Page 52 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
Sadie crouched, knuckles cracking as she knocked her bracers together. With a hiss from metal splitting air, twin axes appeared, gleaming wickedly. The grin that spread across her face was borderline feral. “They wanna snarl like rabid beasts?” she muttered. “I’ll show them beast mode.”
Damon groaned, casting a glance over his shoulder. “That’s not what they said. Right, Meera? No one actually said anything about beast mode?—”
The words died in his throat.
Two of the fuzzballs darted straight for me, candy-colored blurs, knocking him down unexpectedly. I staggered back, heel catching on a vine half-buried in the ground. My arms pinwheeled for balance, but ultimately I failed at stopping my fall. I hit the dirt with a grunt, the air getting knocked from my lungs on impact. A yellow bear flew up, aiming for Vareck’s chest as he swung out. Another one came out of nowhere and landed on his back while he cursed.
A pink murder bear lunged toward me with glee, its tiny mouth stretching into a nightmare smile as it latched onto myankle. Its paw—once soft and chubby—now sported inch-long talons that dug into my skin.
I shouted, pain flaring up my leg, and kicked out wildly. My boot connected with its head in a hard thunk, and it loosened its hold on me while letting out a growl. “Nah uh, nope. Not today, Satan.” I fumbled in my attempt to crab walk backward, but Sadie was there. My sister was little more than a flash of red hair and steel as she lunged for the creature.
“You wanna bite, little fucker?” she sang while sweet-talking them. “Let’s see who’s got bigger teeth.” She swung an axe and its blade rang as it split the air, slicing through the bramble fur and meat of our attacker. Bright pink blood sprayed across my boots as the thing shrieked a high-pitched wail that rattled my bones.
It wasn’t a death cry. It didn’t sound angry or defeated.
It sounded like it was calling something.
Sadie and I looked at each other instantly. “That wasn’t good, was it?”
I pointed toward the sea of pastel. “Decidedly not.”
More shapes loomed behind them. Dozens of the creatures converging like a tide.
We didn’t have time to ponder what else that sound might summon. It was time to move.
A burst of dark wind blew my hair back and sent dust spiraling into the air. Black, bat-like wings exploded from Vareck’s back with a crack. He stepped in front of me, his icy gaze burning bright, voice slicing through the chaos. “Run! I'll hold them off!”
I blinked, still sprawled, adrenaline roaring in my ears. Fear curled like smoke in my throat, but so did something else. Rage.
“You can’t hold them all off by yourself!” I shouted, pushing myself to my feet. “You’re still injured!”
His jaw clenched. Muscles bunched across his shoulders, as Vareck regarded the approaching horde in front of us. “Watch me.”
“No.” I stepped forward, glaring up at him, daring. “If you stay, I stay—and you CANNOT compel me.”
I pushed the words with a pulse of my own persuasion magic, letting it crackle in the air between us. A warning. A line.
He stared at me like I’d slapped him. Like the world had tilted sideways.
“Stop being difficult,” he ground out, voice taut, low and furious. “You know what can happen?—”
“I do,” I snapped. “And it’s my choice, right? You took it from me once, and you said you wouldn’t again.” I jabbed a finger toward his chest. “Or was that just lip service?”
“Of course not?—”
“Then you need to trust that I know how to take care of myself. That I can be more than a liability here!”
“I never called you?—”
“You didn’t have to,” I said. “Your actions spoke for you.”
Before he could answer, Sadie cut in with a growl. “Like hell I’m walking away from a fight. This isliterallywhat I live for.”
“You three idiots are going to get us all killed while arguing over who gets to fight the army of murderous teddy bears!” Damon shouted. Then, before anyone could argue, he grabbed Sadie by the waist and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Put me down, you limp-dick bastard!” she shrieked, punching his back with both fists. “I swear to every twisted god?—”
“I think the words you meant to say were ‘thank you, Prince Damon, for saving my bloodthirsty arse,’” he replied with maddening calm as he took off toward the tree line.
