Thaddeus twirled his newly acquired toy as he stalked closer to the Fae, feeling the weight and balance of the blade. Poorly made, the steel distributed unevenly, but deadly in the right hands.
The Fae lifted his hand, preparing another magical attack.
As he thrust the small orb toward Thaddeus, it fizzled and fell off his fingers, disappearing before it reached the ground.
Thaddeus lifted the blade parallel to his body as the Fae shuffled back.
“The wards around this castle filter through magic. Those who do not belong within these walls are rendered powerless.” He adjusted his grip on the cloth-bound hilt, his gaze dropping to the Fae. Ice filled his eyes and chilled his deadly smile. “Grison sent you into a deathtrap.”
He struck, cutting the sword forward. The blade resisted as the tip connected with the Fae’s chest, flinging him aside.
The bastard vanished again, reappearing another few feet down the corridor.
This time, he spun and sprinted away, shifting every fewseconds, putting distance between them at a quicker pace than Thaddeus could eat up with his strides. The bloody cuffs! Goddess!
He pushed forward.
The Fae sifted again, the distance half of that from the last few sifts. He noticed, too, bolted toward the balustrade, and leaned over the edge. Thaddeus dove at the man, but he slammed into the marble rail when the Fae disappeared.
“Bloody hell.”
He scanned the lower levels of mountainous slopes, more corridors, the edge of the grotto.
There, two levels below, a black blur sprinting down another open-air corridor.
“Shaye!”
His bellow echoed throughout the castle. He hopped onto the balustrade and leaped off, falling through the open space, never once losing sight of his quarry.
The mountain shelf came up hard and fast. He rolled out of his landing and leaped onto the lower-level balustrade, launched off the rail, and hit the floor in a dead run. He gained on the Fae as the man ducked into a stairwell, throwing a panicked look over his shoulder. Thaddeus barreled down the stairs, three, four at a time, his longer legs closing the gap as the man bounced off the curved walls of the circular tower.
He sifted.
Popped up a few steps ahead, but the shortened distance helped Thaddeus gain on the man. He laughed, the sound cooling the air. The sound of metal scraping the wall as he dragged the blade over the stone echoed like a blood-curdling screech. His quarry smacked his hands over his ears and bolted down the last stretch of stairs before stumbling onto another open corridor.
Thaddeus cut around the man during his fumbling steps and caught him at the throat with the tip of the sword. He angled the blade just so that if the bloody fool tried to pull back, the tender skin beneath his tongue would suffer a cleaving. He had enough pressure applied to draw blood.
“Why are you here?” Thaddeus snarled.
The Fae sneered, then began to laugh. Madness gleamed in his gold eyes.
He sifted.
Thaddeus spun as the Fae reappeared, swinging a new dagger down at his chest. Cutting the sword up, he deflected the wild attack, but the Fae launched more reckless swings and desperate stabs, forcing Thaddeus to dodge blow after blow. Duck, spin, twist. He dropped into a squat, kicked out his legs, knocking the Fae off his feet.
His quarry sifted before he fell, landing on his feet over Thaddeus.
He raised his hands over his head, the dagger’s blade winking once, then drove down at Thaddeus’s back.
Thaddeus flung himself onto his back, swung the sword upward.
A blast of magic rushed down the corridor. A sudden weight made his arms jerk as the Fae slid down the blade, mouth agape, blood oozing from his lower lip. Golden eyes flickered with fading life before pupils dilated. The skin of his face melted from fair to waxen, to leathery gray.
Thaddeus growled and with a burst of strength, shoved the Fae and his sword off to the side.
Steel grabbed his arm and hoisted him up to his feet. He stumbled, his magic swirling with excitement and no means of release. The swell of his power left him feeling like he would explode. He lifted his head, meeting Shaye’s fierce gaze briefly before cutting back to the dead Fae. Caelappeared and hurried over to them, nudging the shriveling corpse.
“Who is he?” Shaye asked.
