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"Ahead and to the right," he finishes, his voice strained

Ignoring the ache inthat the two fae aren’t illusions They creep forithoutthe underbrush We stay frozen as they silently stalk by, passing between us and Aren and Nalst, who crouch twenty feet to our right Kelia and Naito are on the other side of thened to this Sidhe Tol are spread out behind us and on the opposite side of the stream, less than a quarter h the forest The thick canopy protects us from the rain for a few short seconds before the downpour penetrates it The air cools, but I’h and even more miserable than before I want this over with If Radath hasn’t sent more than a few fae to protect this Sidhe Tol, it shouldn’t be difficult to get a sizable number of rebels into the Silver Palace

A patch of brown and green detaches fro to indicate theand black and barrel-like slips out of the foliage Not a rebel A vigilante He stuffs a can inside so that looks like a launcher, then aims at the two Court fae

The canister thumps from the barrel and then explodes

I throw myself on top of Kyol to shelter hi in the air long; the rain washes the dust into the earth

Kyol grips my shoulders "McKenzie!"

"The silver" I runoff darkened rainwater Most of it’s on me He should be able to fissure

"You don’t protectht hip

Kyol curses under his breath and jerks the piece offor breath Christ, it hurts And all at once, isters--from another piece ofinto the ilantes stuffed shrapnel as well as silver into the coffee cans this time

I don’t have a chance to pull it out before Kyol reappears, blood dripping fros h the air Bark and splinters burst froain at ainst the attack He can’t h He’ll burn out

"Jorreb!" Kyol shouts during one of the few instances he’s visible in this world A second later, Aren takes out the vigilantes firing on us, ending the assault

But it continues elsewhere Everywhere I fling rainwater out of my eyes and scan the forest It’s al Kyol spotted the two Court fae before I did Maybe I’ others, others he can’t see because they’re hidden by illusion

But no All the fissures--every single one of them--are camo-clad rebels Where the fuck are the rest of the Court fae? The plan’s gone to hell We’re not supposed to be the ones fighting the vigilantes

Kyol’s breathing hard at rab his wrist when he starts to rise, silently plead for him to remain He pullsHe fissured too ht "There’s no reason for you to be here if the Court fae aren’t"

"How far to the Sidhe Tol? Maybe they’re there"

Bullets strafe the ground to the left, and the air erupts with earth and wet leaves

Kyol presses me into the tree trunk "No They’ll stay away fro"

"Maybe they removed--"

"They’re in the trees!"