Page 37 of Kiss of Light

She focused on the rooftop, picking a spot she hoped wasn’t directly in the firing zone. Then she shimmered.

Lemar slunk through the shadows, following his nose. The fae scent was musky, unmistakeable. As he grew closer, it became overwhelmed by the stink from the bins. But it didn’t matter. He’d got a fix.

Tala hadn’t been far off when she’d described elven as crazies. Even their own king, Aelfric, was widely thought to be unhinged.

Elven were cruel. And they liked playing games.

Another hail of arrows came out of the dark and he flung himself to the ground. But they were again aimed at the car. He grinned mirthlessly. The fae didn’t know he was being stalked.

He focused his night vision. The garbage bins were just ahead, overflowing with bags of trash. The stench this close was almost overpowering and he could no longer distinguish the fae. But he could see where the arrows were coming from.

He circled round from behind, intending to simply blur up to the fae and knock him out. But as he came into position, he froze.

The weapon was there, firing on all cylinders, but of the fae there was no sign.

Lemar edged forward for a closer look.

The trigger mechanism had been taped down. On the ground next to the weapon, giving off a faint aroma, was a coat. He picked it up. It was made of butter-soft leather. Elven leather.

He frowned. The fae twins knew Tala was a demon. They knew she was strong and that she was trying to protect him. So they had come up with a plan to draw her away.

He looked back towards the motel and his heart gave an unexpected thud of fear. She was in danger.

He stepped out from behind the garbage bins and his foot came down on a patch of uneven earth. An ominous ‘click’ registered on the very edge of his hearing.

He didn’t even have time to wonder what it was. Savage bone-crushing pain tore through his leg as the metal teeth of a bear trap snapped shut.

Tala emerged at one end of the roof. She crouched low, looking for the elven. The roof was mostly in darkness, the only light coming from the flickering motel sign, but as her night vision adjusted she saw a slender shape leaning against the parapet a few yards away. Balanced on a tripod was a weapon that looked like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie. The figure shifted and Tala caught a flash of long red hair. She groaned inwardly.

Out of the twins, Seraefa was the most dangerous.

The fae’s attention was on the ground below. She was scanning the parking lot, obviously trying to get a bead on her quarry.

She wished fervently that she could just send her astral form and possess the fae. She could have ended this immediately. But like she’d told Lemar, elven were resistant to that kind of magic.

She shimmered closer, trying to close the distance silently. But when she reappeared, there was a crunching sound underfoot. She looked down.

Seraefa had peppered the ground with gravel.

Sneaky bitch.

The elven whipped round. She had a blade in each hand and a cocky grin on her sharp little face.

“Nice try. But you should know by now you can’t take me by surprise.”

Tala drew her own blades warily.

“Hey, girlfriend. How’ve you been? Long time no see.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see you at all, to be honest. I should have known that stupid human wouldn’t get rid of you. Always thinking with hisshillelagh.”

“Sorry to disappoint. You’re working with Blake, then? So what’s this?” Tala gestured at the rapid-fire bow. “A good old-fashioned double-cross?”

Seraefa sneered.

“You don’t think we would share our bounty withhimdid you? We just needed his boring human face so he could ask the questions necessary to track you.”

“Yeah. Kinda hard to fit in with those pointy ears and all. Have you thought of hats?”

---