“I am serious! Duck.”
I ducked as a dagger f lew overhead, barely missing my ear. A false Goodfel ow whooped with laughter, and my anger f lared. “All right,” I snapped, swinging my sword in a wide arc, forcing Other Ash back a step. “On three, then. One… two…three!” We spun, half circling to the left, taking each other’s places and the ref lections that came with them. The two Other Pucks blinked at me, surprised, and leaped back as I lunged at them with a snarl. One pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at me, but I’d fought Puck on countless occasions and knew all of his tricks. The furry ball erupted in-to a squealing badger, f lying at my face, but I was already slicing at it, cutting it from the air. It shattered in a tangle of twigs and pine needles, and I lunged through the cascade, plunging my sword into Robin Goodfel ow’s chest.
226/387
He dissolved into a swirl of autumn leaves as the last Puck leaped through the curtain with a howl, stabbing viciously with his dagger.
“This seems familiar, ice-boy,” Other Puck said, grinning savagely as we parried and sliced at each other. “Think you’ve got the guts to actually go through with it this time?” I responded by slashing at his face, barely missing him as he ducked.
“Oooh, that had a bit of temper behind it.” He sneered, eyes gleaming as he circled back. “But don’t think I’ll go easy on you, just because of our history. I’m not like my other half—weak, pathetic, restrained…”
“Loud, obnoxious, immature,” I added.
“Hey!” the real Puck called from farther down, dodging as Other Ash slashed at him. “I’m standing right here, you two!” Other Puck laughed, a cruel sound that made me bristle with loathing.
“That’s the problem with my other half,” he said, lunging forward with a series of vicious cuts that forced me back a few steps. “Somewhere in the long centuries, he managed to grow a conscience and turn completely boring. If he dies here, I’ll be all that’s left. As it should be.”
“Interesting.” Grimalkin appeared in front of a mirror. “I do not know which is more annoying, the real Goodfel ow or the ref lection.”
“Well, considering they are one and the same,” said a second, identical Grimalkin, materializing next to the first, “we should be thankful that there will be only one left when this is all over.”
“Agreed. Two Goodfel ows would be more than anyone in this world could take.”
“I shudder to think of the implications.” 227/387
“You are so not helping, Grimalkin!” the real Puck called, ducking beneath a savage head strike. “And we’re not here to have tea with our evil doppelg?ngers! Shouldn’t you two be trying to kill each other?” The Grimalkins sniffed. “Please,” they said at the same time.
Over my opponent’s shoulder, I saw Other Ash block an upward strike, then lash out with a kick that sent Puck sprawling onto his back. The ref lection stepped forward, raising his sword, but Puck reached back, grabbed a handful of twigs and f lung it at his assailant. They turned into a swarm of yellow jackets, buzzing around the fake prince, until a vicious burst of cold sent them plummeting to the ground, coated in frost.
“Hey!” Other Puck stabbed forward viciously, making me leap back to avoid him. “The fight’s here, ice-boy. Don’t worry about your boy-friend, worry about yourself.”
I backed farther into the hall, and Other Puck followed, smiling demonically. “Running away?” he taunted, as I drew my glamour to me, feeling it surge beneath my skin. “Always a coward, weren’t you, prince? Never had the guts to really go for the kill.”
“You’re right,” I murmured, startling him. He frowned in wary surprise, and I smiled. “I always regretted my words against Puck. There was always a part of me that didn’t want to go through with it.” I lowered my blade, touching the tip to the f loor. Ice spread from the point of the weapon, coating the ground and the walls, freezing the mirrors with sharp crinkling sounds.
“But, with you,” I continued, narrowing my eyes, “it’s different. You’re the part of him that I hate. The part that revels in the chaos you cause, the lives you destroy. And I can say this with complete certainty—killing you will be a pleasure.”
228/387
Robin Goodfel ow’s face twisted into a vicious sneer. Snarling like a beast, he lunged at me, dagger gleaming in the icy hallway. I stepped back, raised my arms and brought them forward with a shout and a burst of glamour. The frozen mirrors shattered, f lying outward in an explosion of deadly, razorsharp shrapnel, catching Puck in the very center.
There was one high-pitched yell of dismay.
And then there was nothing except the shards tinkling to the ground and a few black feathers spiraling down to the f loor. Other Puck was gone.
“Very nice, Ash.” My ref lection’s voice echoed through the hallway.