Page 55 of Poison Nights & Twilight Alchemy

He cocked his head. “We won’t burn?” Flames licking away his skin wasn’t theloveliestway to spend the day.

“We’ll soon find out.” Dulce poured the last of the alchemical oil onto their ropes one after the other as they took turns keeping flames spinning endlessly above them.

“We’re dead if we don’t try, regardless.” Reed winked at her, one side of his mouth curving upward, as he prepared to kick his horse into a canter. “No regrets, remember?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

DULCE

Adrenaline surged through Dulce’s veins as fire cloaked her and Reed, heat raging around her in brilliant orange. She held her breath, praying they would survive.

Covered in flames, the horses galloped for their lives toward the edge of the Rust Fields, just barely slipping past the canyon walls into a rushing river. Their flames died out to sparks while the screams of frustrated monsters lingered in the distance, their prey escaped to safety, and Dulce could finally breathe again.

She sank beneath the water, ensuring every flame was extinguished before breaking through the surface. Reed grasped her arm, their chests heaving as the flowing waterwashed away the smoke, dirt, and grime from their exhausted bodies.

“That is something I don’t fancy ever doing again, Majesty.” Reed smirked, raking a hand through his soaked hair.

“Certainly more challenging than ghosts.” She smiled, though her heart still palpitated.

“Not a lie in the least.”

Dulce and Reed pulled themselves from the river, and she used magic to dry their clothing. They then trekked a little farther to a nearby cave where they were too tired to eat a full meal.

Exhaustion swept over Dulce and she rested her head in Reed’s lap as he leaned against the granite wall, his eyes already shut. When sleep overtook her, she dreamed that her mother’s tree would no longer turn to stone.

As soon as morning light spilled into the cave, rousing Dulce and Reed, they left the comfort of rest behind, continuing their travels. Although the journey throughout the day didn’t involve being chased by monsters, still, the world around them grew more grim with each passing second, each thump of her heart.

Lavender magic that belonged safely within the earth’s embrace was now siphoned from the land, cut astray, its power floating around them like aimless buzzing bees. The hairs on Dulce’s arms stood on end, not from fear but rather as a result of the strange enchantment.

The deeper into Nightmore Forest they traveled, thegrayer the world surrounding them turned. The trees, at first appearing to suffer pox-like blemishes of stone along their branches, became more consumed by their disease as the leagues passed, until life in all its vibrant green dwindled completely away to gray. They stood as nothing more than silent stone statues, their life frozen.

Dulce hoped the wildlife had fled, but that hope was dashed as they rode past stone creatures. A stag, its neck stretched toward the stone leaves of a mulberry tree, stood motionless in rock. A flock of birds, the detail of their feathers awe-inspiring but for the fact that they were not created by the hands of a sculptor. Rabbits, immobile in mid-run.

“Don’t stop!” she called to Reed. Her lungs tight, she urged her horse on, faster, fearing if they lingered too long that they too would turn to stone, two horses and their riders preserved in rock forever, their mission never seeing its end.

Reaching the northern edge of Nightmore Forest, the sea of stone trees dissipated to wide expanses of rolling valleys, the hills beyond it their destination at last. They had passed through the stone mausoleum unscathed, but Dulce knew that eventually, the sickness of dying magic would creep across all the land. She thought about the kind strangers of the opera, the gamblers in the Duke’s town Reed had played cards with, and her friends at the manor. She had to make certain they didn’t succumb to such a terrible fate.

“Over there!” Reed shouted over the buzzing of magic, pointing.

Dulce followed his gaze to a small wooden hunting cottage near a lake of unnatural blue.

The cottage’s roof and sides covered in overgrown vines, it appeared as if it hadn’t been inhabited in decades. Her bones ached with exhaustion—the thought of relaxation inviting. This would be the perfect place to rest for the night before they reached La Bisou Morte the following day.

Though she knew they could reach her faster if they continued, it would be foolish not to regain their strength before they would face the witch. Besides, she didn’t want to put Reed in more danger than she had already. There was also the question of how the witch would receive them. Would she be willing to discuss the possibility of removing the curse, or would a fight with magic ensue? Would Dulce have to kill to save the land?

The breeze blew, and the crackle of magic sang its untamed melody while Dulce and Reed dismounted their horses.

“It seems today is your lucky day,” she sang. “You’re about to have a little witch blood pulse inside your veins.”

“That sounds rather forward.” He winked.

Dulce laughed softly and watched as the horses fled, happy to be rid of their tack and riders, eager to explore the wide valley with its strange blooms.

“I’ll make sure no one’s hiding in the cottage,” Reed said as they approached the crooked door. It was locked, so he kicked the door in with his boot.

After a moment he craned his neck out and waggled his finger at her. “It’s all clear.”

Dulce stepped over the threshold, her gaze sweeping across the simple room. The air held a musty smell of stillness that wasn’t too unpleasant. A bed took up one corner, a chest of drawers opposite it, and a wood-burning stove beside a fireplace.

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