Page 29 of A Dance With Fire
“Would you like to know your future, captain?”
Of course he did. They always did.
The future was too tempting to ignore.
Without waiting to hear his answer, she proceeded, “I see you in a forest. Sword in hand and blood on your face. You are quite the fighter, are you not?”
“Silence, witch! And tell us where the others are!”
“Oh, captain, I am just getting to the best part, don’t you see? Your own arrogance will be your downfall. And that which you have hunted your entire life will be the death of you.”
She could see him pale beneath the light even as he tried to hide it.
No one wanted to hear about their own death, and yet they all did. Little did they know that the harder they tried to prevent it, the more it would come to pass. That was the future and the price they had to pay.
And the captain’s price was steep.
And it was one he would not accept.
“Hounds!” he snapped. The mutts snapped their ears at attention. Of course, Davina knew what would come next. “Attack.”
So as they lunged for her, she didn’t even scream.
12
The Resistance
Uric waited right where he was supposed to, looking bored with the entire night as he leaned one shoulder against a crumbling brick wall. The moment they approached, Valerio at the head of them, Uric snapped his fingers and the air shimmered behind him.
It was always eerie to watch the portal come to life. To watch particles shimmer into being, to watch lights and shadows coalesce into a rounded doorway. A mirror shone on the surface, rippling and distorting their images.
“The safe house in the mountains?” Valerio asked without preamble.
Uric shot the prince a look of impatience that Valerio ignored.
“See you on the other side.”
Valerio stepped through first. It was like watching someone step through a waterfall and into another world. One minute the prince was there, and the next he was gone.
Uric nodded at Clay. Already, the price of his magic was taking a toll on him. Because he manipulated time and space, the price to pay for the portal was his youth. It never lasted long. Sometimes the price lasted weeks, but it depended on how long he kept the portal opened for. Clay had made fun of him for sporting bald patches of skin on his scalp and sagging, wrinkled skin for a week. Even now, his long strands of silver-white hair drifted from his head to his chest.
He squinted at the figure in Ryker’s arms. “That the Fae, then?”
Ryker snorted. “Hardly a Fae,” he grumbled.
It caused Clay to roll his eyes. Ryker was all about Fae pride, and sometimes he took it to the extremes. He didn’t say anything though. Not when his mind was still distracted with thoughts of Davina and the sacrifice she made.
In a rare moment of seriousness, he clapped Ryker in the back. “Best get going. You first, big guy. We need to get those chains off her as quickly as possible.”
She already appeared to be paling like a corpse.
Ever silently, Ryker stomped over to the portal and stepped through.
“Hurry up,” Uric urged. “I’d prefer not to have to suffer through ulcers and varicose veins for the next few hours.”
Clay flipped his friend the finger but still hurried to step through. It was like being sucked in through a pool of honey. The shimmering liquid clung to his skin and tugged, pulling him through brightness and darkness at the same time. It was instinct to hold his breath as if he were wading through water, but he didn’t need to.
His eyes opened as the portal pushed him out on the other side. His feet collided with solid ground and the quiet rustling of a forest greeted him. He turned just in time to see Uric burst through the portal. A moment later, it disappeared.
