Page 42 of Court of Lies and Deceit

Footsteps echo between the silent trees.

I jerk my head up.

“They’re back,” Alistair whispers.

But alarm shoots up and down my spine, and my heart rate picks up. Because I recognize those footsteps. Those arrogantly lazy yet commanding footsteps.

“No,” I breathe, my pulse thrumming in my ears. “It’s the Unseelie King.”

The others whip their heads towards me.

“Shit,” Galen curses under his breath. His gaze darts from the direction of the footsteps to the wards, which rise only a short distance to our left. “Get to the wards. We need to get out. Now.”

“I’m not leaving them,” I hiss back.

“We’re not leaving them.” He grabs Lyra by the arm and pushes her in the direction of the wards while casting another alarmed glance in the direction of the footsteps. “Draven and Isera can fly through them. But we need to already be on the other side when he does. Otherwise, it’ll be too late.”

I stare at the dark sky above the trees, wishing I could at least see them approaching. But I know that Galen is right, lingering here would just risk us all getting caught, so I reluctantly push myself away from the tree trunk and hurry after the others.

To my surprise, Alistair waits to make sure I follow before he starts moving as well. But once he has seen me start sneaking forward, he barely looks at me. I really can’t figure him out. He says that he hates everyone, and he had been about to leave earlier, but then he does things like this.

Shaking my head, I push the thought out of my mind for now. Right now, we need to focus on getting out before Orion finds us.

The forest ends a few steps ahead. After that, there is only an open stretch of grass before the wards.

I cast a panicked look over my shoulder.

Crossing the grass will leave us entirely without cover. But there is no other way to reach the wards.

Orion’s unhurried footsteps continue to echo between the trees.

Dread curls inside me. It’s almost as if he wants us to hear him. Wants us to scurry away like rats while he toys with us like a cat. As if he is enjoying this game. It makes me want to punch him in the face.

“We need to make a run for it,” Galen says as the four of us come to a halt by the tree line. He looks from face to face before giving us a nod. “Go.”

We sprint out of the forest and dart across the grass.

My heart thumps hard in my chest. We need to make it through the wards and far enough out onto the grasslands before Orion reaches the edge of the forest. If not, he’s going to spot us.

I try to run as quietly as possible, but I can barely hear if my feet are making noise or not because my heart is pounding so loudly. How did Orion even find us? How did he know that we snuck out of the city? How did he know which direction we went in? Which side of the wards we’re using to get out? Goddess damn it, there is so much I don’t know.

The wards appear before us. Like water moving slowly across glass. I resist the urge to glance over my shoulder. If Orion had seen us, we would know. Just a few more steps. Then we’ll be?—

Galen reaches the wards.

And slams right into them.

The crash is so violent that he actually flies backwards several steps before slamming into the ground.

I gasp as we skid to a halt.

“Galen!” Lyra darts over to him and quickly pulls him back up. “What did you?—”

“We can’t get out,” Alistair interrupts.

The sheer panic in his voice makes me whirl towards him. He is standing right in front of the wards, slamming his hands against them. And when he turns to meet my gaze, his eyes are filled with dread.

“We can’t get out,” he repeats, one hand still pressed against the wards.

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