Page 40 of The Secret Keeper's Daughter

He skids to a stop, close enough I take in his rancid breath. It makes my stomach roil. His face drains of color.

They both shriek, a doubly piercing wail that feels like knives on my skin and eardrums.

Instinctively, I aim my palm toward him and jut it out. The orange mist ball flies from my skin, right for the smelly fae.

His eyes widen with terror, and he holds up his hands. The force knocks him back. He stumbles, crashes into the cabin. Mutters and grumbles.

Another mist ball forms in my hand. I throw that at him too.

It hits him directly in the chest. He gasps. Flails about.

The short fae backs away even more.

I aim another orange mist ball at him. It flies directly into his face. He crumples to the ground, gasping and choking. I repeat the process on both of them until they’re both lying on their backs. They twitch for a moment before going still.

Did I kill them? Horror washes through me. I’ve never killed anything—not even a bug. I couldn’t have taken the lives of two fae. It’s not possible.

I glance at my right palm. It’s back to normal. There isn’t any glow, mist, or warmth.

This can’t be happening. I take a step closer to them. “Hello?”

Silence.

A black mist rises from the short one. It swirls around over the fae.

Then the same thing happens with the other guy.

I stumble back, trip over a branch, barely manage to remain standing. What’s going on? I’ve seen death before, but never anything like this. Gunnar often makes me watch when he slaughters animals for our meals. I just saw Mother die yesterday, and nothing like this happened.

This must be a fae thing. I’ve never seen one of them die before. The black swirls must be their magic leaving them. It’s the only explanation. Could I never see it because my own fae powers hadn’t been activated? Now I can see more?

I continue backing up, not daring to take my gaze from them. Why have I never heard about this before? Kids always whisper rumors about fae. I thought I’d heard everything, but nobody ever mentioned their magic leaving them upon dying. This seems like something people would talk about. It’s horrifying… yet fascinating.

Is it something only other fae can see? Since I’m a halfling, I must have the ability no human does. Still, how could this be kept secret so well? Surely a fae somewhere would spill it to a human.

I’m still trying to make sense of the black swirling mists when something terrifying happens.

They point toward me. How a mist can point is beyond me, but it’s happening. Like it wants me.

Ridiculous as it is, I close my eyes. Put my hands out in front of me.

Swoosh, swoosh.

That can’t be good.

I crack open one eye.

Both mists are rushing my way.

My feet move before I realize what’s going on. I nearly slam into a tree. The swooshing sounds behind me while a wind picks up. I run faster, glance back.

The swirls are chasing me. Are the two fae still trying to kill me, even in death? If they’re actually dead. Maybe they have some weird kind of magic that separates from their bodies.

I know so little about fae. Hopefully it doesn’t get me killed.

Something slams against my back. I fly forward. Crash into a tree. Scrape my eye down to my chin. Gasp in air. Turn around.

Both mists twirl and swirl, aiming right for me.

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