Page 23 of A Dance With Fire
His eyes went wide at the feral madness she felt deep in her soul. Her grip against the iron burned, but she didn’t drop it as she forced the tip straight into the brother’s chest. She pushed with all her might, just scratching the surface of his skin. Just enough to make himbleed.
He gasped as she yanked the nail out and dodged his falling body.
She didn’t think about the blood coating the spaces between her fingers. She fumbled with the door and threw it open, pushing herself up the stairs. Her chest was on fire, the sensation rising to the back of her throat. Every heaving breath she took, she feared would be her last. That the one brother she’d left standing was right at her heels.
Still, she ran.
The chains threatened to pull her back to the bottom of the steps, but she mustered all the strength she had left in her body. Feet slamming up, up, up… She broke past another door and into dim candlelit hallways.
She could hear the brother behind her, and in her panic, she couldn’t remember which way to go, so she turned down a hallway at random.
Death rode at her heels, she was sure of it. Just like she was sure she’d lead a pathway straight to her if she wasn’t careful. Pressing the nail to her chest and ignoring the burning sting it brought to her flesh, she wiped it down the thin material of the garment. Turning and skidding across marble floors, she ran.
Faster and faster.
And Shula did not look back.
She knew they would find her if she stopped, so she didn’t. Even when she felt like she’d vomit, keel over, when her feet begged for rest, she couldn’t. It didn’t matter how many turns she took, how many exits she frantically searched for in passing and failed to find, she still didn’t stop.
When tapered candles disappeared and made way to complete darkness, she forced herself to slow.
A flash of bright yellow caught her attention in the shadows. A flash of searching, evil eyes. She blinked, sure she’d imagined it, but when her eyes opened once again, she was positive she hadn’t.
Floating in the darkness, like the faerie lights from her dreams, were two eerie yellow eyes. Something about them seemed sinister, like the slashing eyes of a demon in the night.
Shula sucked in a breath, remembering Davina's ominous words.
The eyes of a demon lead to freedom.
Heart pounding up to her throat, she dared to take a step closer.
Those twin eyes blinked at her and came closer as well, stepping into her line of vision to reveal itself.
It was a cat. A sleek, black coat covered it, and it stared at her with a rather superior expression. It was a single moment of connection before the feline turned and stalked back into the shadows.
The eyes of a demon lead to freedom.
Every word Davina had spoken had come to pass. Shula had been a fool to ignore it before. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. So she dug deep inside herself to find her bravery, and she followed the cat.
Her feet shuffled quickly along the marble floors to catch up with the feline. The chains held up by her aching arms so they wouldn’t drag across the floor. After a moment of adjusting her eyes to the darkness, she caught sight of the beast.
It moved quickly, turning back in flashes so she could follow at its paws. It ran and so did she, panting to keep up, skidding as it turned hallways and led her down an ominous staircase. She should have feared running into the unknown with so much left to lose. But Davina had said, the eyes of the demon led to freedom. She had to believe it would come true.
She had to.
Or else she would be trapped in this Fae-hating temple. They would catch her, and they’d take her to the Emperor of Illyk.
It couldn’t happen.
She refused to let it.
The cat led her to the end of a hallway; a door was propped open, and the night sky greeted her beyond. It stepped out, disappearing from her line of sight and Shula’s breathing grew labored as she realized how close she was to freedom. Just like Davina had said.
She rushed out blindly, the taste of her freedom on her tongue, overriding the sweet, bitter taste of ashwood and burning water. The outside air chilled her skin, making goosebumps crawl along her body, but she didn’t care about the cold. She didn’t care that she felt it through the sheer shift. All she felt was the open air, the familiar press of fog, the lack of walls enclosing her body in their confines.
And the collision into a solid wall of flesh.
She startled back, dropping the iron chains to the ground, but gripping the nail tightly in her palms until they sliced along her flesh. She didn’t wince because she was too busy staring up at the mammoth of a person she ran into.
