Page 7 of A Kiss of Embers
She jumped backward as she reached into the pouch on her belt and fisted a pinch of black powder in her palm. With a gust of breath, she blew the powder into the woman’s face.
The Forest Fae breathed in sharply before blinking sluggishly as her body swayed back and forth. Within moments, her body tipped precariously to one side, and she wasn’t able to catch herself as she slipped off the branch and fell the hefty distance from the tree branch to the ground.
Thud!
The woman lay still, unmoving below.
“Over here!” a male voice shouted, and she cursed under her breath as she spotted the blur of three other Forest Fae wearing masks rushing in her direction. She had hoped to avoid the patrol, at least until she spotted one of their tree dwellings.
No matter. She came prepared for such a fight.
The blurs of their movements quickened until she lost sight of two of them within the dense foliage. She sheathed her knives and reached for her blow-dart gun from her sash. Knowing the Forest Fae expected her to use her poison darts, she pretended to fumble with tugging it free and even allowed herself to take a hit.
One of the fae smashed a fist into her stomach, and she doubled over with a grunt. He moved close enough to stab her with a dagger. He swiped at her, but she flattened herself to avoid getting nicked by the blade. She pulled a dart from the quiver, and thrust it into his thigh.
A curse escaped the man’s mouth as he, too, swayed from the poison’s influence. Unlike the woman before him, he had the good sense to jump while his legs still worked, latching onto the tree with his arms, and slid the entire distance to the ground before he keeled over, breaking his mask upon impact with a boulder.
Two more.
Too late, Seraphina heard the rustle of leaves above her moments before a fae jumped on top of her and kicked her forcefully with both feet. She cried out at the impact between her shoulder blades. The momentum kicked her off the branch she stood on. Her dart gun flew out of her hands and landed somewhere in the bushes below.
Wind whipped at her hair as she fell, a surge of panic engulfing her with her scapula momentarily stunned. However, she managed to flip over in the air. Her wings spread out on either side of her, slowing her descent a good amount, but not entirely. She hit the ground on her hands and knees, the shock traveling through her wrists and up her arms to her shoulders.
She didn’t have time to reflect on the pain because the two Forest Fae jumped down after her. She rolled out of the way of another woman attacking with her spear and dodged when the man team-attacked her with a bone blade. The tip of the blade scratched through her armored shoulder, and she hissed as blood ran down her arm.
“Surrender or die!” the fae man with the snake skull mask cried as he jabbed forward with his blade once again, but she thwarted the attack with one of her daggers.
Seraphina smirked. “You are not capable of killing me.”
She spun blindingly fast as she kicked the woman in the stomach, causing her to stumble backward. The man lunged with his blade, nearly piercing her wing, but she managed to avoid the hit when she completed her spin, grabbed him by the arm through his momentum, and pulled him toward her.
And then she kissed him.
The fae man grunted in surprise and tried to pull away, but she jumped on him and latched her legs around his waist, causing him to stumble backward with her weight. The embers in her core stirred as she called upon her magic. Her entire body heated as if she were on fire, burning hotter, hotter, hotter.
And then she breathed flames through his mouth and into his lungs.
He screamed as he ripped away from her. She jumped off him, darting in the opposite direction just as the remaining female fae threw her spear. A second scratch cut swiftly across her leg and embedded itself in the trunk of a tree in front of her.
With a swift tug, Seraphina pulled it out, spun around just as the woman charged at her with her knives drawn, and thrust the end of the spear into her belly.
A look of shock crossed the woman’s face before her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground in a heap.
Finally! The way was clear to—
Shouts in the distance caused her to clench her jaw until her mouth ached. She rushed in the direction where her blow-dart gun had fallen, and after sifting through rows of stiff, sharp foliage, she located it within the center of a bush. Thorns scratched her hands as she pulled it free of the barbs. But the shouts and voices drew closer, becoming louder by the second.
She swore under her breath and darted the way she’d come, only to hide behind a tree with large vines climbing the thick trunk. Her heart thundered against her ribcage as she spotted six more patrol guards darting in her direction through the boughs overhead.
She folded her green wings over herself, camouflaging her body with her surroundings and attempting to control her labored, panting breaths. Taking on four patrol guards had been difficult enough. Facing another six would exhaust her resources and put her in danger of losing her sister altogether.
Therefore, she needed to find another way into Attleglade.
And fast.
“Ash!” Bastien gasped. His eyes widened as he spotted the limp figure lying on the ground below, her saber-toothed cat mask lying haphazardly beside her while her limbs were tangled beneath her.
He leaped the distance from the tree to the ground, stomach clenching and wind whipping at his clothing until he transferred his weight from his heels to his toes and rolled into the fall to keep from injuring himself. He unfurled onto his feet and dropped to his knees beside Ashryn.
