Page 25 of Explosive Chemistry

Pete wiped sweat off his forehead. “It’s getting late, Lilly. I think we’ve done enough for one day.”

“No, not enough. Now, you are tired. Now, you practice for real. Doctor Nudd and I will both try to kill you. Don’t let us. Take us down. Use your knives. Use your sword. Do not hold back. We are both tough. As long as your strike is non-lethal, we will heal.”

The tall goblin looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

Pete only hesitated for a moment. He looked at Liliana’s determined face, then shrugged. He opted to set down the shield, which was not a weapon style he was comfortable with. Instead, he drew a long knife from the back of his belt, drew the ancient sword from its battered sheath, then shifted to his more formidable demi-wolf form, and nodded readiness.

Immediately, Liliana attacked.

Doctor Nudd followed shortly after. The tall goblin fought with ferocity, as if he truly meant to kill the red wolf. He shoved Pete clear off his feet with inhuman strength.

Liliana smiled.

Pete lost his grip on the sword when he fell but sprang to his feet before they could press their advantage. He was not just strong. The wolf defended with surprising agility, accuracy, and speed, even while winded.

His claws shrieked against Doctor Nudd’s shield, and his long knife swished over Liliana’s head, and clanged against her arm blades. The fight went on for a while until Pete used one of the goblin’s long arms as leverage to slam Doctor Nudd into a tree trunk.

A foot sweep from Liliana while Pete was distracted and off balance sent the red wolf falling to the grass.

Even as Pete fell, he twisted and threw his knife at her.

The blade barely scratched Liliana’s cheek and embedded itself in the trunk of the tall pine behind her, the same tree where Siobhan perched.

“Oi! Watch that!” Siobhan shouted.

Liliana laughed. “Now, it is enough.”

Pete shifted back to human form and grinned at her; white teeth and blue eyes vibrant, shining soul fierce and triumphant.

Stunning.

In all her life, in all her different kinds of sight, she had only ever seen two souls so beautiful—Alexander Bennet’s and Pete’s. His shine took her breath away. For a long moment, she just stared at him with first, second, and third eyes all at once.

His smile faltered, and his brows drew together in question.

Liliana shook her head to clear it. Pete’s heart belonged to another. She was his friend, and she would be a true one. She extended a hand to help him up, then bent to retrieve his sword for him.

In her second vision, the sword still glowed softly like she remembered from when she held it after her first battle with Pete. The hilt conformed to the grip of her small hand, just as well as it had to Pete’s large human hand, and even larger, clawed demi-wolf hand. The balance was beyond perfect, as if the sword wanted to become part of her, like her arm blades. The urge to keep the sword hit her again.

She hadn’t thought to look into a sword with her third eyes the first time. Weapons generally didn’t have thoughts or feelings or souls.

This one did.

It had a presence like a sleeping person, swirling strong-willed gray and emerald green with power. It shone as bright as Pete’s soul, but not as pure and good. If it had been a person, she would have judged that person to be strong, instilled with the Green through and through, but neither evil nor good. The sword held a power without conscience. It would be up to the wielder to determine how that power would be used. Her third sight also showed her hidden script in Ogham, running all the way to the tip of the blade in glowing, passionate red.

She touched the blade hesitantly with her fingertips, just above the curved flair of the hilt. It felt like normal steel, but as if it had just been submerged in a body’s warmth, or as if it were alive. “Where did this sword come from?”

Pete shrugged. “It’s been in my family for generations. It’s the only thing my mom left me.”

Liliana tilted her head, considering. A weapon that emanated heat passed down for generations in a Celtic wolf pack. This sword must be the reason that Princess Aurore sent an assassin after Pete. Liliana couldn’t read Ogham. The ancient Gaelic script was not one of the languages she knew, but its existence along with what she could see, and what Pete told her about its history, was enough to identify the blade.

Freagarthach. The Retaliator. The Sword of Truth and Air that can cut anything, command the winds, and compel truthful answers to any question.

Liliana swallowed. No ordinary sword indeed. A great many people had died trying to find this sword.

In the wrong hands, Freagarthach had the power to wreak untold havoc. She swallowed and considered if she should give in to the sword’s urging and take it from Pete. Keep it safe.

In the hands of a Sidhe with a cold heart like Princess Aurore, this sword could devastate entire continents. Liliana shuddered and carefully did not open her fourth eyes to see what would happen if Aurore got her hands on this sword.

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