Page 123 of Crown of Darkness
“What’s wrong?” I gasp. “Are we under attack?”
“If we were under attack, then you would see the ground littered with the corpses of mine enemies.” I swear it rolls its eyes. “The Hallow is nearing completion. You should be able to use it shortly.”
I blink.
And he’s right. I can feel the Hallow’s echo starting to ripple out through the lands, like some sort of sonar frequency.
A heavy weight forms on my shoulders, and suddenly I have a fur cloak.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Grimm demands. “We haven’t got all day.”
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Five
The second we arrive in Ceres, I stagger out of the Hallow’s copper ring, feeling utterly drained.
The Hallow stands in the second-tallest tower in the castle, and for a second, I simply close my eyes and breathe it all in. Home. I’m home. Bells ring in the distance, seagulls squawk through the open arches that lead to the sky, and I swear I can smell bread baking.
And I can feel the land welcoming me back—a big, deep breath of air that relaxes every tense muscle within me.
“Are you always so slow?” Grimm demands, already sauntering down the stairs of the tower. “Did your mother drop you on your head as a baby? Come on.”
Thiago and Eris.
Their faces when they see my new companion.
I grind my teeth as I stomp down the stairs after it, my skirt still in ruins, and bruises and dirt covering my skin. No queen now, but an untidy vagabond who desperately needs a bath. “My mother would have had to cradle me in her arms in order to drop me, and I’m sure the second she birthed me, she handed me over to the nursemaids. I was merely appreciating the fact that I’m….”
Alive.
I hadn’t let myself dwell on what had happened too much. It’s easy to push such thoughts aside. I’ve been doing it all my life.Just focus on what’s in front of you and keep moving forward.
But this is the first time the fetch has made a deliberate attempt to kidnap me since it lost me the first time.
Angharad wants to cut my heart out on the stone floor of the Hallow in the middle of the Black Keep, and she came very close to doing it.
“I see the future, not read minds,” Grimm tells me.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I assure you, my faculties are quite adept.”
“An Unseelie queen wants to sacrifice me to the Horned One in order to resurrect him,” I snap. “Forgive me if the thought makes me a little uneasy. I’m grateful to be home.”
Grimm stops on the stairs, and for once there’s no snide remark.
“We cannot allow that to happen.” He continues padding down the stairs.
“Thank you.”
“Not until you’ve found my child.”
“Is it possible she ran away from you?” I growl under my breath.
“Impossible. I am a grimalkin. I am her shadow. There’s no place she could go that I couldn’t follow.”
“Then how did you lose her?”
