I pulled away. “Sin, go ahead and save yourself. I’m going upstairs.”
I diminished to insect size and zipped up the basement stairs. In the living room, I pressed myself against the greenery on the wall, my wings camouflaging perfectly with the leaves as I melted into the shadows. At least ten warriors crowded what was supposed to be our safe house. Lune sat on the floor, clutching her lifeless baby, her eyes vacant as she rocked back and forth. Jinx and Blair were naked, forced to their knees with thick, rune-etched ropes binding them—Charmden prisoner restraints, designed to sap a fairy’s magic and keep them grounded.
“I can’t believe you, Lune,” Jinx spat, her voice trembling with rage. “After everything, you called them here? This was our sanctuary, and you sold us out! I wish I could beat the afterbirth out of you.”
“Shut the hell up!” barked an elf, striding over to Jinx. He backhanded her, sending her crashing into the wall.
Another elf, taller and wearing a sash of bone, barked orders. “Sky, get down there and see what’s taking so long. And remember what Hoax said—if Sin tries anything suspicious, take his fucking head off.”
As Sky strode past, I whipped out my wand and flicked it at him. A bolt of searing violet light struck his chest. He screamed as his skin bubbled and melted, flesh dripping from his bones like wax.
“Ahhhhhh! My skin! My skin!”
“Who did that?” someone shouted, spinning around, panic in his eyes.
“My eyes!” Sky shrieked, clawing at his melting face before collapsing.
“Find the source! Now!” the leader of the group roared.
I transformed, scales rippling over my skin as I transformed into a slender garden snake. I slithered up the wall’s tangled vines, weaving through the uproar. Reaching Jinx, I shifted back into my fairy form, my wand glowing with charcoal fire as I sliced through the enchanted ropes binding her wrists and ankles. “Hold still,” I whispered.
As the ropes fell away, Jinx’s fairy magic surged back. Her clothing appeared in a ripple of light—fiery orange petals and shimmering leaves curling around her body, resembling a fire flame.
“About damn time,” Jinx hissed.
I darted to Blair, freeing her just as a warrior lunged at us. Blair’s skin glowed as her own garments materialized: a dress spun from golden grass, earth-toned petals, and delicate yellow moss, hugging her form.
Her hand flickered, and a slingshot materialized, strung with a cord of blue flame. She fired a blazing orb straight into a warrior’s face—his head detonated in a burst of fire and bone. Brain matter was everywhere.
Jinx leapt onto another guard, sinking her teeth into his cheek. He howled, thrashing as blood sprayed across the floor.“That’s for touching my titties, you piece of shit!” she snarled, tearing away a chunk of flesh.
The warriors surged at us. I grew to my full size, sword flashing with runes as I carved through the nearest elf. Blood arced across the room as I severed his arms, sending him crashing into the pool.
“Get her! Don’t let that bitch, Eboenia, get away!” an elf screamed, clutching his bleeding stomach.
I plunged my sword into the water, channeling my magic. The pool glowed, swirling as a massive figure rose from its depths—a muscular water elemental, its eyes glowing like sapphires. It seized an elf and hurled him through the wall with a thunderous crash. The sweet melody of his bones cracking made me feel like a ballerina, spinning through the bloody gore.
Blair grinned, while clapping her hands together. “You picked the wrong house, assholes!”
Jinx, blood smeared across her mouth spat at another warrior. “Come on, then! I’ll rip you apart too!”
The living room erupted into mayhem—a battlefield of splintering wood and shuddering walls, the ceiling caving in as the water elemental rampaged, pounding attackers with the wild force of a gorilla. Sin burst from the basement, ducking falling debris. He snatched me up just as I was in the middle of slicing off a fairy’s head.
“Put me down!” I shouted, fighting the urge to use my magic on him.
“This is for the best!” he yelled, tossing me over his shoulder.
He barreled through the front door, sprinting down the porch steps as the house collapsed behind us. “I need water to open our realm. Fuck!” Sin cursed, scanning the street in desperation.
It was broad daylight—cars zipped past, horns blaring. “Get the hell out of the road!” a woman screamed from the window of an Altima. Sin flinched, panic flickering across his face; he was never any good with humans. In a flash, he leapt over a row of cars and bolted down the sidewalk. I bit his ear, hard.
“Ahhhhhhh!” he howled, dropping me onto the pavement.
Sin lunged back, grabbing my arm in a bruising grip. “I know that Hex13 leader marked you, and I’m still willing to fight for us. But we need to move—Hoax is about to unleash his special weapons.”
“I’m not going anywhere without War. He’s the only one I trust to protect me.”
Sin’s eyes darkened, pupils swallowing the whites until his gaze was nothing but two bottomless pits. His cheekbones sharpened, his whole body tensed with a violence that radiated off him in waves. He straightened, posture rigid and menacing—a living echo of his father when he was ready to strike. Then, with a sudden, venomous motion, he jabbed a thorn into my throat. Paralysis swept over me. I collapsed on the sidewalk, helpless, unable even to heal.
