Page 75 of Faerie Magic

“No,” I growled. “The guards will be here any moment. You have nowhere to go,” I spit out at him, clutching the cloak even tighter. My knuckles turned white and my hand shook as I refused to budge an inch in that stairwell.

He couldn’t get away.

The man twisted and shoved his left arm out, attempting to land a quick punch to my side. Thanks to my training, I dodged it, tugging and trying to pull him down and closer to me to fight.

The cloak slipped from my hands, but the man didn’t run. Instead he raised his hands up above his head.

“Last chance,” he hissed.

I lunged forward, aiming for his face, wherever it was behind the hood. I grazed him but didn’t make hard enough contact. He twisted out of my way and I fell against the wall up the stairs.

We were both weaponless, so all we had was hand-to-hand. Thankfully, I was strongest there, but the man I was fighting was obviously skilled, and bigger than I was.

Make every hit count.

If I could trip him up and get him back down the stairs, the guards would surely be close enough now where they’d hear us and know where we were.

“We’re up here!” I shouted and then made a move to quickly strike the man’s throat,

He caught my hand in his and twisted.

“Ahh,” I cried out as his unyielding grip kept twisting way past comfortable.

“You are out of your league, girl.”

The attacker struck again, punching forward at my chest. I slipped, but not before landing a punch of my own to his rib. My balance was shot, and he used that to slug me directly in the face.

My nose screamed in agony as his fist slammed into it, and I fell backward. The attacker seized the opportunity and yanked me forward by the shirt, flinging me behind him as he turned to continue his ascent.

I reached out, clawing at something, anything to catch myself.

But it was too late. I tumbled down the stairs with nothing to stop my fall.

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