Seeing red, I pushed off the wall and launched myself forward as Ren got back up and kicked out, catching the ancient in the knee. The knight went down on one leg just as I reached him. I grabbed him by the top of his head and jerked his head back, my arm arcing—
The knight flung his hand out, and a second later, I was scooting across the room, bumping into a plant stand. The fern went over, spilling dirt all over the floor. This time I ended up over by the balcony doors.
“What the hell!” I shouted again.
Ren sprang forward, swinging out, but the knight dodged the attack. He caught Ren’s arm and spun him around, drawing his back to the knight’s chest. I pushed away from the doors, racing across the small distance. Shoving the dagger into the knight’s back, I yanked the blade out as I was then thrown across the floor once more, back toward the bedroom as the knight let go of Ren.
A cold, harsh reality set in as I caught myself by grabbing the doorframe. The knight was purposely keeping me out of the fight while going toe to toe with Ren.
Ren caught the knight by the shoulder with one hand and lifted his leg, thrusting his knee into the fae’s gut. The knight exhaled roughly as he shoved Ren back into my chair. The little footstool Tink used went flying.
Then they were going at each other, fists flying, with a lot of dodging and dipping. I shot forward again, this time determined to not get shoved aside like a piece of clothing. I was a foot away when movement to my right caught my attention.
Tink appeared in the hallway, just beyond the bathroom, his wings moving lazily as he yawned. He was wearing a . . . tiny nightcap? What in the holy fuck? He was even wearing miniature pajama bottoms, blue and white striped, and I had no idea where he’d gotten them from. No idea at all.
He was in the process of stretching his little arms out when he looked around the room. “What kind of tomfoolery is this?”
Tomfoolery?
The knight was distracted for a moment, eyeing Tink with surprise. A second later, the brownie’s eyes widened as all sleep vanished from his face. Tink shot into the living room as he ripped off his dainty nightcap and tossed it aside, the pale blue cap floating to the floor.
“Thou shall not pass!” Tink shouted, throwing out his hand in the direction of the knight and Ren.
I stopped.
Ren halted mid-swing.
The knight caught Ren’s arm, blocking the jab as he turned and cocked his head to the side, staring at the brownie.
Tink blinked slowly. “Well, shit. That worked in The Lord of the Rings.”
Oh my God.
Ignoring Tink and hoping he managed to stay out of the way and make it out of this alive, I darted toward the knight.
“This needs to stop right now. You’re cutting into my sleep time,” Tink announced, lowering his arms to his sides as he hovered near the coffee table. “And you don’t want to mess with my sleep time. I give you one more chance, sir. Leave, or else.”
“Jesus,” muttered Ren, ducking as the knight lunged for him. “What are you going to do, Tink? Annoy him to death? Because that might actually work.”
“You have no idea what I am capable of,” Tink shot back.
I shot forward, grabbing the knight’s arm and trying to flip him, but the knight turned suddenly. Lifting his arm and me, he tossed me over the back of the couch and dumped me onto the cushions. I started to scramble away when I saw Tink move toward where Ren and the knight were brawling.
“Stay back, Tink!” I shouted. Dammit, this was getting out of hand.
“I got this.” Tink looked at me, then drew in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Ivy.”
I frowned as I rose from the couch. “You’re . . .”
A fine shimmer surrounded Tink, like a misty cloud of golden dust. He was completely covered, body and wings. The dust expanded, forming a cyclone that swirled down to the floor and halfway to the ceiling. It moved so fast and was so thick that I couldn’t see Tink inside of it.
I took a step forward as fear for Tink rose in my gut, but the shimmering cyclone stilled and then fell to the floor in a rush of sparkling golden dust and . . .
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
The knight stopped fighting. So did Ren. The entire world would have stopped, because they were seeing what I was seeing, which was insane. Absolutely freaking insane.
A man stood where Tink had hovered—a fully grown man who was as tall as the knight, and that man, whoever he was, looked like Tink. He had shockingly white hair and blue eyes. Tink’s handsome little face was now transformed into a normal-sized handsome face. He was tall and broad, with defined pecs and abs, and—oh my God, he was naked. Like legit naked! And I couldn’t un-see any of that, because . . .
Because this fully grown male was Tink.
“Oh my God.” I took a step sideways and then my knees gave out. I plopped down onto the couch.
“What in the actual fuck of all fuckdoms?” Ren exclaimed.
That summed up everything.
Striding forward, Tink headed straight for the stunned knight. Ren stepped aside, and I think it was completely out of shock, because there were things hanging and dangling—and I was scarred for life.