Page 10 of Faerie Hunted

3

Mike changed direction abruptly enough to nearly yank me off my feet. Leaving me no choice but to follow him, my IV stand keeping me upright, we hustled down the hallway and turned another corner.

“What are you doing?” I asked breathlessly.

“Just follow me.” His hard tone left no room for arguing.

Where the stone met at a ninety degree angle, Mike reached out and tapped the bricks. He drew a complicated ward in the air above them and in the next beat, the mortar and stone dissolved.

The opening was just large enough for a person of his stature to walk through.

“Come on.” He urged me forward. “We’ve got to hurry.”

The alarm screeched in my ears and I clenched my jaw against it. “I don’t understand what’s going on?—”

“This is a secret passage from the hospital wing. Baldric, hurry, or else you’re going to slow us down,” Mike hissed over his shoulder.

It took me a hot minute to realize the nurse from the front desk had followed us.

He stood above Mike, topping close to seven feet tall if I had to guess, his limbs longer than ordinary and his eyes a bit too large.

Baldric had to duck to get into the passageway behind us and cobwebs immediately tangled with the silky strands of his strawberry-blonde hair.

“This corridor connects the fae hospital in Eahsea with the castle.” Mike’s whisper echoed oddly when the stones closed in behind us. Fae lights immediately burst to life ahead of us and illuminated the way forward. “Stick close to us, Tavi.”

“We’ll go slow for you,” Baldric added. He held his hands out to keep me from bumping against the walls.

We took our time navigating the tunnels and my head spun with the attempt to keep track of the twists. Time meant nothing here.

The tunnels must run deep beneath the castle and although the hospital wasn’t far, the building wasn’t exactly adjacent. Several times, I tripped on my own feet, my legs struggling to carry me.

Baldric remained close enough to bolster me whenever I needed help and Mike kept hold of my free hand more times than not.

I didn’t trust the dude. Baldric, not Mike. But I had no other choice.

Eventually the tunnel turned a final time and ran into a dead end marked by a steel door. My heart clenched at the sight.

Mike blew out a breath. “The safe room,” he explained. “Mom and a few others should be waiting inside. The escape tunnels are everywhere in case of emergency, and protected by magic.”

I opened my mouth to protest that I’d be able to handle myself, then zipped my lips shut. At least the hospital gown I’d worn in the Claw & Fang ward had been replaced with soft cotton pajama pants and a matching shirt. I wasn’t walking around with a gown and open back, my ass on display for the queen and visiting royalty.

“I can’t hear the alarm anymore,” I whispered.

“It wouldn't be on for no reason. Whatever is happening, we’re going to be safe here, Tavi, trust me.”

Mike spoke with the utter confidence of a fae of his station, and for half a heartbeat I wondered if this change happened while I was sick.

Because the Mike I’d gone to school with at the Fae Academy for Halflings had to utilize a stolen artifact in order to keep up with the rest of us.

He’d given the world a glimpse of him, a small hint of the reality of his situation, but otherwise he’d worn a mask at all times.

I’d gotten to know the real Mike, and although he was an amazing man and a strong fae in his own right, he’d never come across as self-assured without some sort of hesitation.

Now he knocked on the door and flashed me a tight smile before the latches turned on the other side. The steel swung open with a pulse of magic and my eyes widened in surprise at seeing Raelynn gripping the handle.

Her gaze fell on me, her face as bright red as her hair. “Well, well, good to see you’ve finally returned to the land of the living,” she said sharply in her accented tone. “Get her inside, hurry now. Hurry!”

Raelynn didn’t seem to care about speaking informally to the prince.

---