission to the Fae realm, to find allies who would help free our kind from shifter oppression, from Mordecai, was too important. Every Fae fugitive of Nathra City and then some were counting on us. Benji was counting on us—on me—to find him. For years, my only mission had been revenge against the shifters who’d ripped my happiness away, but I had a greater purpose now. One that required me to be smarter.
Controlling my mouth and short temper wouldn’t be easy though. I was sure a time would come when I’d need to practice restraint, but hopefully now wasn’t that moment.
Sebastian didn’t have time to respond as half a dozen guards came into view, each looking to an unconscious Alec before fixing their sights on us.
“What happened here?” A burly guy with a hoop ring through his nose took charge, scanning our faces with his flashlight. “This passage is off-limits to Pit clientele.”
What the—? Why weren’t they going shifter berserker on our butts right now?
Sebastian cleared his throat, glancing pointedly at my hair. My hair . . . Oh. Oh. The hats. They couldn’t see the flaming red color or our pointed ears. I concealed my knife once again. Maybe we could—
“Hey,” another guard piped up, jabbing a finger at the gun Sebastian held. “What’s with the weapons? Rick, I think Mordecai needs to hear about this. Call it in.”
Crap!
Playing smart was overrated. Now was the time to act.
I reached for the crystal in my pocket, but the burly guy—Rick—already had a phone to his ear. Time for a distraction. Fire streaked across my back as I whipped my wings out, tearing my linen shirt in two. The mouths of all three guards formed a large O.
When I removed the hat and revealed my hair, Rick sputtered, “Y-you.” Either he recognized me from The Pit’s cage fights or from the dozens of wanted posters plastered throughout the city.
With a feral grin, I stepped forward, drawling, “It appears that my infamous reputation has preceded me.” Sebastian cursed as my right wing forced him to duck, but I ignored him. If the guards rapid-shifted, his gun might not be enough. Better that they stand back while I showed these mangy beasts what a fully juiced-up Fae was capable of. The crystal’s power was a live wire beneath my skin, building and densifying my muscles within seconds. Three pairs of eyes lowered to my bare torso as a six pack popped into existence.
I was on them before their shock could wear off, grabbing for Rick’s hand. With an audible snap, I twisted it and forced him to drop his phone. His scream rang through my ears but I was deaf to his pain. Old habits, old addictions sang through my blood, the familiar insatiable desire to sink my fist into shifter flesh. I gave into it, revelling in the feel of bone giving way and sweet agony zipping up my arm.
Their returning blows were nothing but annoying gnats and I batted them aside, drunk on the knowledge that I would win this match. Three-on-one. A month ago, they would have pulverized me, but I was more now. My days of being lesser were obsolete now that I had the crystal.
When it was over, when all three shifters were at my feet, I trembled uncontrollably. Trembled with power. With rage. Never-ending rage for what the shifters had done to the Fae Safehouse. For killing Elias, the older brother of my dead girlfriend—who was also destroyed at the hands of shifters. For Flynn, a loyal member of the rebellion who was now missing. And Benji . . .
The boy who had hounded me for three years. The boy who had unknowingly given me a semblance of reason to live after my world had gone to hell. Blood dripped from my knuckles, blood I had willingly spilled for him. For the lost Fae of Nathra City. Benji was only missing, not dead, I assured myself, but we couldn't find and return him home safely to his ailing mother without help. We were too few in number and morale was at an all-time low.
This was the only way to save them, to avenge them—by venturing into the unknown to a land all but a fairy tale. We needed allies. We needed more Genesis Crystal. Hopefully we’d find both in Daranil, the Fae realm.
When I turned from the fresh wave of destruction I’d reaped, it was to find several faces gaping at me.
“What?” I shrugged, a tad uncomfortable with the ogling expressions. “They’re not dead. We just need to tie them up so they can’t follow us.”
Sebastian shook his head, clearly exasperated. “No time,” he said, and strode toward the unconscious men. Bending, he picked up Rick’s phone and showed me the lit-up screen with Mordecai’s name on top. The call had gone through. I hadn’t been quick enough. I cursed, jerking a hand through my hair as Sebastian tossed the phone down and crushed the screen with the butt of his gun. “We need to get out of this passage before more guards are alerted to our presence. Which way, Reagan?”
As she pointed, saying, “The map showed a tunnel off to the right,” I retracted my wings and gathered our backpacks, not bothering with a shirt. Guilt sliced through me when I noticed how pale she looked. By single-handedly taking on the three men, I’d used up most of the crystal’s energy. If I didn’t have enough magic left to heal her, then her continued suffering would rest squarely on my shoulders.
Sebastian didn’t waste any time, quickly collecting the guard’s flashlights and plunging down the dark passage. When the twins followed with the remaining source of light, we had no choice but to move. Reagan noticeably winced as I wrapped my arm around her, taking Nevaeh’s place by her side. The purple-haired shifter only let go when she was confident I had her friend fully supported. Satisfied, she then joined Akeno ahead of us.
Reagan leaned heavily against me, and the guilt grew tenfold, constricting my chest.
“Reagan—”
“I’ll be fine,” she whispered, throwing me a tight-lipped smile.
Maybe she would, but I needed her to be fine now. Where my finger brushed her bare arm, I concentrated on pushing my healing magic into her. Sebastian had set a grueling pace, though. If I concentrated too hard, I’d trip and land flat on my face, taking Reagan with me. Several minutes later, her trembling fingers were digging into my waist as she fought against the pain. I couldn’t take it any longer.
“Screw this,” I muttered and scooped her up. She immediately started to protest as I knew she would. “I know. You’re fierce. But you’re slowing us down, stalker.” It took me all of one second to realize my teasing wasn’t appreciated right now. If she could shift, the fingers gripping the nape of my neck would no doubt be sporting claws. I fixed my eyes on hers, lowering my voice as I said, “Please, Reagan. I have to do something to ease the pain.”