Page 61 of Cursed Shadows 4

I cut a glance to the cricket.

Nestled under the leaves, it’s as motionless as the stillness of my hands on the bag.

My lips part around a silent breath.

My eyes widen and I drag my gaze to the foliage.

I don’t get a moment to so much as blink before it explodes in a cloud of twigs and leaves.

A screech rips through me.

I throw myself to the ground.

Twigs and leaves rain down on me.

I land on my side, my temple knocking off Ridge’s shoulder just as two arms grab at the wall, right where I was slumped a heartbeat ago.

We have been found.

The shout that escapes me is guttural.

I flip onto my back.

The heels of my boots dig into the ground, and I push myself back, away from the entrance.

A light fae crouches on the other side of disturbed leaves and foliage. The width of his shoulders presses into the stone—too wide to climb into the cavern and grab me.

He reels back, crimson hair falling over his face, and starts wrenching branches and stone from his path.

I wriggle off Ridge’s hard shoulder and thump to the stone floor. The strap of my bag catches on my boot.

A soft moan comes from beside me.

I throw a wild look at Ridge.

He stirs, a frown cutting into his soft, pale features. Slowly, the scrunch of his eyes squint open and he turns a dazed look around the cavern.

I part my lips to speak, to warn him, shout at him to fight, but all that comes is a screech.

Hands snatch at my ankles.

Throwing my gaze down my body, my screech turns mangled, and I thrash my legs. But his hands are firm on my boots—then he heaves me down the cavern floor.

My sweater catches on twigs, leaves crunch under my dragging body. I reach out for the walls, leather slipping over the damp stone.

The foliage falls away entirely, it crumbles beneath the weight of us both, crumbles with the writhing of my body.

The litalf is revealed, and now I can see how he managed to sneak up on me so seamlessly. The bloody hue of his hair, a rusty brown of his complexion, and his muddy leathers—he is the perfect camouflage for forests, for woods,forfoliage.

There’s no alliance in the way he looks at me. No kindred spirit between us.

His mouth is twisted, determined, and his eyes burn red like blazes that devour villages, whole.

He drags me out of the hollow.

I writhe against his hold. My legs twist and flail, I try to kick out at him, but it’s as though vines have their hold on me, and I’m powerless against the sheer strength.

“Ridge!” My scream splits the cavern. “Ridge, help!”

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