“Traitor bitch!” one snarled, barreling into me with a fist like a sledgehammer. He sent me flying into a puddle of mud—or maybe troll shit, hard to tell in this hell hole. The fairy circled me, wings buzzing like saw blades, baring his fangs while the other fairy fought with the wounded warlock.
“How could you, Eboenia? I thought Crane was lying when he said you sided with the enemy! Your ancestors who died fighting Hex13 are rolling in their graves!” he spat, grabbing me by my horn. My wand slipped from my hand as he slammed my head into a tree. Stars exploded behind my eyes.
“You let that demon mark you!” he hissed.
He cocked back to bash me again, but I braced my foot against the trunk, shoved hard, and twisted free, slick with mud and blood. I spun, jabbing my nails deep into his chest. His eyes bulged. He gasped as his veins turned purple, his skin shriveling while I drained his energy, drinking it down like forest wine. He collapsed, clutching my arm, blood bubbling from his lips.
I stretched out my free hand and my wand snapped back to me, magnetized by my will. I drove the tip through his skull. “Now, get the fuck off my shit,” I snarled, shoving him off.He hit the ground, dead, and monstrous iron-toothed maggots slithered from the shadows, gnawing hungrily at his corpse.
I sprinted back to War. He still had his chain throttling the troll, while a dozen of Hoax’s men closed in, magic sizzling in their fists. Hex13 warriors streaked through the sky, coming from the far side of the forest. One of War’s panthers exploded from the treetops, tackling a fairy who was circling War with a jar of poison clutched in his claws.
“Eboeniaaaaa!” a voice shrieked from the darkness. I whipped around and saw Jinx—bloodied, one wing torn and dangling.
“It’s Blair and Lune! They’re in trouble!” she cried, stumbling toward me.
“What…what are you doing here?” I demanded.
“We’re part of Hoax’s army now. We joined to find you. I’ll explain later, but we have to go—now!” she said, urgency in every word.
She limped away, fading into the shadows. “Jinx, wait!” I called, but she was already gone. Without thinking, I plunged after her. War and his crew could handle Hoax’s warriors and whatever else the forest spat out. Right now, Blair, Jinx and Lune needed me more.
I flew after Jinx, but lost sight of her in the thickening fog. The trees pressed closer, the temperature dropping with every step. Bodies—Hex13 and Hoax’s men—were sprawled across the ground, marking the place where the battle had erupted.
“Jinx!” I whispered, hoping there weren’t more trolls lurking.
“Eboenia! We’re right here!” she shouted.
I landed, the fog thicker at ground level. Something darted past me, fast as a shadow, knocking me against a tree. I clutched my wand, heart pounding, eyes scanning the gloom.
“Eboeniaaa! Where did you go?” Jinx called out again, but something was off. Her voice trembled, on the verge of tears, but the pitch was just a little too high, the cadence a little too perfect. I inhaled deeply, tuning out the stench of blood and rot, searching for her scent—pomegranate seeds was the way Jinx always smelled. I focused until my head spun, but her scent never came. I’d been tricked.
War warned me. He fucking warned me about the nymphs. They know my weakness—they could taste it.
My skin prickled as the fog seemed to circle around me, thickening with every breath.
Suddenly, my mother’s voice echoed through the trees, cold and accusing, but wrong—too perfect, too hollow. “Eboenia, sweetheart. After all I sacrificed for you, why would you fall in love with the man who slaughtered our ancestors?”
I gritted my teeth, anger flaring. “Your ugly ass might as well come out and fight me! I know what you are, and you damn sure ain’t Jinx or my mother!” I snapped. The thing laughed, furthering pissing me off.
The voice shifted again, melting into a sultry, unfamiliar tone. “Did Azarion ever tell you the truth about us?” The nymph was playing games, slipping between voices like changing masks, trying to dig under my skin.
Is this supposed to be Clover?
I clutched my wand tighter. “You’re losing the plot, bitch. I don’t know anyone by that name!” I spat back, refusing to let it get under my skin.
“Oh, that’s right. You know him as War. I forgot—only I know that side of him. It’s such a pity, Eboenia. You’re the one who actually deserves the better half of him, but you’ll never have it. He still loves me. It’s me he craves every time he enters you. That wand you carry? He made it for me, back when I was his lieutenant. I was the first fairy to fight beside Azarion as he protected our realm. That’s what made me special. I was a warrior. You? You’re too weak for that. You’re only good enough to lay on your back,” she sneered, her voice echoing from every direction, as if the fog itself was taunting me.
“Come out and fight me, and we’ll see who’s weak! I’ll fold your ugly ass up!” I shouted, shoving off the tree, refusing to let the nymph’s illusions break me.
She laughed, circling unseen. “Your skills can’t touch mine, and neither can that lazy mound you’ve got. Did Azarion—Cashaun—War ever tell you I was the first pussy he ever tasted? He folded for me. A man who worshipped abstinence as a religion gave me his soul. I made the most passionate love to him. I’m the real pussy fairy, if you want the truth. Living in my shadow must be hell for you. You don’t even know the language of my wand.”
This time, the words landed hard. My grip on my wand tightened until my knuckles ached. Heat flared in my cheeks, shame and anger twisting together in my gut. I hated that she was getting to me, hated that part of me wondered if it was true—if War still craved her, if I’d ever be more than a shadow to him.
“Say what you want, but you can’t say I’m dead, you dead-ass bitch! You willingly fucked Hoax. That says a lot about you! War can’t stand your headless ass!” I yelled back.
Her laughter echoed, the fog swirling tighter. “We must have the same taste in men, because he had your legs spread, too. You didn’t enjoy that one, though—what a shame. You’re missing out, because Hoax is a great lover,” she purred.
My heart hammered in my chest. I forced myself to shake off the illusions, but I could feel the nymph’s words digging in, scraping at old wounds I tried to bury. I clenched my jaw, refusing to let her see how much she’d rattled me.
