Page 83 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
Cole cupped her face in his hands and pressed his forehead against hers. “Trust me,” he said.
“Do I have a choice?”
“There’s always a choice, Snow. It’s just not always a good one.”
He moved towards the door, but Eirwen’s hand shot out and latched onto his. “Wait.” She pulled him down to her level and whispered something in his ear. “Our current location. If you need to find us.”
“Thank you.” He opened the door. “The coast is clear. If I meet any guards, I’ll send them in another direction. Take care.”
“You too.” She leaned up and placed the ghost of a kiss on his cheek, and vanished down the dark corridor.
∞∞∞
She didn’t remember getting out of the castle, or how she breached the city walls. The entire journey back down the mountain to the rendez-vous point was a dark, bereft mystery.
Perhaps I phased through the stone,she wondered. It felt as though she could, as if she was no longer made of flesh but some insubstantial thing, a black, shapeless mass of nothing.
The first moment of clarity occurred at the base of the mountain, when her eyes locked with Onyx’s. He was scratched up, his wooden leg was missing a chunk, his clothes ripped to pieces, but he was alive. She bolted into his arms.
“Did everyone escape?” she breathed into his neck.
“We lost one of the rebels, but everyone else made it out all right… including Lord Hammersmith and the Huntsman. Wren’s taken them back to base.”
“Good,” said Eirwen, and then collapsed on the ground.
