Brave (A Wicked Trilogy 3)

brakes.

I stared into the back seat. “Can you take out whoever else is in that car? And can you do it without getting killed?”

Fabian turned his head from Tink to me. He smiled. “I am capable.”

“Then do it. I’ll provide cover.”

Before Ren could stop me, I threw the door open and slipped out, keeping low.

“What the hell are you doing?” demanded Ren as he climbed out of the SUV.

“Providing the necessary distraction.” I crept along the side of the vehicle. “Stop worrying about me. I can take care of myself. You need to do the same and that’s to get a damn gun.”

He glared at me for a moment, and then I like to think he realized he wasn’t going to win this argument. “There’s some guns in the back. Ivy—”

“I’d get one of them just in case this goes south.” Rising, I headed toward the idling sedan and opened fire. “Now, Fabian!”

The back door blew up and out shot the Summer Prince. He stalked past me, his hair lifting in the sudden hot wind that swirled across the desert floor. I kept firing until I was out, tossing the gun aside as Fabian let out a roar that didn’t even remotely sound human . . . or fae.

A yellowish glow rippled from his body, encasing him in light until he looked like the sun had risen in the night just for him. In the distance, I heard Ren opening the SUV, but I couldn’t pull my eyes from Fabian.

Car doors on the sedan flew open. Two—no, three people flew out. I could see them lifting their hands. Guns. Shit.

The air around Fabian warped and then expanded. Hairs all over my body lifted as I took a step back, away from him just as a burst of unnatural power left his body, shooting across the clearing and slamming into the sedan.

The car shot up into the air, sending at least two people flying in different directions. They landed in fleshy thuds just as the car exploded in a thunderous crack, bursting into flames like a damn fireball had hit it.

“Holy crap,” I stumbled back, reaching for my dagger. I’d never seen anything like that.

Fabian shot forward, a blur of speed, reaching the first person on the ground before I could even blink. He caught the first guy around the neck, snapping it within a heartbeat. He turned on the second man—a man I could see was dressed in all black. The Summer Prince placed his hand on the man’s head.

And that was it.

The man dropped the gun, screaming as he lurched back. Flames erupted over his body like he was a victim of spontaneous combustion.

Fabian laughed as he whirled, zeroing in on the third man, who was still standing. He turned to run, but didn’t make it very far. Fabian was on him in a second, and the smell of charred flesh reached me.

I kept walking backward until I bumped into the SUV. I turned, finding Ren standing there with a gun in his hand. “Maybe . . . maybe we should’ve let him out of the car earlier.”

“Good God,” he murmured, eyes wide.

The kind of power the Prince could wield was beyond frightening. A weapon of mass destruction with pointy ears, and apparently a hard-on for Tink. If he was capable of this, what exactly was the Winter Prince truly capable of?

Tink peeked his head up over the window. “That was kind of hot. Literally. Figuratively.”

I turned to him. “I think you should be really, really careful with him.”

“We need to get to the others.” Ren handed me another gun. “There’s still gunfire back there.”

I turned just in time to see Fabian taking out the men that were thrown from the car. My stomach turned as I faced Ren. “Please be careful. Don’t get shot.”

Ren gave me a devilish smile. “Keep yourself in one piece, because when this is over I have a lot of ideas on how I want to work out some of the adrenaline this fight is going to give us.”

Oh my.

That was definitely great motivation to stay alive.

Stretching up, I grabbed his chin and brought his mouth to mine. I kissed him with everything I had in me, and it was harsh and fierce. When I pulled back, I almost didn’t want to let him go. “I love you.”

His hand brushed over my hip. “Prove it to me later.”

Then Ren was gone, rushing around the side of the SUV, toward the glaring headlights.

I spun to Tink. “Stay—”

“Don’t.” He opened the door, forcing me to take a step back. “I’m not a child, Ivy. I can take care of myself. Trust me.”

“I know you’re not a child, Tink.” Another rapid succession of gunfire echoed across the highway. “But this is really dangerous.”

“I know.” He closed the door behind him. “But I can help. So, if you want to cancel Amazon Prime, then do so, but I’m not staying in this car while all of you risk your lives.”

There was a shout, and I could hear footsteps pounding off the ground. Arguing with Tink was just going to get us both killed. “Stay close to Fabian.”

A wild grin whipped across his face. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

As Tink shot past me, I whipped around and saw a man racing toward me. I didn’t recognize him, but he was definitely human. He lifted a hand, and the moonlight glinted off a dagger.

An Order member.

Crap.

He charged forward, and I dipped low. Springing up, I spun and slammed my foot into his back. There was a sickening crunch that startled me.

The man went down, twitching and spasming.

“What the . . . ?” I stumbled back, shocked that a simple kick to the back would . . . oh God.

I was stronger now. How could I keep forgetting that?

A kick to the back had broken the man’s spine. My stomach churned as I spun, and I didn’t have time to really process that. A second man raced at me, and I sidestepped his attack. He whirled, but I caught his arm. Twisting sharply, I winced at the crack and desperately ignored the man’s yelp of pain. He dropped the dagger.

“I don’t want to kill you,” I said, putting pressure on the man until he went down on his knees. I seriously didn’t want to. Killing humans, well, it was nothing like killing fae. They didn’t cave into themselves like fae did. Instead, it was bloody and messy and stuck with you long after the deed was done. “So, if I let go, you’re going to behave, right?”

The man gasped out a harsh laugh. “You better go ahead and kill me, because if you let me up, I’m going to take you out, you bitch.”

“Wow.” I increased pressure out of spite. “I’m holding your broken arm, dude.”

“Kill me,” he gasped out. “Go ahead and do it, you traitorous whore!”

My jaw clenched as someone in the distance shouted. There was a flare of orange light, and I assumed Fabian was lighting some people up in the worst possible way. “You’re an Order member.”

“Just like you were,” he said, twisting his head to the side. “But you betrayed us.”

“I didn’t betray shit. How did you know we were out here?”

“How do you think? You—” He lurched, grabbing the dagger.

I cursed as he swiped behind him. Letting go, I jumped out of the way. He stumbled to his feet.

“Whatever you think about me is wrong. I haven’t betrayed the Order. I’m trying to stop—”

He came at me like a freight train, and instinct took over. I didn’t want to kill him, but I also didn’t want to get stabbed to death either. I already knew how sucky that felt.

Shooting forward, I shoved my other dagger into his chest, between the ribs. I yanked it out as I whispered, “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t speak as he fell forward.