Page 53 of The Curse of Eternity
Daphne explained, “He keeps losing at the gambling halls. Some kind of swindling game where they throw down dice, andthen have to guess the numbers in each other’s hand. Anyways, he’s motivated, all right.” She looked up at the small golden clock over the mantle, and her brows pulled together. “We should probably go as soon as you guys are ready. He won’t like being left waiting.”
“He’s here already?”Were we really about to do this?
“Yep, I just left him.” Daphne gave Tina a forlorn, final pet, and the cat stretched with a parting mew before resettling on the ottoman.
“And we can actually get to Romania through this—the Summerland?” I asked.
“Not if you run out the clock.” Winston moved past me, his hands in his pockets when he stopped beside Drake. “You’ll have to time your arrival just right. Wait until daybreak so the imperials will settle down for their nap before you enter the fortress. It might take you a few hours just to get through the Summerland, which gives the two of you a short buffer window, but not by much.” His intense gaze was unwavering, deadly serious, and Drake nodded before turning to me.
“Are you prepared?”
Holding in a sigh, I grasped the machete’s handle tighter as I slid its blade into the sheath. “Ready if you are.”
“Someone’s going to have to hold onto you while we’re walking, by the way,” Daphne said, her words directed at me when she passed.
“Why’s that?” I moved to follow, bracing myself for the cold when Winston opened the sliding glass door to the backyard deck. He stepped outside first with Daphne in his wake, and Drake managed to keep pace at my side.
“There’s a kind of power in the Summerland. Faeries call it ‘manna,’ but it’s basically everywhere. Even in the air you’ll be breathing.” Daphne shrugged, her black hoodie and dark green cargo pants blending into the night. “Faeries are immune to it,but for most full humans it causes a kind of, like, drunkenness. Makes it hard for them to function.”
“Oh.” Before I could wrap my head around that, I was brought up short when Winston held something out to me.
“You might need this.”
The gray and blue plaid patterned jacket looked thick, comfy, and I reached for its fleece-lined sleeves immediately.
I stuck the machete’s sheath into my waistband, and the material bumped against my thigh while I shoved my arms through the jacket. “You sure? You might not get it back.” After wrapping myself up in the renewed warmth, I wasn’t sure Iwouldgive it back.
Winston chuckled. “I can get another one. Can’t find another unicorn for Drake if you freeze between now and the fortress.” The jab warmed my face, but Drake didn’t seem bothered. Concern crossed Winston’s features, instantly smoothing into firm acceptance. Drake placed his hand on Winston’s shoulder, and the brief contact seemed to be all the goodbye the two needed.
Kind of like how I knew Everly would forgive me for doing all of this, even when I wasn’t sure if my family could.
“Lead the way, Miss Álvarez.” Drake gestured to the shadowed woods ahead, beyond the reach of the glow from the house’s windows.
Retrieving a cigarette from his pocket, Winston lit it up by the time we reached the railing. “Godspeed, man. Give ‘em hell.” His whispered words carried on the breeze, and Drake turned to flash a parting smile.
“Earlier than they will have anticipated, I expect,” Drake replied, and Winston’s calm cracked into a smirk.
“Thank you—” I began, but my gratitude toward Winston was cut short when my legs were lifted out from under me. Squealing like a sissy, I clung to Drake when he picked me up like he’d doneinside the Cneaz’s manor, bridal style. Then he leaped over the railing, and weightlessness took me for about fifteen feet before he landed on Winston’s sloping back lawn.
Bearing my weight, he straightened up while gazing at me with amusement. Daphne hopped over the railing in a similar fashion before lithely hitting the ground—only to fall onto her rump. A mildly disgruntled noise came from Daphne as she stood, patting off her backside, and Drake lowered my legs until my boots reached the grass.
“What was that for?” I huffed, and Drake lifted his shoulders.
“I prefer not to dither with prolonged goodbyes.”
“It’s this way, guys!” Daphne called, already at the treeline, and I swallowed down my complaint about being hauled around like a sack of flour.
The crunch of dead leaves underfoot seemed especially loud in the dark while we followed Daphne deeper into the woods. Maybe I was reading into it, but it felt like Drake walked closer than usual. Then again, how often did we actually walk anywhere together? Run away from bloodthirsty monsters, sure, we’d done that a time or two.
Our hands brushed when I stepped over some overgrown roots, but the contact was brief—probably accidental. Clearing my throat, like it would dispel my awkward feelings, I said, “I’ll try to get you back in one piece.”
Surprisingly, Drake laughed, and I frowned when his composure returned, but his curious smile seemed strained.
“I apologize. I ought to be the one reassuring you, not the other way around.”
“It’s the twenty-first century.” I shrugged. “My gender doesn’t make me any less heroic.” No matter what Andrew kept implying whenever Olivia or I joined a hunt…
“Yes,” Drake murmured, still bemused, “I am aware.”
