Page 14 of Golden Queen
I jerked my hand back and scrambled away across the grass, ready for him to jump up, put his hands around my throat, and choke the life out of me or...or shoot fireballs out of his eyes and burn me on the spot. I knew very little about magic, really...or the fae.
He studied me, scrunching his brow as though confused, and started to rise. He didn't make it very far though, only managing to get one shoulder off the grass before he groaned and fell back to the ground.
I crawled back to his side. He was unconscious again.
I muttered a curse, looking around me for some answer to what I should do. I needed to get out of there before the people pursuing me realized I had doubled back and came looking for me.
The house behind us had boarded up windows, so I was certain it must be abandoned. Before I could re-think my plan, I rose and went to the door. I tried to push it open, but it was solidly locked. I shoved my shoulder into the wood. It didn't give, even a little. I knew there would be no way to get it open without making enough noise to bring anyone who might be in the other dark houses out to investigate.
There were tall weeds growing in front, along with a few decorative shrubs that might do for some cover.
I returned to the fae man and checked for any signs of consciousness again. He was out cold. His eyes did not even react when I pulled his lids open and stared into the strange, inky black pupils.
In the dim lamplight, I couldn't tell if he had an iris, and it was just blending into the center, or whether the circle that took up most of his eyewas just one large central pupil.Better to see in the dark for hunting his prey, my mind whispered, sending more chills down my back.
I released his eyelids and reached down to grasp the fabric of his dark coat at the shoulders. I lifted and pulled. He went nowhere. I nearly gave up, fighting the urge to just throw myself down in the grass beside him and await my fate.
I tried again, straining with all my might as my feet dug into the wet grass. I was able to move him, just a little.
It took nearly a quarter-hour to get him into the bushes. I winced as I pulled him through the tangled brush, hoping that the many dried sticks poking up from little round shrubs wouldn't poke his eyes out. I did not want the added weight of blinding him on my conscience.
When he was reasonably well-hidden, I ran. I ignored the pain from a cramp that lanced through my torso. I ignored the way my lungs were on fire and the ache in my jaw from how tightly I was clenching my teeth together.
Every step I took away from him felt like a knife poised at my own back. The feeling of wrongness for leaving him so vulnerable chased me all the way to the brothel.
I went to the back door of the Mouse’s Ear, to a servant's entrance. I couldn’t walk through the taproom unnoticed with that much blood on me.
It was locked, so I knocked furiously until a startled-looking older man opened the door.
"Hi," I said, gasping for air. "Can you…find the Duke of… Lithaway and tell Anetta I need to…speak with her?" I didn’t dare take the time to catch my breath. I had to get back as soon as I could—to make sure he was safe. It was the least I could do after stabbing him, but I needed help.
The man frowned and poked his head out the door to make sure I was alone. Satisfied, he nodded and stepped aside to allow me to pass. "Wait here," he said and left me in a narrow hallway.
Anetta appeared through a doorway at the end of the hall, her blonde ringlets bouncing as she hurried toward me. Raitha and Igraine, two of the other courtesans, followed behind her. They all wore fine gowns and expensive-looking jewelry, so I knew they had been working.
"What happened?" Anetta demanded, clasping my hands, gaze darting over my clothes.
"Not my blood," I assured her. "Where's my cousin?"
"He left an hour ago," Igraine supplied.
"Shit! Well, I need some...assistance, then. Can I borrow a carriage...and a strong man?" Thinking better of it as I remembered the weight of the fae man, I added, "Two strong men."
Anetta's eyes went wide. I could only imagine what she thought I had done, probably murder if her calculating look back at the other courtesans was any indication.
She nodded to Raitha, who turned and sprinted down the hall without hesitation.
"Tell me as much as you can,” Anetta said.
Before I could speak, she caught sight of the shirt visible between the edges of my coat, where the blood had plastered the material to my skin. "Do you have time to change?" she asked.
I was amazed at how quickly Anetta was jumping in to assist me—Igraine and Raitha too. They were true friends. And they knew me. They knew who I really was.
I shook my head. "We have to move quickly. Someone is injured."
Igraine turned and followed in Raitha's footsteps down the hall, presumably to tell her to act quickly.
"Are you sure you aren't hurt, Sera? That is a great deal of blood," Anetta reached up to push the braid off my shoulder as though searching for injury.
