Page 45 of The Crown the Fae Forgot
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. The cub had gone back to swatting at the circle. Soon, it’s paw would break it—would that be enough to send it barreling in after us?
Shiel helped me up onto my own horse, then swung up into the saddle of his own. Zev and Finch were already readying themselves for the ride, turning their horses towards the narrow, rocky path ahead. Zev was scanning the mountainside for his own route, something that would separate us enough to hopefully draw one, or some, of the fiends away from the main party.
I, meanwhile, turned back one last time towards the bear. There was no sign of the wolves yet, but their echoing howls still soured something at my core.
“Couldn’t I just tell it to go away?” I asked.
All the guys turn to look at me, considering my suggestion before looking back at each other. After a moment of them staring at each other in silence, they turn back to me.
“It worked on the birds in the Southern Court,” I said, already starting to reach for that wellspring of glamour deep within me.
“Yes,” Finch said, but there was no confidence in his voice, “but those were just birds. Fiends…fiends are different.”
Zev let out a low, almost animalistic growl of his own. “Fiends answer only to their master. Or to themselves. They have a glamour of their own that protects them from us.”
As if on cue itself, the cub tilted back its head and let out a groan, showing off the it’s long, pointed teeth.
Another form of protection, it seemed.
“Come on,” Shiel said, tightening his hold on his reigns and meeting my eye just for a moment before nodding at Finch, and then finally, at Zev. “We’ve already waited long enough. It’s time. If we’re lucky, maybe we can make it to the Eastern Court before the fiends catch us.”
There was something about his voice, about the way he said it.
It wasn’tin casethe fiends caught us, it wasbefore.
In other words, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not they’d catch us, it was a matter ofwhen.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Once again,I thought how fitting a fate it would be to have made it this far only to be picked apart by a lesser fae.
The air grew saltier by the minute, my hair whipping back from my face in stinging tendrils with each gallop of the horse beneath me. They moved with near unimaginable speed, as if they too could sense the fiends closing in on us on all sides.
The bear had somehow managed to keep itself within our sights nearly at all times, the fiend blood running through it giving it a speed and strength that made me shudder. I couldn’t imagine how fast those wolves travelled, though we hadn’t spotted them yet.
It should have been a consolation, but the constant reminder of the bear—and the mother that couldn’t be far off—was enough to keep my heart beating at the top of my throat.
We’d been travelling for well over an hour, our horses keeping time beneath us with their flying hooves, before we caught sight of Zev again. He’d somehow rounded up ahead of us, his horse reappearing at the top of a crest. He was a sight to behold atop the stallion he rode, a fiend in his own right, so large was his silhouette against the sky. It was a wonder the faeriehorse was able to carry his weight, let alone at the speed that would be required for him to not only run a route as decoy, but to outpace us while doing so.
We turned our horses towards his waving arms, his own horse returning to full gallop as we approached and fell into step beside him, slowing only enough so his voice could be heard above the whistling in my ears.
“There’s a small forest up ahead. We should detour towards it, use the trees to our advantage.”
Advantage.
There was only one reason I could think of where those trees might come in handy to us now.
“And the wolves?” Shiel asked, his mind clearing in the same place as mine.
Zev said nothing at first, but the glance over his shoulder told us what we needed to know.
“We need to find cover. We can’t outrun them all, Shiel.”
No sooner had the words come from Zev’s mouth than we heard it.
A scream—a roar, really—echoed out across the plains. Up ahead, over the ridge where Zev had promised cover, birds exploded from that forest and up into the air, their calls a dissonant chorus that only made that knot in my throat tighten.
All the fae at my side swore, their feet digging into their horses’ sides as they urged them even faster towards the top of the ridge.
