Fairy Queens: Books 1-4 by Amber Argyle

Author:Amber Argyle
Language: eng
Format: epub

A sudden slither and rush of movement brought Nelay’s head up and her spear around, but too slowly to stop the cobra from clamping onto her hand with the force of a hammer.

She screamed and brought her spear around to swing at the snake, but as quickly as it had struck, the cobra shot away. Nelay dropped her spear and cradled her throbbing hand to her chest, staring at the twin puncture wounds.

She collapsed, defeat and fear and hopelessness washing over her. She looked up to see the snake watching her from just out of reach, its tongue flicking in and out. Nelay picked up her spear with her left hand and growled, “You sack of stringy meat, come get me.”

The snake rose up, its hood flaring and growing wider and wider before Nelay’s eyes. Gasping, she stumbled back. The hood split in two, spreading to the side of its head before fanning into wings. The body shortened, while the tail split into legs. The snake’s pointed head flattened and lightened, hair sprouting in thick coils. Cloth fluttered from a dress made of scales. Within seconds, the snake had transformed into Siseth.

Nelay stared at the fairy’s broken body—there were two of them now. One dead, one alive. A hysterical giggle bubbled up in her throat. She swallowed it down. “How . . .”

“I said I was immortal, not that I couldn’t be killed,” Siseth replied, the haughtiness gone from her tone. She flew closer, but more slowly this time.

With a deep throb, Nelay remembered the burning pain in her hand. The snake bite was just to the side of the valley between her thumb and finger. Her eyes grew heavy and her lungs felt tight—she couldn’t seem to draw a breath. “Am I going to die?”

The fairy was even closer now, staring at Nelay’s wound in apparent fascination. “It would take much more than one bite to kill you.”

Nelay hefted her spear. “Are you trying to scare me?”

The fairy darted. Nelay tried to swat at it again, but she was too slow. She only had time to see it crouching on her hand, the tiny, clawed fingers spearing her wound before pain blazed up her arm.

Nelay screamed and everything went white.

She came to on the ground, bits of gravel embedded into abrasions on her cheek. She must have scraped it when she collapsed.

She glanced at her hand. Gasping, she saw the fairy crouched on her skin, slowly withdrawing her clawed fingers from Nelay’s flesh. There was blood everywhere. Crying out, Nelay jerked her hand back.

The fairy toppled, rolling on the ground until she came to a jumbled stop and shook out her wings indignantly. Nelay snatched her spear and held it before her, but the fairy only cocked her head to the side.

Suddenly Nelay realized she was gripping her spear with her bitten hand. Refusing to let go of her spear, she inspected the wound. The puncture marks were still there, but the swelling and pain were gone.

She looked back at the blood on the ground.

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