Quinn rushed me again. I knew how Quinn fought. I knew the feeling of her daggers, Amy and Tina, as they sliced the air. Hell, I knew how they felt against my skin and scales. They were an extension of Quinn. Her attacks now were flawless.Tooflawless. They were clean and mechanical, like a puppet mimicking every kill move she had trained to sink into her bones and muscles. The real Quinn was precise, yes, but she could fight dirty, improvise, and move with a reckless rhythm that left you unsure what she was going to do next. There was a ruthlessness to her strength that was a stunning performance. She was a tank with the grace of an athlete. This version of Quinn was too sure, too targeted, too dead-on with her aim, too powerful with her strikes. All of the possessed were all too coordinated, moving too fluidly like robots.
It terrified me.
I can’t do this. I can’t fight them. I can’t take losing anyone else today.
Cody and Cole were like Quinn’s little brothers. Cody, the one who couldn’t shut the fuck up to save his life. Cole, Simone’s mate, who was one of the few people Simone allowed to call “princess” unironically. Maisie, the one who was like a sister to me, who I had spent countless nights talking to when she should have been asleep for school the next day. And, Quinn. My mate, my heart, my future.
I can’t kill them.
If I don’t, they’ll kill me.
I can’t hurt them.
That would only hurt me.
What was I going to do?
What was I going to do?
What was I going to do?
How was I going to save them?
This was a war zone full of choices I couldn’t afford to make.
My back hit a wall, bringing me back to focus. I had been so engrossed in my thoughts of how I was going to save Quinn and the others that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was ending up with my dodging and weaving of Quinn’s blows. She had taken control of the fight even though she couldn’t land a hit. Now, I was literally backed into a corner with nowhere else to go.
Quinn didn’t smirk in triumph.
No flirty remark.
No cocky glint in her eyes to make my knees tremble.
There was only her blades coming at me to slash through me yet again.
I raised my forearms to block her. As her black daggers came down, I expected to feel the slice of her blades cutting into my skin. I braced for it. But the pain of the cut never came. Instead, the impact rang out like stone against stone. Her obsidian daggers scraped off my forearms with a sharp clinking thud.
We both blinked. Quinn’s wild eyes flicked to the opalescent sheen covering my arms from the elbow down.
She frowned.
It was the most reaction her face had granted me since she had gotten under Lilah’s control.
Since my hands had turned into crystals, I hadn’t considered the ramifications too deeply. In my defense, there were kind of a lot of things going on, so it was hard to think about anything beyond just survival. I had no idea if my hands would now forever look like this in my hybrid form, and I didn’t have time to fully consider any of the questions or how disconcerting itshouldfeel to have crystal hands and arms. No, right now, all that mattered was that they weren’t just crystal for show. Quinn’s daggers couldn’t pierce them.
Okay, Byrdie, let’s get on our Emma Frost shit. Channel that diamond bitch and let’s get our girl back.
I’m coming for you, Starlight.
I used my tail to push Quinn backward to give us some distance and to get me out of the corner. With some space between us, I rolled my shoulders. Then, I held my hands out. My magic sparked and popped as crystal daggers of own formed in my hands. Light shimmered through the edges of the opal blades that matched the colors dancing along my hands and arms, but they felt solid in my hands. They were familiar and steady.
Quinn recovered from my blow quickly. Her eyes went to my blades, and I couldn’t fight my chuckle. “Yeah, that’s right, babe. You’re not the only pretty bitch with knives now.”
I lunged toward her.
She met me halfway.
We danced for a time. She struck. I blocked. She spun. I ducked. She slashed at my wings. I twisted midair with a pirouette to dodge. My tail swung to give us some room. She sidestepped. I never used my blades on her. The thought didn’t even cross my mind. No, I only used them for defense. To deflect her blows. To push her back. To survive. To buy myself seconds.
