Page 5 of The Unseelie War
They were playing with the humans. That was the only way to describe it. The shadow-fae would dart forward, causing the humans to scream and huddle closer together, then retreat with what could only be described as laughter. The one with the light-eyes was whispering something that made the elderly man weep openly. The child-thing was simply staring at the two children with predatory interest.
“Oh no,” Ava breathed, starting forward. “I have to?—”
Serrik's hand shot out to stop her. “Wait.”
“They're terrifying those people. We have to?—”
“No. I will.” His voice was strange, distant. His golden eyes were fixed on the scene below, and there was something cold and dangerous in his expression. His jaw ticked as he stepped forward, a tension in his shoulders.
“Serrik. Don’t. Please. I—Serrik!” But it was too late. He was gone.“Damn it?—”
Gone, but not vanished. He moved with inhuman speed, covering the distance to the bus stop in a split second. The shadow-fae turned just as Serrik reached it. And Ava could only watch as its form began to shift into something more defensive.
It was too late.
Serrik's hand passed through the shadow-fae's chest, and the creature's scream was like the sound of breaking glass. It collapsed, its form dissolving into smoke that dissipated on the wind.
Serrik held its heart in his hand, black ichor dripping from his fingers. He squeezed it, tossing the remains to the ground with a sickeningsquelch.Ava tried not to be sick.
The other two fae spun to face this new threat, but Serrik was already moving. The one with the light-eyes raised its hands, and cold blue fire erupted from its palms. Serrik simply walked through it, apparently unaffected, and grabbed the creature by the throat.
“Disgusting.”He seethed. “Harming mortals—is that all you can think of? Is it your only purpose in this world?” Serrik's voice carried across the distance, and it was nothing like the calm, measured tone Ava had grown accustomed to. This was something ancient and terrible, something that had ruled nightmares for centuries.
A caged animal that was finally free. Waiting to strike.
The fae creature tried to speak, but Serrik's grip tightened, and there was a sound like breaking crystal. The light in its eyes flickered and died, and its body crumbled to dust.
“Serrik,stop!”Ava was running now, Puck close behind her. But they were too far away, and Serrik was lost in bloodlust.
The child-thing had backed away from the humans, its too-wide smile replaced by an expression of genuine fear. It raised its hands in what might have been surrender, but Serrik was already reaching for it.
“Please,” the creature said, and its voice was actually that of achild, high and frightened. “Please, I was only playing! I meant no harm!”
“And do you think I believe you?” Serrik didn’t hesitate. Golden threads burst from his hands and filled the air around him. They were barely visible—only glinting in the strange mix of light from the three skies above them, reflecting it back. Ava had to grab Puck as she skidded to a halt to keep them both from running straight into the strands.
She knew exactly what they were capable of.
And now, so did the childlike fae.
Its eyes went wide as it froze. Thin lines of blood appeared crisscrossing its body.
And it fell to the ground in pieces.
A moment later, Serrik gestured with his hands, and the golden threads vanished. He glanced back at Ava and Puck over his shoulder. “It is safe now to approach.” His voice was thick with something she didn’t recognize in him.
Something she’d never heard before.
And it made her stomach clench in fear.
This was the creature in him that was consumed byrage.Byrevenge.Not the icy, calculating spider, but the exiled prisoner who wished every one of the faedead.
And she had set the beast free.
Then it was gone, replaced by his usual controlled calm.
Slowly, carefully, she approached. Puck was hiding behind her. “You killed them.” She wasn't sure if she was accusing him or simply stating a fact.
“They were tormenting mortals.” He fixed one of his lace cuffs. “They were causing harm.”
