Page 85 of The King of Frost and Shadows

Bran clucked his tongue. “Interestingly, the princess stays in the royal chambers and one of the king’s most trusted is advocating for her against his own kind. I’m sure the Unseelie will be interested to learn that. Right, Lorne?”

“Youare a traitor. You aren’tmykind.” Finnian’s nose wrinkled. “So when you tell this story, please make sure you include that ‘by your own kind,’ you mean the prisoners who rose against King Tavish by harming the young and ruining limited resources.”

The smug expression fell from his face.

“This isn’t your decision.” Struan grabbed a long sword from behind him. “If you have a problem, take it up with Eldrin.”

I suspected that Finnian would do just that, so I took his hand and forced a grin. “I’ll be fine.” The way he’d stood up for me had made my annoyance with him vanish. Damn Unseelie.

“Let’s begin.” Struan opened the door and held out the sword and armor to Dougal. “Torcall, leash Nightbane so the beast doesn’t follow her inside.”

One by one, they handed each of us a weapon, and when I came to him, I almost expected him to pass over me.

But he didn’t.

He handed me the same weapon as the others. Thesword was heavy and made of the dark material the guards wore, with matching armor that fit on my forearm.

Still, Struan chuckled. “I can’t wait to see you fall.”

When I stepped out, Finnian flew beside me.

“Be safe, Lira,” he murmured and flew off toward the stands.

I kept my gaze on him as he headed toward Caelan, Eldrin, and Tavish. When I met Tavish’s eyes, my heart skipped a beat, and I swore I saw a faint glow under his shirt that my pulse matched.

Strange.

He opened his mouth to say something, so I turned my head, not wanting to know. He didn’t get the last word, not like this.

Then I realized the arena was flat, with no obstacle courses that the eye could see. A thick wall of nightmare mist floated on one side. The hairs on my neck rose. Something didn’t feel right.

The six of us waited for Eldrin to fly upward and give his usual speech, but then the nightmare gas billowed toward us.

I spun around, trying to figure out how the sword and shield were supposed to protect me, and the gas transformed into the most terrifying creature I’d ever seen.

28

LIRA

Iraised my sword as the gas formed into some sort of snake. Then the massive snake split into three, each one twice my size.

Three blastingsnakes.

As an environmentalist, I enjoyed testing water and dirt in the hope of saving the environment and animals, but hanging out with snakes had never been high on my list of priorities.

My chest heaved, and I realized this was the surprise. “Snakes,” I rasped, alerting the others who still had their backs to them.

One darted toward me, shadowy tongue slithering out and hissing like I’d angered it by warning the other five.

Maybe that had been foolish, but I’d rather the six of us take them down together. I felt more comfortable going up against fae than shadow snakes.

The three snakes struck before the others had turned around all the way. The one closest to me came for me, and I swung my sword at its neck. Before my sword could hit,the snake dissipated, turning back into mist, and my blade cut through air.

Blighted abyss, how was this possible?

A strangled cry came from my left, and I turned. Another snake had latched onto Dougal’s arm while the second one struck at Lorne.

Bran, Rona, and Moira had flown above the snakes.

---