“No,” she countered, ducking out of the way once more, “you are.”
He swung again and she blocked his sword with her dagger, the clash and clang of blade against blade reverberating up her arm. He was a beast of a male. Burly and brutal, and he bore down upon her with the strength of a mountain. Maeve’s knees began to buckle. Sweat slid down her neck and back, and her hair clung to her face. Her arms ached, the pain from holding him off becoming too much, but she didn’t surrender. She couldn’t. Jaw clenched, she planted one foot against the wall behind her and shoved herself into him.
Maeve attempted to sidestep out of his reach, but despite his size, he was faster than she anticipated. He reached out, capturing her in one fell swoop, bear-hugging her against his chest. With her arms pinned to her sides and her feet dangling off the floor, she squirmed and kicked in a pathetic effort to break his hold on her.
He squeezed even tighter until she thought her lungs would crack.
“Be still,” he demanded.
“That’s the thing,” she spat. “I hate being told what to do.”
Maeve snapped her head back, hearing the satisfying crunch of a broken nose. Pain burst up the back of her skull and down her neck, but she ignored it. He grunted and muttered a vulgar swear, then stumbled backward, loosening his grip on her just enough for her to twist free from him. Arcing the Aurastone back, she jammed it directly into his jugular.
Bright red blood squirted, splattering all over her chest and face. It was warm. Fresh. Her stomach recoiled and bile scalded the back of her throat. His hands clawed at his neck, at the gushing wound she inflicted. Maeve pulled the dagger out, striking him in the heart next, praying to whatever god would heed her to make his death as swift as possible.
The guard toppled to the ground in a bloody heap.
So much for being stealthy and silent.
She expelled a breath, closing her eyes for a brief second, and whispered, “Four.”
Maeve opened her eyes, regained her composure, then turned and came face to face with a female guard who aimed a sword at her heart.
Neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke. They simply stared at one another in pained silence.
The female flicked her wrist so her sword glinted in the low light. “You’re Fianna’s.”
“Yes,” Maeve croaked. Her mouth was dry, like she’d been forced to swallow wads of parchment. “I am.”
“Do you have a plan?” Her velvety voice was laced with spite. “Or are you just going to run around and kill all of your soldiers while you try and find a way out?”
Her muscles drew taut, and she lifted her chin, refusing to cower beneath the fae’s indignation. “I didn’t think any of you would fight for me.”
“Did you bother to ask?” she sneered. “Or are you nothing more than a cold-blooded killer like your brother, Garvan?”
Anger ripped through her, hot and stifling. “I am nothing like him.”
The female lowered her sword, motioning to the body of the dead guard lying between them. “The trail of death you leave in your wake says otherwise.”
Guilt ravaged her, ripped her from the inside out. How careless she’d been, how foolishly self-righteous. The implication was there; those Autumn soldiers she killed would’ve fought for her if only she’d asked. She could’ve spared them, saved them. What had she done? The image of the male soldier and his family glared in the forefront of her mind and a strangled sob caught in the back of her throat.
“I wasn’t thinking.” Maeve shook her head, heart hammering. Gods, perhaps she was just as awful as Garvan. Like calls to like. Would it not be the same for a brother and sister? “Forgive me,” she croaked.
“Your plan, Your Highness?” the female asked, never wavering. She offered Maeve no sympathy for her actions or choices.
She looked past the female guard, stealing a hasty glance down the rest of the corridor. “I’m going to jump.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Off the balcony?”
“Um…yes.”
“You don’t sound so sure.”
She would admit the fault in her plan now, because if this one fae was willing to help her, then she would take what she could get. “I don’t know where it is.”
The female fae pointed. “Straight down this hall. Make your second right, you can’t miss it.”
“I—” Maeve opened her mouth to speak but words failed her.