Page 66 of The Rat King
Her voice trailed off as I ate up more ground and a guilty twinge nipped at me. I knew Nighval would be furious when he returned to learn I wasn’t there or when I showed up at his mother’s home without his permission. But perhaps it would be better if he wasn’t there. Then I could bargain with her.
I suspected my husband was strong enough to send me between planes with ease, but was keeping that from me. It had to have something to do with him having both a warlock and witch’s blood.
I’d been thinking about the Metonic moon cycle. I was almost certain it had played a part in his birth or his conception—Samara wouldn’t have failed to use that. She seemed like an incredibly calculating woman much like her son, though her end goal remained a mystery to me.
But if Nighval was right and his suffering was her goal, then what better way to create it than sending me back to my plane? I was ready to cut my losses and be done with this. Hell, maybe I’d move to another country and start anew when I got back. Move to Italy and find an actual mafia man. Wait, that was actually a terrible idea. I already had a guy that was something to that effect, and I was running from him.
I hated the way that thought made my chest ache. I promised to rule beside him and after the way he’d been in the carriage as I’d stupidly let him in for a brief glimmer of time, his claim had been so intense. Would he tear a hole in the planes to get me back?
No, he wouldn’t. Because if he did, that would have to mean—no. I wouldn’t think about that. I wouldn’t surrender no matter how big of a sob story he told, or how good the sex was. Or how comforted I’d felt in his arms, telling him my darkest secrets.
The week-old ache welled up in my chest and a tear spilled over the edge of my eyelid before I could brush it away. I had to be five miles now. I stopped and leaned against a tree to catch my breath. I no longer heard voices still searching, and the carriage had to be long gone by now.
What was I doing? More tears fell. He loved me. The thought bored a hole right through me. He’d messed up and went about it in the wrong way, but we fell in love and saved an entire plane of people from living as monstrous rat people for the rest of their lives. How could I be so stubborn?
My grief brought me to my knees. I saw that look on his face as I’d screamed like all the others had. And again today, when I’d pushed him away. Ever since his mother put that curse upon them, every incident seemed designed to chip a little more away from his heart. Yet it was still big enough to love me. Now here I was running again, either toward her or away from him, I wasn’t sure.
Shit. Even if I ran the five miles back, he’d know what I’d done.
Panic gripped hot claws around my throat.
Leaves rustled nearby. Too close. My head snapped up in the sound’s direction.Help me, Goddess. A six-foot wraith-like creature slithered across the ground not ten feet from me and gaining in my direction. Nighval warned me to stay in the carriage. Did he know about these things?
Slowly, I rose to my feet, lifting a hand, palm facing it to let it know I wasn’t a threat. “It’s okay, I’m leaving.” I’d heard of witches using spectral beings as barrier protections. Maybe these things were tied to the wards Nighval referred to that surrounded the edge of his mother’s land.
Two inky black, barely corporeal shapes appeared behind it. Each figure was humanoid in a blurry way and identical. Three more rose from the ground, and I realized they were appearing, encircling me.
If these were Samara’s creatures, maybe they would take me to her, and I could explain to Nighval if he was still there. Or maybe they were spelled to kill on sight. When the first one, as if sensing my questions, bared its pointed black wraith teeth that definitely looked like they could sink into flesh, I had my answer. They advanced, and I ran.
I was unsure of which direction I was going. All I knew was I headed away from the deadly things that slithered across the forest floor behind me. The deeper I went into the forest, the more brambles and briars I encountered, but the pine floor was soft and easy to run on. I darted around a tree, and my cloak caught on a thorn, tearing. I tugged, ripping the fabric free, and continued.
Had I not already worn myself out trying to escape the guards, I might have been able to make it. Exhaustion and my heavy backpack were weighing me down. A clawed hand swiped and caught one of the dangling straps, but I jerked sideways, and it lost its grip.
Another swipe and it caught hold again. In a swift move, I unclasped the buckle at my chest and thumbed the backpack, all my precious possessions gifted to me by my aunt, off my shoulders. The backpack hit the ground with a thud and lighter now, I hooked a left in the direction I believed the road to be.
My lungs felt like I’d drank battery acid, and the raw sensation deep in my stomach told me I couldn’t continue much longer at this speed. As it was, my legs were jelly, becoming sluggish. The toe of my boot caught on a tree root, and I didn’t have the strength to skip forward and land on my feet. My ankle twisted, and I went down hard. The air left my lungs in a whoosh, and I rolled, popping up on my feet.
Adrenaline must have shielded me from the initial pain, because when I stepped on my twisted ankle, fire shot up my leg and it barely would bear any weight. Glancing over my shoulder, the wraiths neared, surrounding me. I hobbled to the nearest pine tree. Its trunk was about a foot around and limbs about as big as the head of a baseball bat jutted out in every direction. I could climb them like a ladder. I wasn’t sure if the things could follow me off the ground. It was worth a shot.
I scrambled up the tree, pulling myself up with my arms and steadying myself with my good foot. The wraiths hissed at the base as they watched me climb, but didn’t follow. Their arms were like Gumby’s though, long and stretchy, and one swung, catching on my boot. The sound of its claw scraping down the leather made a scream tear from my throat, but I managed to kick it off and scamper up a few more branches out of their reach.
Since I’d fled, the light coming in through the few holes in the dense canopy dimmed. Outside, it may still be daylight, but inside it appeared as if it was past dusk. So much so that the glowing blue that suddenly appeared drew every eye in the vicinity.
A wraith shrieked as a neon dagger flew end over end and pierced its throat. My eyes darted in the direction it came from. In a whirl of black was Nighval, hands out, palms face up, glowing with blue fire, or more like power, essence. He was fury unbound, his black hair moving with every turn as his blue light became a sword, slicing through wraith after wraith.
My husband was terrifying, deadly, and incredible. Beautiful, and he was going to be livid with me, but I’d never felt more in love. The limb I was leaning on groaned and snapped. I plummeted toward the ground, smacking branches as I fell. When I thudded on the soft ground, Nighval shot me a glare as if my fall was a distraction. Then his palms unfurled, and two glowing balls shot out, slamming into the chest of the final two wraiths.
He stormed over to where I lay beneath the tree next to the broken branch and crossed his arms. “Wow,” I said. I was married to an action hero, albeit a darkish one.
There was no love or affection in his black eyes as they glared down at me. “Get up,” he bit out between his teeth.
“I can’t. My ankle,” I said, gesturing to where I could already feel swelling inside my boot. I needed to get it off soon or it would be more painful. I unlaced my boot and tried to tug it off, but the angle hurt too much.
“What are you doing?” he asked, still not budging from his towering stance.
“I have to get it off before it swells too much. Here, help me,” I said, and he immediately scoffed.
“Don’t be an ass, Nighval. Grab the heel of my boot.” He approached, and I held my foot out to him and he palmed the shoe. “Gentle,” I said, and he swiftly yanked, ignoring my warning and white flashed across my vision, but the boot was off.
