Page 98 of Ravenrose

I reach for my knife, and once it’s in my hand, I ram it hard into the soft swath of skin between his ribs.

Noz’s breath catches, his blue eyes flying back to me, his pupils blown wide in genuine shock.

His goony friends are still too busy laughing at my expense to realize what’s happened. They are still completely unaware of the dire shift that has just played out right in front of them.

Noz’s grip loosens on my hair, and I rip the dagger out, a rush of blood spilling out with it. He stumbles, a choking sound escaping from his throat before he falls to his knees.

“Or perhaps,” I flash the pearly whites of my fangs, looking down my nose at him, “I’ll have you on yours.”

My blade flashes again when I slice it clean across his throat.

Blood pours out, and Noz collapses fully to the ground, his grunts and gurgling growing quieter until there is only silence.

I smile at the raiders circled about. None of them know what to do; they just stand gaping at me while I spin the bloody knife in my palm.

“Who’s next?”

One of them roars and charges at me, but before I even have time to brace myself, he drops—an arrow jutting out of his skull.

Shouts ring out as panic scatters the group. All of them scrambling, frantically scanning the area… looking for the shooter.

I’m curious too, but I seize the opportunity to back further away—inching closer to the raging river on my left.

The familiar zing of another arrow cuts the air, earning my attention. I look up just in time to watch another raider drop.

My head whips to the right, tracing the black arrow back to⁠—

My blood goes cold.

Ayer.

The Kovari captain is a sight to behold in that black armour of his; his long dark cloak billowing out behind him as he descends the hill on foot. He already has another arrow nocked and drawn back, ready to loose.

The two remaining fae hesitate—freezing for a moment—glancing around wildly at both their dead companions and then each other before they split apart.

One charges uphill—toward Ayer, while the other lifts his sword, rage in his features as he comes straight for me.

“Shit.” I backpedal, my heart slamming against my chest, but my heel catches on a rock and I go down—hard. The fall knocks the breath out of me. On the ground now, I scramble to get out of range of his sword, but I’m not fast enough. The fae raider stops above me, raising his blade high above my head, a look of satisfaction in his eyes just before they roll back into his skull.

He falters.

I roll hard to the side as his body collapses, landing where I’d just been sitting—a knife buried deep in the back of his skull.

I stare at it.

At him.

And then up.

Ayer is still only halfway down the hill.

Too far.

Impossible. That throw⁠—

I survey the carnage before me. Four males lay dead, three of whom by next-to-impossible shots, made within mere seconds of each other. I’m not the best shot, but even I know that for that level of accuracy—from that distance…

Impossible.