I laughed aloud, a deep, satisfying belly laugh that surprised Fortunato even more than it surprised me. “Oh, stuff it, you poncy asshole.” We were in tight quarters, not safe for me to draw my gun. Instead, I drew my knife again, still sticky with my blood. I had a moment of regret for not cleaning it and wiped it on my jeans automatically before aiming it at him.

Tellis shrieked and leaped in front of him, and I stumbled back a pace, almost laughing again at her stark overreaction. Her jerky motions made her helm fall over her eyes, and she threw it off with a grunt of irritation.

What she didn’t understand, was that the armor needed to stay whole for the small, but admittedly impressive magical dwoemer to work. I saw a tiny flash of light, almost like a spark from a shorted electrical line as the connection to the magic severed. It was exactly what I’d hoped to see.

The wisp seemed to understand as well. They swarmed my cousin and his guard until her anger gave way to shrieks of pain. Both she and Fortunato fell to the ground, covering their heads with their hands/

“Stop!” Tryst’s voice carried over the screaming.

Even the tiny wisps stopped buzzing like bees and hovered just above Fortunato and Tellis as if awaiting the broker’s instruction.

“Don’t do this, Trickster.” Gray’s voice was strained. I motioned for Niall to keep watch on my cousin, whose eyes glinted evilly as he smirked up at me.

“Tryst, what’s going on? Why aren’t you guiding the wee folk out?” I rounded the last corner to see a soldier with her dagger to Geallta’s throat.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t…I can’t lose her again.”

Fortunato laughed from the other corridor, calling out to us. “Trickster, you and your woman may go, just leave us the rest. I grant you freedom, as the future king of Fairy.”

“Fuck. You can’t do this, Tryst. I made a promise. You can’t force me to break it.”

He sighed, spread his hands, and backed over the threshold, just outside the door. He flexed his fingers, and sparks flew off them momentarily. “Gods that feels good. Do you know how long it’s been since I had magic of my own, even this small?”

I knew, or at least had an idea of how long it had been. The soldier released Geallta, and she raced toward the door, pausing just inside and turning toward me, confusion flitting across her delicate features. "My lady, we must go now. The pixie queen is not patient."

“No, she is not, but I cannot go with you, I promise, I will be right behind you.”

Tryst cleared his throat. “You shouldn’t keep making more promises you can’t keep.”

I curled my lip at him, showing him my fangs. "I'm not the only one who made a promise, Broker." I started to curse his name but stopped myself. He was weak. McDonough had been weak. I was the rightful heir to the high throne of Fairy. I didn't have the luxury of weakness.

Perhaps it was the fire he saw in my eyes that changed his mind, or maybe he’d been planning to all along, but Tryst managed to surprise me when those tiny sparks became a flare that he twisted in his hands into a sword of flame.

A goddamned, true as I stood there, sword of flame, like only the old gods could pull from nothing. Real power and the way he wielded it, power like that was as easy for him as breathing. A power that had always been his.

So when that sword flew past me and lodged itself between the soldier’s startled eyes, I didn’t even make a sound.