Page 109 of Death of a Mortal

I was nearly naked, with my wrists cuffed in front of me and the shredded dress hanging down, but when this male told me to run, by the gods, I was going to run harder than I ever had in my life. Freedom felt like it was dangling in front of me, nearly within reach. The adrenaline coursing through me kept the fear at bay. I felt nothing but a need for action.

A bolt of lightning came down from the darkening sky where black clouds rapidly formed. It struck the balcony above, sending chunks of stone flying and throwing the king and prince off their feet. At first, I wasn’t sure if the lightning was fae-controlled or if it just struck at the perfect time and place, but I found my answer in the next breath.

“That’s Dray! As soon as he comes for you, I’ll join the fight todistract the king and guards while you two head for the escape. If you want to live, this is your shot, kid. Don’t fuck it up!”

I looked frantically around for Noxie, spotting him circling above and breathing a sigh of relief that my friend was safe and in sight. I yelled to him to follow me, but I doubted it carried over the din.

Rapid fire questions started running through my mind, but I never got the chance to ask Ponytail any of them before time slowed at the first sight ofhimrunning toward us through the fighting fae. The whipping wind was blowing his thick, black hair all around, his glowing storm-silver stare fixed on me. As he ran, he shot a jet of water from one hand and wielded a sword in the other, slicing through a guard while never looking away from me.

I could feel the pressure in the air increasing, magic crackling all around.

Before I could even form a coherent thought over how beautiful and menacing this male was, he reached us and, without a word to me, knelt, wrapped his sword-free arm around my thighs, and threw me unceremoniously over his shoulder, my ripped dress hanging from my arms.

How fucking rude. “Wha—hey! Put me down!”

“Retreat at the signal,” was all this male yelled to Ponytail before he took off running with me draped over his shoulder toward the castle.

Why were we heading toward the castle? Should I trust these males or try to escape both them and the king?

I beat my bound hands on his back, cursing him with my world upside down and bouncing with each hurried step.

Ponytail ran away from us, into the fray, as a ball of fire shot toward us from the king, who leapt over the crumbling balcony in his fiery vey form. Apparently, bodies made of fire weren’t susceptible to injury from jumping from high places.

And also, apparently, the male carrying me could see through the back of his skull. I screamed as a wall of water shot up in front of mejust before the king’s fire reached us, shielding us both from the fire as it turned to scalding steam.

The darkened sky started pouring down rain, the fat drops making the king’s fire sputter. The storm had come in so quickly, I suspected it was magical in nature. Dray seemed to control the lightning. Maybe he also controlled the storm.

Or maybe he was the storm.

Then, two things happened at once: three fae engaged the king as fire exploded from him and caught one of the fae on fire with a bloodcurdling scream, and Varyn leapt from the balcony in his massive white wolf form. The king and prince had joined the fight on the ground, and my panic surged. I hoped this male had a plan beyond just causing mass chaos and royally pissing off the king.

“Where are we going?!” I asked, his shoulder pressing uncomfortably into my stomach and making my words choppy.

He didn’t respond.

Another strike of lightning lit up the world around me and struck the castle wall in front of him, electricity and debris surging through the air. I guessed that was the signal, as I saw some of the fae fighting the guards abandoning their fights to follow us. As more and more of the stone wall came crumbling down, an opening formed into the castle from the hectic courtyard.

I was seriously concerned about our course. And about the guards, the king and prince that caught up to us as this male, Dray, leapt over the rubble and into the castle.

“Gods fucking dammit, put medown! I can run!”

His only response was to tighten his grip on my legs.

We ran through the far side of the large, empty dining hall off the main entrance to the castle. But it wasn’t empty for long.

The guards typically stationed at the entrance came pelting into the dining hall, holding daggers, fire in one of their hands, water in the other’s. My panic reached an all-time high. How cruel to come so close to escape to be thwarted by front-door guards.

But this male just kept running right at them, swordstill held in his hand that wasn’t gripping my bare thighs. In the span of only a few breaths, storm clouds formed at the ceiling of the room and started pouring down rain that extinguished all the candles, plunging us into near darkness. A well-controlled lightning strike came down from the ceiling and forked, hitting both guards ahead of us, lighting them up and setting them spasming.

I knew what it felt like to be hit with fae lightning… I shuddered as they collapsed to the ground, still twitching, the scars on my face and neck twinging.

The male didn’t break stride at all, just jumped over the guard in front of us on the ground, the path into the entrance hall clear, where more guards poured in from several directions. But the male didn’t panic. He didn’t curse or yell. He just turned left and darted up the grand staircase. Looking behind us made my heart drop—there were several fae close behind that seemed to be on our side, tossing various elemental magics behind them at the guards. But the guards giving chase vastly outnumbered this group, and among the enemy throng were both a white wolf and a furious, burning Pyrrath. Friendlies and enemies alike were magically attacking and throwing up shields of various kinds, one or two falling on each side when an attack would land.

On the upstairs landing of the entrance hall, we barreled around a corner, then another, choosing left at a dead end. Did this male know where he was going, or was he winging it?

He launched into a door to his right with his shoulder, busting it open and putting us in the cleaning servants’ storage room. Gods, we were cornered. We’d have to fight our way out. And I’d be damned if I didn’t at least put up a fight.

“Put me down now so I can fight!”