He was still covered in blood, there was a star shaped, silver scar on his chest from the branch, and his fine black clothing was in tatters. But the man himself was fine. He must have been missing half of his intestines, judging by what lay coiled on the ground at his feet, and basically all of his blood, yet he was fine.

And had a curl to his lip and a fire in the storm-colored eyes that promised pain for somebody.

“Shit,” I said succinctly, and it looked like Agnes agreed. But before she could comment, we had to throw ourselves to either side, to avoid a bolt of something that looked like lightning that he threw out of one hand.

It felt like lightning, too, blinding me and searing my skin, despite not having touched me. I shifted immediately, landing on the opposite side of the tree, where I tried to send Aeslinn back onto his living torture device by reversing time. But it looked like he’d discovered what I already knew from dealing with another king of the fey: time spells had a limited effect on their royal houses.

Really limited.

Which was why Aeslinn almost immediately tore out of it, spinning and raising an arm—

And I shifted blindly, because there was no time for anything else. I landed on the far side of the now completed warehouse, my eyes struggling to see anything past the aftereffects of another lightning bolt, one that had almost ended this fight really fast. And I do mean almost.

My hair was all standing on end, my heart was trying to decide whether to beat or not, and my hands were shaking like I was holding a pair of maracas. And when I tried to move, my limbs all went in different directions and I fell to the ground. Hard.

I stayed there, gripping dirt, unsure what to do for a minute. I could barely see anything, and all I could smell was smoke—which I belatedly realized was coming from me. Fuck!

I tore off the now burning coat and rolled to put out any remaining fire, wishing I had the war mage outerwear that Pritkin had given me, and which was flame retardant. But I hadn’t exactly been prepared for this, which could be the byline of my life at this point, I thought viciously, as my elbow went up in flames. I shoved it into the dirt, and I must have been fast enough, since the rest of me didn’t ignite. But not roasting to death took a moment, and by the time I staggered back to my feet—

Shit.