Page 76 of The Iron Fae
"What about Jase?" I breathe. Lincoln reaches me, taking my hand and pulling me forward, even as my attention is focused behind me.
"I'll take care of Jase," Lylix calls.
"Someone stop them!" Cordelia's voice is hoarse.
But we don't need Lylix or Zeve to trap the crowd in whatever sort of forcefield they've managed to create. Because the entire gathering, backs away, allowing us an easy exit.
"Mortal Queen." Their whispers rise to a chant, then grow to a resounding demand.
I tug against Lincoln's hand, even as he pulls me forward and our feet pound against the tile. The echoes of the crowd follow us.
"We can't just leave them."
"Zeve has a plan." Lincoln cuts out quickly. "We need to hurry. Cordelia has more guards than this and I know they're on their way. They couldn't miss that commotion."
What I had once admired, this large beautiful mansion, is now just a streak passing me by. There isn't any time to take in the grand molding or the golden details. I don't bother to give the rising staircase, the one I'd met Lincoln on so many times before, another once over.
Every breath, every heartbeat, every step, it's all leading me away from where it all began. The Shadow Court may be destined to be mine, but first I have to get away.
Running as a Fae is hardly any effort at all. I may not be as fast as Lincoln, who shoves open doors and pushes a few servants from our path, but I'd still be nothing more than blur across any human’s vision. My muscles feel only the slightest fatigue. Which could be attributed to the after effects of Kai's drugs... or rather Bellion's if I had to guess.
We move out to the Argenti Garden, the sun falling toward the horizon. Commands are called in the castle behind us. The concerning sounds hard to pick out around the now shouted 'Mortal Queen' from the Shadow Fae Court.
"Keep going. Hold my hand. Don't let go." Lincoln doesn't so much as ask me to do as he says, as he begs. His mind is a buzzing of worry, of determination to get me out.
We weave in and out of the plants, brushing by the long flowing limbs of the Reminints tree that tries to cling to our clothing. The valley is clear of Fae but the long posts set up for punishment are still here. Lincoln's dried blood against the blades of grass that we crush under our feet.
Guards crash out of the mansion behind us, swords caught in their hands. "Get them dead or alive!" The command is passed through the small regimen and carried to us on the wind that pushes against our backs as if to guide our steps.
"Where are we going?" I yell.
"I don't know. Away from here." Lincoln's voice wavers as he runs.
"I thought Zeve had a plan!"
"Yeah, a plan to get us out of dying but not a plan on where to hide us."
We reach the edge of the forest, and I bat away a jutting limb. I can't hear the sound of leaves and twigs over the blood rushing inside my ears. Even though I'm certain I can't hear the guards behind us either, the phrase 'dead or alive' echoes in my thoughts.
Our bodies twist and turn at incredible speeds, my balance keeping my heels from actually snapping my ankles as I leap over bushes. Lincoln yanks me harshly to the left.
"There's a spell just up ahead!" He points ahead of us. "It looks like a portal."
I follow his directions. Two trees have old swirling text carved into their trunks, they glow a brilliant neon green and the air between them shimmers.
"Where does it go to?"
"I guess we'll find out."
He holds my hand a little tighter and surges forward. "Take a step." He insists.
It reminds of Kai and the way he guided me through the portal from the Iron Court to the bottom of the Ganush Mountain range. That was when he was my friend, guiding me to my powers. Now he is the traitor to my crown. The brother who betrayed his own blood.
Will Kai feel remorse after Rowan's death in the old burning church? Or does he even feel at all?
The green glow of the portal is even closer now. A relief as we hear the sound of the guards gaining ground. It's my untrained pace that's letting them so near. I should have fought harder to learn about my powers, to train myself before this disaster of a meeting came to be.
I shouldn't have listened to Kai.
