Fae of the South (Court of Crown and Compass Book 3) by E. Hall (libby ebook reader .txt) 📕

Without swords or talismans, we do our best to fend off the other two.

“Where’s Fire Eater when you need it?” I ask.

“Heather ordered us to leave our swords at home.” Val grunts. “Last time I listen to her.”

Kiki and Soren come out carrying plates with pizza. Kiki’s drops to the ground.

“Don’t worry, we have it under control,” Val says.

Kiki shakes her head and then points upward.

In the middle of the road is a giant, two-headed, lizard-like demon beast.

“What is that?” I whisper.

“Looks kind of like Godzilla if it had two heads, was drooling red slime, had fire in its eyes, and twisted sword-like claws at the ends of its six arms,” Tyrren sums up.

Callen lets out a low sigh. “That is a Grunder. Must’ve been from the demon dudes.”

“Dude. I think that’s my favorite Terra word,” Soren says.

“Should we know what a Grunder is?” I ask.

“All you need to know is that we need to slay it. If it’s not stopped, it’ll multiply.”

“Okay, what do we do?” I ask, thinking of how Emeric duplicated himself.

Callen grimaces. “What we don’t do is more important. Don’t spill any of its blood.”

“Emeric did exactly that,” I say, quickly telling them what happened.

“Where did it come from?” Kiki asks.

“I don’t have time to give you a crash course on Borean beasts. It’s demon spawned. Glandias, or whoever is behind the increase in demons in the city and their posing as humans, has advanced quickly. We have to drown the thing,” Callen says.

“Okay, the river isn’t far from here. Maybe nine blocks,” I say, pointing.

The creature stalks closer, its sights set on us. The twisty, sharp claws wave in the air. Its teeth are jagged and drip with red goop.

Police sirens wail in the distance.

“Too risky to go to the river,” Callen says.

“Do you have a better idea?” Val asks.

“It’s going to mess up Terra if we stay here. We have to drive it to Borea.” Callen angles himself between the beast and Val.

“You think we can defeat it there?” I ask.

“The Southlands are already in ruin. If we can use the rune of passage portal, I think we have a shot.”

“Wait. What if the three of us ensnare it with magic and then go to Borea.”

“Good thinking,” Callen says.

Val, Kiki, and I surround the thing on three sides.

“I’ve never contained a demon-spawned monster before,” Val says.

Kiki and I turn to her. At the same time, we say, “Me neither.”

All at once, our magic blasts forward, causing the Grunder to writhe and spit.

The goo lands on Callen and he dodges out of the way while yelling. “Soren, use the portal of passage mirror to get us back to Borea.”

“But won’t we land in Brendsondl Castle since that’s where we left?” he asks.

“Better there than here. There are enough fae we can take the thing down.”

“What if we land on Gerda?” Kiki’s magic is ice-blue like snow in sunshine.

Callen chortles.

Soren says, “She’s experienced worse.”

“Not funny, guys,” Val replies.

With every passing moment, my crimson magic, edged gray, gets stronger. I have to focus on not going on a warpath. This is the part of the shadow combined with being unseelie, drawing me to chaos and destruction. I fight it and the demon monster.

“We should get a move on, guys,” Tyrren says. “I guarantee the press and police are on their way. They don’t know about the no-Grunder-bloodshed rule and will likely take aim and fire.”

“Right,” Soren says, pulling out a shiny object. He traces his finger over a rune symbol like the one on the bracelet that I gave Tyrren. “Everyone has to link up.”

Callen grips Val and Kiki’s hands, Tyrren grabs ahold of me and Kiki, and Soren extends his hand to grip my arm.

I expect the strange free fall like when Glandias transported us from RIP Jr but nothing happens. “Uh, that thing isn’t working,” I say.

Soren holds what looks like a shard of mirror and hardly capable of transporting six people plus a demon beast through space and time.

He stares at it, turns it over, and traces it again. Nothing.

“Come on, man, do something,” Tyrren urges.

A ripple of dread runs through me. The creature uses what feels like grim magic, trying to break our bonds against it. Kiki strains while Val looks positively reckless with power.

Sirens get closer with every passing moment.

“Callen, did you say a Grunder or a grunter?” Soren asks.

“Grunder, grunter, it’s basically the same thing.” Callen shrugs.

Soren pats his pocket. “I originally wanted the book because it was Hedda’s but then lost it in a wager. I made Scriv give it back because I imagined Kiki and I would have kids someday.”

“That’s great. Congratulations. Now, we need to do something,” I growl.

“This reminds me of the movie Ghostbusters. What do you think would happen if we cross the streams?” Kiki asks.

Tyrren stifles a laugh. “I don’t know how it works with fae magic, but in the movie, things got a lot worse before they got better.”

“Looks that way here too.” I groan.

“Soren, is that thing going to work?” Val asks.

He shakes his head and flips through the book he just took out of his pocket. “Oeten the Devourer and his pet Grunter. I always thought it was a fairytale.”

“Unfortunately, this is real life,” I grind out, keeping my magic in possession of the beast.

“In the story, they go on an adventure to another realm...here.” Soren flips the pages.

“Not the best moment for storytime, Soren.” Val’s brow wrinkles with concentration.

Sweat shines on Kiki’s forehead.

“Guys, this book is a portal.” Soren studies it.

“Oeten the Devourer laid siege to the Southlands,” Callen says. “I remember the story.