Page 69 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Tonight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The halls of Orion’s castle are silent as I make my way towards a room farther down. The faelight gems that are scattered across the ceiling like stars have been turned low, only giving off a soft white glow. It’s enough to see by while still making it feel like I’m walking underneath a starry night sky rather than inside an elegant hallway.
I cast a glance over my shoulder. But only grand paintings of beautiful night skies with northern lights watch me as I sneak along the lush blue carpets. When I reach the intended room, I pause with my hand on the handle. I really hope I’m not about to get my throat slit.
Shoving down the handle, I pull open the door and stride into the dark bedroom beyond.
I only make it two steps across the threshold before something sharp is pressed against my throat. I freeze. Behind me, the door swings shut again with a soft thud.
Then white faelight fills the room as its occupant turns the gem in the swirling steel holder on the nightstand.
“Mabona’s tits, Selena,” Isera says while leveling anexasperated stare on me. “We’re supposed to be getting a few hours of sleep.”
Glancing down, I study the sharp shard of ice that is pressed against my throat before Isera flicks her wrist and dismisses it. The coldness disappears from my skin as I look up to meet her gaze. She is standing on the soft blue carpet in the middle of her elegant guest bedroom, wearing a very short silk nightgown. Her long black hair falls down over her mostly bare shoulders, and she looks incredibly put together, despite the fact that the rumpled bedsheets announce that she was most likely sleeping when I broke into her room.
“I thought you were…” Trailing off, she shakes her head and then draws a hand through her smooth hair. “Never mind.” Suspicion enters her silver and blue eyes as she looks me up and down, no doubt noting the fact that I’m dressed in my black fighting leathers and have a dagger strapped to my thigh. “What are you doing here?”
“I need your help,” I announce.
“With what?”
“I am getting Draven back.”
“We’re making a plan for that in just a few hours.”
“No. I am getting him back tonight.” Steel creeps into my voice. “I am not leaving him at the mercy of that sadistic bitch for one second more than absolutely necessary, so I’m going to Hunter’s Marsh tonight. I need you to help me threaten Grey into opening a portal and then stay with him to make sure that he keeps the portal open instead of running to Orion to rat me out.”
She gives me an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“I don’t care.”
“Ryat will care.”
My heart squeezes painfully. “Draven hates me.”
“For now. Once you figure out how to fix your little magicproblem and he returns to normal, he’s going to be furious with you. And withmefor letting you endanger yourself like this.”
I forget how to breathe as my heart suddenly stutters. The absolute certainty in her voice when she said that sends a surge through me that makes me feel lightheaded. As if there is no doubt in her mind that I will somehow be able to remove the hateful magic in Draven’s chest.
Giving my head a quick shake, I push aside those dangerous thoughts and instead focus on the problem at hand. First, I need to get him back. Then, I can worry about everything else.
“You owe me,” I remind Isera.
She shifts her weight on the carpet but doesn’t say anything.
“During the Atonement Trials, I blocked out your fear so that you could get through that tunnel inside the maze,” I press on. “And in return, you said that you would owe me a favor.”
“Getting yourself killed is a stupid way to call in that favor.”
“I won’t get myself killed.”
“We’re going to make a plan for this in the morning. A proper plan, which we will all execute together. Can’t you just?—”
