I was stronger.

Rising, I smiled widely as my grip tightened on the daggers. “Surprise. I’m not your normal halfling.”

“You’ll be a dead halfling soon.” He shot to his feet.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Catching Ren’s gaze out of the corner of my eye, I nodded. We had to get past the Ancient before Marlon escaped. “Sort of already did that. It didn’t stick.”

The Ancient started to lift his arm, and I knew what he was capable of. I shot forward, spinning as Ren darted past us. I caught sight of Dane grabbing Kalen by the arm, lifting him up as the Ancient caught my leg. He threw me to the side. I rolled, bracing myself for the impact. I hit the floor hard, but I held on to the daggers and breathed through the jarring pain.

“Not going to fall for that again.” The Ancient started toward me.

I sprang up. “But you already did.”

He drew up short and then whipped around, but it was too late. Ren shot forward, and the Ancient let out a guttural groan. Yanking the thorn stake out of the Ancient’s chest, Ren smirked. “Guess you’re going to do the dying thing.”

The Ancient’s mouth dropped open as he stared down at his chest. I shot past him, flipping him off as we joined the Summer fae at the end of the hall. All the doors were open, the rooms empty. One remained shut at the end. Double doors. Obviously, the master bedroom.

Dane slammed his shoulder into the doors, and they gave way, flying open. I saw Marlon at once, standing before a large bed. He lifted his arm, and his hand wasn’t empty. It held a gun.

A gun that was pointed directly at Ren.

“Shit.” My heart lodged in my throat. I darted to my left, knocking Ren to the side as the gunshot echoed in the hall.

Ren caught himself and me, throwing an arm around my waist as his eyes widened slightly. He straightened as his gaze met mine. “Thanks, Sweetness.”

Nodding, I pulled away as I heard the gun fire again. Dane and Kalen were on Marlon. The bullet had fired harmlessly into the ceiling.

“A gun?” Kalen chopped down on Marlon’s arm. The gun fell to the floor as Dane twisted Marlon’s other arm. “That’s kind of tacky.”

“I guess you’ve been relying too heavily on your guards, because this was far too easy.” Dane smile slightly. “Pathetic.”

Marlon sneered as Dane moved behind him. “You’re going to regret this. When the Prince—”

“The Prince isn’t here, now is he?” I walked into the bedroom. “So, he’s not going to do shit.”

Marlon’s gaze narrowed on me as Dane clicked iron handcuffs around his wrist and Kalen forced Marlon’s other arm back. “You’re that fucking halfling.”

“That’s me.” I smiled, sheathing the one dagger.

“Sit,” Dane ordered, and then made sure the Ancient did just that, forcing him down onto the bench with a heavy push on his shoulder.

“Looking less like a halfling and more like a fae,” Marlon spit out. “That’s interesting.”

“I am. That’s a long story, but I’m not here to tell you all about that.” I hooked the other dagger to my thigh. “Because frankly, I don’t care enough to tell you.”

Marlon smiled, baring his teeth. “He should’ve killed you. He should have went ahead and fucked you and then killed you.”

I didn’t get a chance to respond to that.

Ren moved like a cobra striking. His fist slammed into the side of Marlon’s jaw, knocking him to the side. Kalen caught the Ancient as Ren knelt, getting his face right in Marlon’s. “You really need to think wisely about what you say to her.”

“I remember you.” Marlon laughed, and bluish-red blood trickled out of the corner of his month. “You were her pet.”

I stiffened. “I cannot wait to kill that bitch.”

Marlon lifted a dark brow as his gaze flickered to me. “You think you’re going to kill her?” He laughed again. “You’re an idiot.”

“I nearly gouged her eyes out once.” Anger flowed as I stepped forward. “I’m going to do it again. Slowly.”

“Is that so? She’ll gouge yours out and dine on them as a snack.”

I rolled said eyes. “Why would anyone want to eat eyeballs? That’s gross.”

Kalen grinned as he fisted Marlon’s hair, yanking the Ancient’s head back. “Where did the Prince go?”

“He left?” Marlon replied.

“Don’t play like you don’t know.” I folded my arms. “You know damn well he’s not in the city. He left because he found another halfling. And you’re going to tell us where he went.”

“Is that why you’ve reappeared after your daring escape?” Marlon snorted. “You’re so brave.”

I smirked. “We’re going to find out just how brave you are.”

“I’m not going to tell you shit,” Marlon said, growling when Kalen yanked on his hair. “You may as well kill me now.”

“Oh, you’re going to talk.” Tilting his head to the side, Ren straightened, thorn stake in hand. “Do you know what this is?”

Marlon’s gaze flickered over the stake. There was a tightening around his mouth. “I do.”

“And you know what it can do to you? It can hurt you.” Ren smiled as he placed the stake directly above the fae’s heart. “It can kill you.”

“So will the Prince if he knows I talked to you. I’ll die either way.” Marlon swallowed. “Killing me is not a threat.”

I could see the cold smile grace Ren’s lips as he drew the stake up over the center of the Ancient’s throat. “Dying is the easy part. I’m not going to make this easy for you.”

And Ren didn’t.

It wasn’t easy or clean. It was bloody and messy, and Marlon held out far longer than many would have. Hundreds of thin slits covered every inch of exposed skin, and a few times, I wanted to look away, but I forced myself not to. Not when Ren wielded the stake and didn’t have the luxury of closing his eyes. So I made myself watch, and I didn’t flinch when blood sprayed from a vital artery along the Ancient’s throat, dotting Ren’s face and the front of my shirt. I didn’t look away once, and that’s how I knew deep in my bones that when Marlon uttered the words we’d been waiting for, it was the truth.

“San Diego,” Marlon gasped. “The Prince left for San Diego.”

Those were his last words.

Chapter 20

We didn’t have a lot of time alone once we returned to Hotel Good Fae and met with Tanner and crew.

San Diego.

It would take well over a day to get there, roughly twenty-seven hours, and we had to drive since we were carrying weapons and that would require way too many humans to be glamoured for us to travel by air.

Both Ren and I needed to shower since neither of us wanted to hit the road with blood on us, and we probably didn’t get ready as quick as we could have, because it was someone’s idea—Ren’s—to shower together, not that I was complaining.

How could I when it was Ren who washed the smudges of blood off my face? Or when I did the same for him as we stood under the steady stream of water? I was thinking about how we needed to get on the road when he found his way behind me in the shower. And when he got his hand involved, and other parts of his body, complaining and strategizing and thinking in general was the furthest thing from my mind.

“We did good today,” he whispered against the side of my neck.

“We did.”

He kissed the space below my ear. “You were amazing, Ivy.”

A small smile pulled at my lips. “So were you.”

“Yeah.” He lifted his mouth from my neck as his fingers skimmed on the most sensitive part of me. “It wasn’t my . . .”

I placed my hand over his, stilling him. “Wasn’t what?”

“Today wasn’t one of my finer moments.”

My smile started to fade. “What do you mean?”

He was quiet for a moment. “I knew what I had to do to make Marlon talk. I knew what he was. What he would’ve done to us if given the chance. But I still don’t like that I had to do it.”