Page 116 of When Storms Ruin

“What can I help you with on this fine morning, Puck?”

“I’d like to inform you that not only is it actuallylateafternoon, but Warrick is back. He wants us to meet him upstairs, he made it sound urgent,” Puck said.

I could picture the smile on his face, though I couldn’t see him past Nik’s frame in the doorway.

Late afternoon?How long had we slept?

“We’ll be up soon,” Nik replied, shutting the door mercilessly in Puck’s face.

“That wasn’t very nice,” I chided, sitting up and taking the white bedsheet with me.

“Well, I don’t think it’s very nice of him and Tess to be interrupting us every five seconds,” his tone was sarcastic, but I knew he was also being a bit serious.

I rolled my eyes at him. “They are our best friends, and we do all share this house with them.”

“I don’t care,” he replied, leaning over the bed to place a kiss on my cheek. “I want alone time with you.”

“I do too,” I sighed, getting up and searching the dresser for an outfit. “But alas, Istmere needs saving and all that.”

“What a needy realm,” he teased, coming up behind me and turning me towards him. He captured my mouth with his. “We should just get rid of it entirely.”

“Now you sound like Donika,” I replied with a raised eyebrow.

Nik laughed, releasing me to search the floor for his favorite t-shirt to pull on.

We had dressed, and the sun was high in the sky indicating it was, indeed,lateafternoon. I couldn’t wait for this battle with Donika to be over with so I could have amillion lazy days like this, spending hours in bed with Nik. He grasped my hand in his as we made our way down the hallway and up the spiral staircase that led to the backyard of Zion’s cottage.

We made our way through the main floor of the cottage and out to the street in front, Tess and Puck following closely behind. Zion and Annelise were already waiting, an agitated looking Warrick standing in the middle of the cobblestone street.

“Will you tell us what is going on now?” Zion asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

“I had to wait for the others,” Warrick sputtered, his eyes darting towards us. “It’s Isaac—”

“What about Isaac?” Annelise cut in, moving towards Warrick. “Why had you waited to tell us? Is he alright?”

“He needs our help,allof us. Donika’s forces have him cornered in Prins. We need to go. Now.” His words were strangled.

Is that why Isaac hadn’t returned yet?

“Were you with him? How did you escape?” Puck asked.

My hand subconsciously moved to make sure Stormslayer was secured to my thigh, my throwing knives securely tucked into my boot. Nik had luckily strapped his sword to his back as well before we left the room.

This wasn’t the way we wanted to face Donika, it wasn’t on our terms, and there was no way to prepare.

Warrick shook his head, his expression unreadable. “No, I wasn’t with him, but I saw them. They’re going to capture him and take him back to Akra, and there will be no way for us to break him out again until we move against Donika.”

We all nodded in agreement. This isn’t the way we planned it, but we needed to save Isaac. We needed to move,now.

Warrick turned and started down the cobblestone path at a fast pace and we followed. I thanked the mother I had been training, otherwise I never would have been able to run from Siraleth to Prins. Istillwasn’t much of a runner to be quite honest, but to save Isaac, I would need to push myself.

The sky was darkened up ahead, the clouds dark and angry. They swirled together in a mixture of black and grey, the wind moving them across the sky at an alarming pace. As we ran, the sun was hidden behind the shadow of the oncoming storm, casting Siraleth in a blanket of darkness.

Tess ran beside me, pumping our arms to keep up with the others. Warrick was fast, but so were Puck and Nik. They didn’t hold themselves back to keep pace with us. Isaac was in trouble, and we couldn’t leave him in Donika’s clutches.

He was a Stormshade. She would never let him live.

As we passed between two columns that were once an archway composed of stone and mortar, I could feel the spell lift. The one that had concealed us from Donika, here in Siraleth.

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