“No,” Keirran snarled, as I dashed for the wall. I saw him start after me, but there was a burst of heat from Annwyl, and the prince gave a cry of dismay and rage. I didn’t look back. Snatching one of my dropped swords from the ground, I raced to the wall and leaped onto the tangle of roots and vines, climbing my way toward the top.
“Kenzie!”
She looked up at me, dangling over the vast precipice, one arm still tangled in vines. “Hang on,” I told her, and sank my blade into one of the vines coiled around her arm. Kenzie clung doggedly as I cleared most of the knot, then reached out an arm. “Here!” I yelled, straining for her. “Kenzie, take my hand.”
Gritting her teeth, she lunged for it, clamping on to my wrist. I pulled her from the coil of roots, then carefully lowered her to the courtyard below. Relief stabbed through me as she hit the ground. Safe.
But before I could relax, the roots beneath me went nuts, writhing and swaying like something on fire. Startled, I grabbed wildly for a vine, but with a sudden heave, the branch bucked me off, thankfully in the direction of the courtyard. For a few seconds, I was airborne and saw the ground rushing up at me.
I hit grass instead of stone, which was a blessing, though it still clacked my teeth together and sent a flare of pain up my side. Dazed, I looked up to see Keirran and Annwyl in the center of a magical whirlwind, leaves, twigs, rocks and ice shards swirling around them. Keirran had his sword raised, and Annwyl was unarmed, bursts of magic erupting all around them. The Iron Prince looked pale and weak, somehow less of himself, while Annwyl still blazed with her stolen glamour, her hair whipping around her head.
Seeing us, Keirran’s eyes narrowed, and he raised his arm, pointing toward Kenzie, making my heart skip. On instinct, I dived in front of her as a lightning bolt flashed out, curled around me and slammed into the wall, barely missing her. “I will not be defeated, Ethan!” Keirran exclaimed, as I backed in front of Kenzie, shielding her as best I could. “Either you die, or Kenzie dies! The Veil will fall—”
“No!” Annwyl thrust her palm toward Keirran, and a savage burst of wind lifted the prince off his feet, slamming him to the ground a few feet away. Stunned, he looked up as Annwyl stepped forward, the storm swirling around her. She raised her hand, and a ball of flame, lightning and pure sunlight formed in her palm as she held it out. Keirran staggered, looking pale and vulnerable as the Summer faery loomed over him.
“Annwyl,” he whispered, his voice lost in the gale around them. “Stop. Please. Everything I’ve done...all of this...it was for you.”
As he spoke, there was a shimmer of movement from the corner of my eye. I looked over to see one of my swords had lifted itself off the ground, the point angled at Annwyl’s back. Annwyl, facing down Keirran, didn’t notice.
“I’m sorry, Keirran,” Annwyl said, as I leaped up and sprinted toward her. Her voice was choked with tears as she raised her arm. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
The sword flew toward her. I slammed into the Summer faery, pushing her aside just as the blade reached us. At the same time, a blaze of agony ripped across my back as the weapon sliced into me, tearing a deep cut across my skin. I cried out and nearly fell, and saw Keirran’s eyes widen for a split second, then narrow sharply as he realized.
Not immune to Iron glamour.
He scrambled to his feet, raising his hand. Alone, in pain and unarmed, I could only watch as the air above him flared, and a dozen glittering knives flickered into existence. For a heartbeat, our eyes met. I saw a split-second hesitation cross his face, a heartbeat of regret, before he threw out his hand, and the storm of lethal blades flew at me.
I flinched away and raised my arms, bracing myself to be skewered. I felt one of the knives graze my shoulder, tearing through my sleeve, making me gasp. I heard the solid, sickening thumps of iron hitting flesh, striking home, but felt no pain.
Cautiously, I opened my eyes, and my heart dropped.
Annwyl stood in front of me, arms crossed before her in an X, facing Keirran. For a few seconds, I could only stare, hopeful and horrified. Her back was to me, so I couldn’t see the damage, but she didn’t appear to be in pain. Maybe Keirran had missed. Maybe he’d redirected the attack at the last second.
And then I saw the blood, dripping in puddles beneath her, as Annwyl gave a breathless gasp and fell backward into my arms. Her body was covered with knives, sunk deep into her chest and stomach, welling with blood. A thin line of red trickled from her mouth as she coughed, her delicate frame shuddering violently in my grasp.
Keirran’s sword dropped from his hands with a clang.
“Annwyl.” Sickened, I sank to my knees, cradling the Summer faery as gently as I could. Her eyes were glassy with pain as she gazed up at me, struggling to speak. “Hey, don’t try to talk,” I choked out. “Just hold on, we’ll...think of something.”
She smiled gently and shook her head. I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and knew Kenzie had come up, that she had seen everything. Even as I held her, Annwyl flickered, becoming almost weightless in my arms. The amulet pulsed against her chest, as if desperately sucking in glamour, trying to save her life. But Annwyl continued to fade, her color slowly leaching away, even as blood soaked her dress and dripped to the ground beneath us.
A shadow fell over me. I didn’t have to look up to know it was Keirran. Would he kill me, here and now? Drive a sword through my heart and let us both bleed out on the stones? But he was motionless, not speaking, adding to the eerie silence around us. The storm had faded, the grass and flowers had already shriveled and were blowing away. The brilliant light surrounding Annwyl had died, and everything was dark again, plunged into shadow. I couldn’t look at the prince, but Annwyl’s gaze drifted up, and she weakly raised a hand.