Page 7 of Defy the Fae

To our question, Puck emits a low sigh. “I hate doing this to her.”

Elixir and I pause. Puck would never procrastinate getting Juniper out of harm’s way. None of us would with our dearest ones.

His unease has nothing to do with indecision and everything to do with uprooting his woman after all she’s been through. He’s given Juniper a haven, only to make her abandon it again. Like us, Puck tore a foundling from the only home she’d ever known and tossed her into a deadly game. And now that she’s survived, her reward is more upheaval, more of the unknown.

Speaking of the unknown, the wild has become foreign to its past and present rulers. That’s yet another danger. And soon enough, the threats will inch nearer and eventually breach the boundaries we’ve kept secure. The walls we’ve erected will break down. Ultimately, no corner will be trustworthy or reliable.

Elixir hesitates. His mouth spasms with an unspoken thought, a truth that seems trapped in his mouth. Oftentimes, he’s acted like this with Puck. Not that our serpentine shifter of a brother has ever been comfortable with verbal communication.

He clears his throat. “There is another reason you must act soon.”

“Meaning?” Puck interrogates with a frown.

“You have an additional concern.”

“Meaning?”Puck stresses, impatient.

Nighttime cloaks the sky in blacks and blues. Stars pinch the canopy with pulsating light. Elixir’s irises are just as animated, the rings bright with indecision. He opens his mouth—

And the air changes course. The fluctuation raises the hairs on my nape and dashes the layers around my face.

It dawns on me that my father is nowhere in sight. Tímien must have stopped circling to check neighboring terrain. Either that, or something had distracted the owl, drawing him away.

Puck stiffens. Elixir’s eyes tick toward the draft, hearing its progress and feeling its shape. Indeed, my siblings’ sensory powers are fast. But when it comes to the sky, they’ll never be as fast as its former sovereign.

My head snaps toward the current, toward the signs of approach, the traces of a predator. Time slows and accelerates. I feel it, then hear it, then see it—a sooty outline leaping from the rowan tree.

I lunge forward. My wings blast from my shoulder blades and flap wide, blocking Puck and Elixir from a set of talons.

2

Feathers spread like raised hackles, the panels flanking a large form glazed in starlight. Our attacker springs forth, talons slicing through the air.

My left wing takes the brunt a second before the honed tips would have severed Puck’s head. Razor-sharp blades cleave across my plumes. Pain tracks from the barbs to my arms, and into my chest. I grunt but take the hit, my wing a shield between the enemy and my brothers.

Puck tumbles into a forward flip on his cloven hooves, snatches his longbow and quiver from under the tree, and pops upright with the weapon nocked.

From beneath his robe, Elixir whips out a pair of forked daggers. The prongs flash as fiercely as his pupils.

My brothers brandish their weapons but then spasm to a halt, momentary shock fastening their features in place. I don’t have the luxury of pausing. I whirl my javelin, spin the weapon, and clash with the assailant’s incoming blow.

Braced like this, with my weapon hinged against those talons, I take a second look and lose my grip. Yet rather than the sight, it’s the great caw that chills my bones.

I’d thought the wings had been attached to a set of arms. I’d assumed the talons were affixed to a pair of lethal hands. I’d mistaken the predator for a Fae with avian features.

Fuck. This is no Fae.

The creature’s piercing shriek tolls from the summit and slices across the vista. A pointed beak spears from its head, long talons protract from its feet, and its feral eyes target me. The figure spans the pinnacle—a majestic, obsidian vision.

It is a mountain dweller, a member of the fauna.

It’s a raven.

The bird’s form dwarfs mine, having shuddered to the size of a colossus. My dread renders me fair game. The raven sees as much and barrels headfirst into my torso.

I fly backward and hit the ground hard enough to leave a crater-deep imprint. The foundation quakes, sending ripples across the grass, thus yanking my brothers from their vertigo.

Puck aims and lets the arrow fly. The weapon rents the air and punctures the creature’s limb.

---