Realm of Mirrors (The DeathSpeaker Codex Book 3) by Sonya Bateman Read Free Book Online

soldiers were unaffected, and the rip remained.
    And Taeral was being dragged through it.
    No! I still couldn’t speak. As I struggled with the Fae I’d pinned, two more rushed past us—then seconds later, I heard Reun scream. Sadie was on the floor, apparently unconscious. I refused to believe she was dead. And the soldier beneath me was almost free.
    I drew an arm back and rammed a fist into his jaw.
    He barely flinched. And then, he grinned. “ Tuariis’caen ,” he said.
    The dagger I’d twisted away from him flew back into his hand, and in a single smooth motion, he plunged it through my shoulder.
    Not being able to scream almost hurt more than the knife.
    He pulled the blade free, flipped me off and scrambled upright. For an instant I got a good look at him—dark brown braided hair, gleaming amber-gold eyes, thorny vines tattooed across the bridge of his nose and around his throat like a collar. His grin chilled me to the core.
    “ Crohgaa ,” he said. “ Amaedahn…naech crohgaa. ”
    Whatever that meant, it wasn’t a spell. I tried to stand, to go for him again, but only got halfway up before pain twisted through me and drove me to my knees. He grinned again, and dove through the portal.
    I could only watch as the rest of them hauled an unresisting Daoin through the same way as Taeral—and the shimmering crack vanished.
     
     

C HAPTER 8

     
    A s soon as the portal closed, the invisible stranglehold on my throat released. “Sadie!” I gasped, dragging myself toward her motionless form. At least I could see her, and I could get to her.
    I couldn’t think about Taeral and Daoin yet. If I did, I’d lose it.
    She was facedown with one arm flung over her head, and the other bent loosely behind her back. I moved to turn her over, momentarily forgetting about my shoulder until incredible pain surged through me and left my mouth in a hoarse scream.
    Then I remembered the runes on those daggers were enchantments, designed to enhance the damage the weapons dealt.
    My damage was definitely enhanced.
    “Sadie…” I worked to flip her single-handed, dimly aware of the increased activity in the background that seem to come from another life. Motion and voices. I blocked them out and focused on Sadie.
    She was breathing, at least. Her eyes were closed, and there was a small smear of blood at her right temple. I searched gently with my fingers, lifting her hair and feeling for injuries, before I realized that the blood was probably mine. My entire arm was soaked in blood that dripped from my fingertips.
    But Sadie seemed untouched. They could’ve used the sleep spell on her—one of the few I actually knew. So maybe I could reverse it. Sometimes I could come up with Fae words I didn’t know if I relaxed my focus, so I closed my eyes and tried not to think about how to say ‘wake up.’
    “ Diúsaegh. ”
    I spoke the word almost before I thought it. Sadie’s body stiffened, and her eyes flew open. “Taeral!” she called harshly, struggling to sit up. Her distant gaze barely registered me, even though I was right in front of her. “We have to stop them—”
    “Sadie, wait.” I grabbed her arm firmly, before she could bolt. “We can’t.”
    Her lip curled as she wrenched away. “The hell we can’t! Turn your pendant on,” she said. “I’ll go wolf and…kill every one of those…” Her voice faded as she finally looked around and realized how quiet it was. How the parlor wasn’t full of Unseelie soldiers any more. How it was distinctly lacking Taeral. And Daoin—but she wasn’t looking for him yet. “No,” she said in a cracked whisper.
    I shuddered and glanced over the rest of the room. Denei and Zoba, the two oldest Duchenes, were rushing toward Reun’s sprawled and groaning form, half-propped against an overturned table. Two of their younger siblings stood near the parlor entrance, and Grygg was just outside it, glaring through angrily as one of the Duchenes spoke to him with rapid,