Page 29 of Fake Fae-Ancée

Nox opened his giant beak, long and deadly and sharp as saber blades. He had, of course, taken his battle form. Damn bird shifters! Why did they always have to come super-sized? Why not a regular-sized raven? Why a raven the size of a fucking truck?

The assassin screamed, pitch black wings pumped the air as he took off with Kai in his talons.

Nox’s call echoed through the air, a drawn out croak mingling with her scream of terror that ripped through my heart.

Dammit! I’d been too slow! Why had she had to run off like a maniac? Why couldn’t she just do as she was told for once? Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck fuck!

There weren't enough curses, not in this language, not in my mother tongue, to do this epic clusterfuck any justice.

My mind was racing. Nox had been waiting, the sneaky bastard. Had bide his time after last night's defeat. Tracked Kai all the way here. Hiding in the clouds. Circling the terrain. Waiting. And struck at the right moment.

Baba would kill me!

Groaning, I pushed myself up, white-hot pain screaming in my shoulder. The spear had cut through cleanly past the bone, at least that's what I estimated from the intensity of the pain. But I could still move the arm. At least that was something.

Craning my other arm behind my shoulder, I yanked at the spear, unable to stifle a groan at another whipcrack of pain. I pulled, worked the fucking thing out of my shoulder, piece by piece, teeth clenched. Bear roared in the background, angry, vengeful. My control not to let him get through was paper-thin.

Not yet.

I had to go after him first.

I had to save her.

I pushed myself up to my feet, bloody spear in hand. Panting, ignoring the roaring pain in my shoulder, I looked up at the sky. Nox rose further to the clouds, a pitch-black blur, wings pumping, gaining more lift.

Kai was still screaming. Whether in pain or in rage, it was impossible to tell.

I ran back to the estate.

* * *

ThankSankta Polina and all the wretched saints that I had not taken the limo when I came here. The quad was more maneuverable and cross-country, much better suited to pursue an airborne assassin of the Dark Guild. At full throttle I raced across a field, a flock of unsuspecting sheep scattering and baa-ing in terror. My suit jacket was fluttering behind me, totally ruined, blood still running from the pounding wound in my shoulder — but I was only marginally aware of all that.

My gaze was fixed on Nox. The asshole bird had gained altitude, now flying cross-country towards the coast. But he wasn’t as fast as he should be. Our little encounter last night had not passed without a trace on the giant raven. He might have dealt me a few critical blows last night, but I had paid him back in kind. And now he was hurt and slow.

Good.

I clutched his spear, accelerating the quad. He would not escape. The prophecy was drumming in the back of my head, along with my racing heart.

She is your queen. She must survive.

Kai had stopped screaming. I could only hope she was all right. She probably was. She was tough as nails. A trained agent of P.A.S.H. She would have gotten over the initial shock. Assessing the situation. Figuring out what to do. She hunted fucking Dragons, for crying out loud! Fought Breachers of all categories. Clearly, she’d been in situations more dire than this. That's what the silence meant, nothing more. Not that she had fainted. Or that Nox had already finished her off...

I squashed the horrible thought, gritting my teeth and cranking up the engine. With a crash, I broke through an unsuspecting wooden gate, lurched onto another dirt road and finally reached a straight stretch. Excellent. I chased the quad to its top speed, melting the distance.

A little ways away, behind another line of trees and bushes lacing the rural landscape, water was glistening. A lake. Not that big and quite hidden. I had seen it on the drive here from the freeway. Some kind of fishing pond or some such.

An idea popped into my head.

I straightened up, keeping the speed while coming into a standing position, balancing it out, steering the quad with one foot. What I was about to do would only work for a few seconds. But that was all I needed.

I cradled the black spear in my hand. Fixed the Ravenshifter who was gliding through the sky like a black stealth bomber. I took aim, peering along my outstretched arm, ignoring the stabbing pain that was screaming in my shoulder.

This had to work. Only one shot.

She must survive!

I threw. The spear hissed out of my hand, slicing through the air. Took to the sky in a deadly trajectory, rocketing towards the raven. Which at that moment was right above the small lake.

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