Page 19 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

That’s probably why Eldrin made a fire,Tavish answered, tugging on my hand to take me back to the castle.To lure you away, knowing how you like to help.

I tensed, hating how well Eldrin knew me… almost better than I knew myself.

“Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Tavish said and released me as he drew his sword.

The woman flew next to me while the man remained behind with Tavish, watching our backs.

With a few flaps of her wings, she came super close to me… so much that our arms brushed. She lifted her right arm up like she was readying her sword. Then the weapon vanished and morphed into a needle, which she stabbed into the back of my neck.

Tavish,I connected as fear squeezed my heart. I tried to turn and only managed a half spin. Just enough that I noticed Tavish’s eyes widen as I lost the ability to move my wings.

The man flying beside him struck with his right arm. The sword he held shortened into a dagger and lodged into Tavish’s neck.

Arms caught me as I began to drop, but that didn’t matter.

All I could focus on was the pain that spiked from Tavish as the edges of my vision darkened.

6

TAVISH

The heat of the flames burned through the frost magic I blanketed our kingdom with. After the Seelie had killed my parents and taken our lands, we hadn’t had the strength to create a veil, so I’d done the only thing I could to make them and the dragons never want to visit—I’d made the land dark and cold, the two things they hated most.

My gaze remained on Lira. Her safety meant the most to me. I wanted to ensure she never experienced another ounce of torment or agony. I feared what the future held when her parents and the dragons learned of her return, but I purposely pushed that from my mind. I wanted to focus on the present and remediating the situation here before we had to address anything else.

Lira’s sea-green wings were bright and warm, marking her as different from us, but through the thick snowfall I’d created to control the fire, she looked like the sun, calling me home.

When Ailsa’s head snapped toward Lira, cold terror choked me. I followed the guard’s gaze, searching for the threat. Fear that wasn’t my own slammed into my chest, turning the warmspot of my and Lira’s bond almost the same temperature as my frozen magic.

My attention landed back on Lira to see that the sword Ailsa had been holding had vanished. She dropped something sharp that dripped with golden blood.

No.

Had Eldrin turned one of my father’s most loyal guards against me?

Lira turned her head toward me, but not all the way. However, I noted the panic in her eyes.

I reached for my sword at the same time that Keir’s hand rose with his own, both of us ready to attack and save Lira.

As I began to move forward, Keir’s sword jabbed at me. The end of the sword would hit my armor, and I turned to slice at him instead. Then the sword changed like Ailsa’s had, and a dagger stabbed me deep in the throat.

Lira’s wings slowed as pain took over my body, and I watched helplessly as Ailsa wrapped her arms around my mate.

There was no doubt, given the angle of the dagger, that I’d be dead in seconds.

I tried to force my wings to move, but I was already dizzy. My body dropped toward the snow-covered ground at the base of the castle.

As I landed on my back, staring up to watch Lira being carried off toward the sea, Keir grinned and spat. His spittle landed on my chest, adding more insult to injury, but they’d already done everything they could to break me.

My people’s shrieks filled the air, and wings flapped toward me.

“You’re no king.” Keir wrinkled his nose before flying away.

I’d believed the day I lost my parents was the bleakest of my entire existence. Not anymore. It was today.

Eldrin had convinced two of my most trusted guards to turn on me and take Lira. Worse, I couldn’t save her. She’d trusted me to protect her, and here I was… dying.

I’d failed her once again.

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