Page 106 of Calling of the Crown

My inner conflict provided the momentary distraction for a Land Fae. He rushed past Dallas, who struggled with a Water Fae turned rebel, and barreled right up to me. He swung his fist at my face, which I narrowly managed to avoid. I didn’t avoid his other fist slamming into my chest, however.

I grunted as the force sent me rolling back into Jesiah’s legs, and he landed hard on top of me. Before we could get up, the same Fae stomped his foot on the ground. A crack in the earth ripped beneath his sole, and it quickly stretched across the ground toward Jesiah and me. With a quick jerk of his arms, the dirt beneath us ripped open and pulled apart, opening to swallow any Fae on it.

I screamed as I plummeted into the fissure.

Chapter Forty-Six

RUNE SCREAMED MY NAME AS I tumbled through the air with Jesiah falling near me. Rune leaned over the edge of the crack with wild eyes, trying to find me. The Fae who’d sent us tumbling came up behind Rune and went to push him in, too, but Rune spun and shoved his clawed fist into the man’s chest, his hand coming out the other side, holding his heart. That was the last thing I saw before the surface got too far away.

Three other Fae clawed futilely at the air as they gasped and cried out at the disappearing surface—two Feline Fae in gold-and-green armor and a Water Fae in silver-and-blue. My eyes locked with one of the Land Fae, and I saw the unmistakable terror clouding her wet eyes. She didn’t want to die.

And I wasn’t going to let us.

I dug inside me and called out to the water high above. I watched as water spilled over the edge of the hole in the earth. It raced toward us, and with a sweep of my hands, the water arched under all of us like a net. The water caught us, ceasing our fall, and everyone looked around with wild eyes as they tried to grasp that we’d stopped falling.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked, scanning my gaze over Jesiah as he shook off the confusion, before passing the look to the other three Fae.

The Feline Fae narrowed their eyes at me and glanced at the water they knelt on.

“Why did you catch us, too?” the girl with the tears in her eyes asked.

“Because as much as you and others may want to believe it, I’m not your enemy. I wasn’t going to let you all die,” I answered firmly. “Are you both okay?”

They slowly nodded.

I glanced over the edge of the water platform to peer down into the abyss below. “Did I miss anyone?”

“No,” Jesiah said while catching his breath. “It was just the five of us who fell.”

Nodding, I looked between the group. “I’m taking us back up. Is everyone ready?”

“Yes, my Queen,” the Water Fae soldier answered.

The two Felines shared an indecipherable look, then met my eyes. They nodded.

Steeling myself for the battle I was about to throw us all back into, I thrust my arms into the air, hoisting us up and out of the hole. Rune was the first to race to my side when he saw us reappear.

He gripped my arm, smashing his foot into someone who tried to rush us at the same time. Locking his eyes on mine, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Don’t worry about me. Focus.”

He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips before turning to fight two snarling Land Fae. At the same time, three Fae dressed in gold closed in around me. Before I even had a chance to defend myself, a flash of gold whizzed past my head. The Feline Fae I’d saved pounced on the advancing Fae, slicing a knife through the neck of one and gutting the other two—armor and all—with their very own claws.

My eyes widened as the two women looked from the carcasses of their fallen comrades to me.

“Thank you for saving us,” one said.

“Those guys were all assholes,” the other stated, gesturing to the men she’d just killed.

The one with the dagger held it up for me to see where it dripped red and black. “High-ranked personnel have weapons soaked in Nightbloom. They’ll have a crest on their armor that others don’t. Warn all those you can.”

I slowly nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

The two Fae turned and took off, and I watched for a moment as they now fought those in gold instead of silver.

There was no time to speculate as to what made them have a change of heart. The fight was in full swing—wails of pain, booms as the earth was called upon to do Land Fae bidding, splashes of water as it was wielded as a weapon. I spotted my mom up ahead, hurling geysers of water at every Fae in gold who came near her. I ducked and avoided attacks aimed my way as I raced toward her.

“Mom!” When I reached her side, I sent my own deluge at a Fae who approached in her blind spot. “Watch their weapons. Some of them have Nightbloom.”

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