Page 154 of Promise of Darkness
The Erlking stills, his falcon-dark eyes locking upon her.
His answering smile is the kind of expression that shivers over my skin like a caress—one that can also cut like a knife. “And now I owe you two boons, child.” He snaps his fingers and a pair of golden antlers sear themselves into the back of my hand like a tattoo. “All you need do is call for me, and I shall appear.”
And then the wind whips around him and he vanishes in a swirl of ravens.
38
The castle is a hive of mayhem when I return, slashing my way through the brambles like some prince come to rescue his princess. I left the Sword of Mourning buried to the hilt in the middle of the Hallow. Let he who draws it know its misfortune.
I don’t want it.
Unseelie flee in all directions, and the wind whistles through the half-broken spires as if some otherworldly being is attacking the castle with the elements.
Stones fall as an arch crumbles, crushing a pair of hobgoblins beneath it. The thorns in the maze creep away from the castle’s flanks as if to distance themselves, and fire flares in the top tower of the keep.
Hopefully, Eris and Thalia managed to break the others out of their rotting cells before the Erlking arrived.
I sprint through the bailey, cutting down a pair of hissing Sorrows that try to flank me. “Eris?” There’s no answer. Only the wind, cutting now, like a knife. “Thiago?”
Thiago strides out of the tower, shadows rippling around him like a cloak—or a pair of wings. In that instant I see him as the Unseelie do; a fierce warlord who looks unstoppable. There’s nothing Seelie in his expression, and his eyes are completely black with the Darkness within him.
“What in Maia’s name did you do?” he yells, the fierce wind whipping his torn shirt behind him like a banner.
I can’t help myself.
I rush forward and throw myself into his arms. He practically lifts me off my feet, his arms closing around me like a trap. Despite his anger, I can feel the tension in him ease the second he holds me.
“What would I not do?” I whisper, and then capture his face in my hands before claiming a swift, furious kiss. “You promised you’d come for me. I could do no less.”
“Vi,” he says, eyes darting around. “What—”
“It’s a long story,” I yell, tugging him toward the gates. “And now is definitely not the time to discuss it. Hurry. Before he brings the rest of the castle down.”
“Did it work?” Eris yells, staggering out of some doorway. She has her shoulder under Finn’s arm, and his face is pale, blood matting his hair.
Thalia guards their backs, wielding two razor-sharp daggers with enough dexterity to convince me she knows how to use them.
“It worked!” I point to the stones that crumble around us. “I think Blaedwyn’s locked herself away in the tower. I also think we’re now the least of her concerns. But it might be wise to get as far away from here as we can.”
* * *
The Hallow spitsus out in Valerian.
The entire city is blanketed in snow and darkness. A deathly quiet fills the air, a vast difference from the shrieking beasts that lumbered through the swamp toward the Hallow at Scarshaven.
Thiago wastes no time. “What did you do?”
This is where the payment comes due. I glance toward the others, and when Eris winces, I know I’m in trouble. “You see…. The first plan failed. I stole the Sword of Mourning from Blaedwyn, but then she set her entire court to hunting us. And I didn’t dare use the sword. So I… made a contingency plan.”
Thiago grabs my wrist, flipping it to reveal the pair of golden antlers marked on my skin. His nostrils flare, and then his gaze captures mine, burning with intensity. “What. Did. You. Do?”
“I had no choice!” I snap, tearing my wrist from his touch. “We couldn’t escape, and Eris didn’t dare release herself. I could barely hold the fucking sword, let alone wield it. The only thing I could think of was to unleashhim.”
He turns on Eris, hot fury smoldering within him. Just one push, and I think he’s going to erupt. “I gave you sanctuary,” he snarls. “I put my life on the line to save yours, and this is how you repay me?”
She flinches.
I grab his forearm. “It’s not her fault. If you want to blame someone, then blame me. It was my idea. I was the one who released him. I was the one who made the bargain with him.”
