Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
“You should have.”
My head swung back to his. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
His eyebrow rose.
“Anyway, I saw his face and realized it was one of the missing younglings. I thought maybe I misjudged what he was doing since he broke away from the woman and walked into this alley, but he knew I was following him,” I explained, troubled by what had occurred. “It was a trap in a way. He came at me.”
“That makes no sense,” he said, head tilting slightly. “The Summer fae do not attack humans.”
“Yeah, well, he attacked me and I did nothing to instigate it either.” There was something pecking away at the fringes of my thoughts. “Wait a second. Elliot said some weird stuff. He said his parents weren’t his parents any longer and he also called them wannabe humans.”
“Did he say anything else?” he demanded.
I shook my head as I saw Elliot’s face in my mind. “But his eyes were messed up.”
“What do you mean?”
“They were pitch black, like I couldn’t even see the irises….” I trailed off as I thought about his eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like that, but….”
He stepped toward me, voice low. “Are you positive that is what you saw?”
“Yes. He was this close to my face.” I put my hand within kissing distance of my face to show him. “His eyes were all black.”
The Prince’s jaw hardened as he looked away.
There was a sudden feeling where I felt like I’d seen something or a reference to eyes like that before, but I couldn’t place it. Like a word that rose to the tip of your tongue, but you couldn’t quite grasp it. “Do you… do you know what could cause that?”
“I don’t—” The Prince’s head swung sharply to the left and then a curse exploded out from him. He moved toward me just as a shot rang out, echoing through the alley.
CHAPTER 16
The Prince crashed into me, taking me to the ground before I had a chance to see who was shooting at us. I had only a moment to prepare myself for the bone-shaking impact with the ground, but that never came.
Somehow, he shifted at the final second, taking the brunt of the fall. He hit the ground hard, my front plastered to his long length for about a heartbeat and then he rolled suddenly, shoving me under his body as the cracks of a gun firing went off again—and again. My entire body jerked in surprise as a bullet hit the ground right beside our heads, sending tiny pieces of gravel into the air.
The Prince lifted his head and those near transparent eyes locked onto mine. “Stay down,” he ordered.
“W-What?”
Launching to his feet, he spun around and then he was no longer there, moving so fast I couldn’t track him in the shadowy alley.
I flipped onto my belly, lifting my head as I kept low to the ground. I was going to stay down, because I really didn’t want to get hit. Another shot rang out and then I heard a grunt as my gaze swung to the back of the alley.
Two large forms collided. There was a flash of reddish-yellow glow coming from the hands of the Prince, a circular flash of light that reminded me of a fire ball. And then the smell of burnt metal filled the air a second before one of the bodies flew back several feet, slamming into the building opposite me.
The body fell forward into the dim light. My eyes widened as I saw that it was a fae. That… that was uncommon.
They rarely used guns, but unless a human had doused themselves in silver paint and had their ears shaved into points, that was definitely a fae.
The Prince tossed the ruined gun aside, and I knew he’d been the source of the burnt scent of metal. He’d done something to that gun.
Dear God, that kind of power….
He prowled forward like a caged animal finally unleashed, his chin dipped low, and I swore those pale eyes were glowing. “Who sent you?” he demanded, his voice a deadly growl that sent a wave of shivers through me. “Was it Aric?”
Struggling to his feet, the fae swayed as he reached into his boot. I tensed, expecting him to whip out another gun.
I was wrong.
It was an iron stake.
The fae grabbed it with his bare hand. He hissed in pain, lips peeling back in a snarl as he straightened.
The Prince shot forward. “Don’t—”
Too late.
Slamming the business end of the stake into the center of his chest, the fae ended it right then and there. Within a few short seconds the fae who’d shot at us was gone.
“Holy shit,” I whispered, raising unsteadily to my feet. “Did that just happen?”
“Yes.” The Prince was suddenly in front of me, causing me to jerk back a step. His expression was drawn and tight. “Are you okay?”