Page 35 of Faerie Hunted

What if there was a guard out there, or a civilian, someone on the Council, impervious to my magic?

Miraculously, we managed to weave our way through the courtyard. Onyx kept close enough for the heat of his body to seep beneath my skin, but even so, I shivered.

I glared from one person to another, paying special attention to Cosmo Foxfall. He stared straight ahead, frozen solid, and soon we were past him.

I didn’t stop until we met up with Noren.

“How in the world did you manage—” Onyx started.

“Later.” I smiled at the direwolf as he bolted toward the side gate. “I’ll explain it all later.”

We had less than fifteen minutes to get as far away as possible before everyone unfroze. Because at that point, the spellwork might be too thin and my cognitive manipulation unable to remain in place.

Cosmo would remember that we were not innocent. He’d send an entire army after us.

Shit, this had to work, just long enough to let us leave.

My fingers were frozen to theTotalis, my pulse thundering in my ears.

Noren wound through the gate, squeezing to get his frame through. Onyx followed, with me going last, sending one last thought toward Mike before we disappeared and broke into a run.

Find me.

The cobblestone streets were eerily silent. Too many citizens of the city had gathered to watch the execution.

Neither of us moved fast. I’d spent too much time in the dungeons for my muscles to respond with my usual strength, and forget about grace. Necessity drove us around the side of the castle and back to the rear greenspace. The field stretched, gently sloping upward toward the forest circling the city. The trees were old, their trunks fat and their branches spreading in a thick canopy overhead.

We’d trained there when Melia first set me up with Onyx, the only other half shifter in her acquaintance.

The paths through those trees were familiar.

Onyx limped but he never complained at the pace.

The climb made talk impossible, both of us too focused on getting as far away from the courtyard as possible. My lungs heaved like bellows and my muscles tensed and strained.

No looking back. Therewasno going back after this.

We moved farther away from the village with each passing breath and into the wilds. The trees grew closer together the farther we went, away from the manicured tending of the palace landscapers.

Only the sound of my name, spoken in a strangled whisper, had me pausing enough to look up. The sky overhead had darkened without me noticing and seconds later a crack of lightning split the sky.

Noren led the way and seemed unbothered when the thunder rolled, the sound like two stones grinding together. The lightning continued to worsen as we scrambled higher and higher.

Soon, hopefully, we’d crest the edges of the mountains around Eahsea, the town cradled in the valley between the ranges. I had no idea what was on the other side or how close we were.

Another bolt of lightning, and the rain poured as though someone split open a seam in the sky.

Faerie was upset.

The same thing had happened the first week I came here, and I knew inherently this weather was my fault.

I’d saved myself but the magic I’d used had caused a stir in the natural elements of this entire land.

My insides were wrecked as surely as if someone had slid their claws across my guts. Everything I’d had to do since coming here had been awful, terrible, for this land.

I really was going to be its destruction. Even though I’d done my best to minimize my impact, the land knew. I knew. Nothing I’d done had been good enough and now the natural elements, the very weather, retaliated.

Noren paused in front of a boulder to glance back at us and huff out a small whine. The rain plastered his fur to his skin.

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