Page 67 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
He slammed into me, lifting me like I weighed nothing. My stomach flipped as he threw me over his shoulder. My fists pounded his back uselessly, and a high-pitched ringing buzzed in my ears.
Then—zap.
The tattoo that sat on the back of my shoulder sparked, racing heat down my arm to my hand.
The knife. I still held on to the knife.
Thank you, Eiran.
I drove the blade into the man’s side. He roared andslammed me against the wall. Pain exploded across my back. A portrait of Elias and me fell and crashed over us.
I gasped, dazed, but Eiran’s magic surged again, sending another pulse to my hand. The man knocked the frame aside, fury radiating from him.
I yanked the knife free and stabbed him again, this time harder. He screamed, and we fell to the floor.
Pain flared through my ribs when I hit the floor. The man tried to crawl away, blood trailing behind him.
No. He could still get to Kieren.
Wincing, I pulled the blade out again and drove it into the back of his neck. Bone crunched beneath the steel.
He stopped moving. Frozen beneath his dead weight, my breath stuttered. My limbs trembled.
Oh God.
I killed him.
A sob caught in my throat, but I bit it down. There wasn’t time.
I shoved at his body until I squirmed free, just as Kieren’s door creaked open.
“No, Kieren, back.” My voice cracked.
I couldn’t form full thoughts though, couldn’t string a sentence together. I grabbed the knife again, slick with blood.
The front door fell. The man from earlier, the one who’d met me with a gun and hatred in his eyes, stepped through. Now, his expression was feral.
“Go back to your room,”I begged Kieren, stepping in front of him with the bloodied knife raised.
Kieren didn’t move. His eyes narrowed. Then he ran at the intruder.
“No!” I lunged in front of him, heart leaping to my throat. “Stay behind me.”
The man grinned, this wicked and cruel thing, and raised his gun.
I shifted, positioning myself as a shield between the barrel and Kieren.
“He could have iron bullets,”I said.“Kieren, go.”
“I’m not leaving you.”He growled, breath ragged.
“Kieren, please.”
We circled the man as he stalked forward. I tried to recall every knife lesson Everly had drilled into me. I squared my shoulders and planted my feet.
What was a knife against a gun?
My magic. I had magic, dammit.
