Excerpt from Poppy

“Not so tough now, are you?” She grinds out between clenched teeth as she leans closer to my face. Blood is dripping from her lip, nose, and a nasty gash on her cheek. I can feel it dropping on to my face and throat. It is disgusting. She has bruises already in full bloom all over her face and it appears she is missing a small amount of her hair.

Although my vision is beginning to fade and I am growing weak, I still manage to grin up at her. I feel a small amount of satisfaction in knowing that I put up the best fight I was able to. Her recovery will be slow and painful and she will be reminded of the pain I inflicted upon her as she heals.

“You think this is funny?” she snarls, “I’m going to kill you.”

“I don’t think so.” I hear suddenly from behind her.

She turns her head around, but does not release the pressure on my neck. I see Reed running up behind her, dagger in one hand and one of the deadliest looks on his face that I have ever seen. I can see the intent in his eyes and a wave of fear runs through me. Reed is intuitive, smart, and extremely strong; unfortunately he is still half human. Without the proper training, a Halfling is never a match for a full Fae, especially one trained as a Warrior.

“No! Reed, No!” I try to scream, but it comes out as a barely strangled whisper because of the hands still locked tightly around my throat.

Reed races up behind her to try and help me. The other Faery lashes out with all of her strength and knocks him away. He flies back a few feet and is slammed into a tree. I see his head slam back forcefully into the tree and hear a loud crack at the connection. Then I watch in horror as he slumps to the ground, unmoving. A small trickle a blood begins to seep out of his nose.