Page 32 of Taloned Heart

And when she lowered Beauty’s hood, his dear friend had tiny pointed ears. She looked right at the rat man without fear and then smiled.

“Is that suitable?” Beauty asked, her voice wavering a bit.

The rat merely tsked and turned on his heel. “Lucky day, strangers!”

CHAPTER12

Stupid.

Lore was so stupid. Why would she take that risk?

She could have told Abraxas to punch that stupid man’s muzzle right into his skull and they could have run. She’d have gotten them out of there long before anyone could find them. Lore still knew Tenebrous like the back of her hand. She could have hidden them. They would have found a place to hide while the entire city looked for them. They would have done anything and everything other than what she’d done.

She ripped the spell off of her face the moment they left the city gates. She didn’t care that the marshes stood in front of them or that someone might see her. Now, what was the point? Why would she even try?

The ripples of that spell were enough. Margaret would know they were here. All she had done, everything she’d fought for, and she’d left it in the dirt of Tenebrous, just like the rest of her dignity. Changing her own appearance? That was easy magic. Changing another’s? Much, much more difficult.

“Stupid,” she muttered. “Moron. Fool. Why would you risk everything for something like that?”

“Lore?” Abraxas called from behind them. “Would you slow down, please?”

No, she would not slow down. They needed to put as much space between them and Tenebrous as possible. If they didn’t, then Margaret’s men would find them like sitting ducks. She’d put a flashing orb above their head that pointed at them. If Margaret was looking, and she was, then she’d know where to find them now.

Stomping through the muck only made her feel slightly better. She tried to focus on the here and now.

The scent of moss and mud filled her nostrils. The leather straps of her bag dug into her shoulders, but she almost didn’t feel the weight at all. Her breath sawed from her lungs, making her ribs go in and out in an exaggerated fashion. She should get her breathing under control because she couldn’t hear anything other than that and the thundering of her heart in her ears.

She needed to keep her senses sharp and her wits about her. Margaret would have sent her shadows and her ravens to scope out Tenebrous, and those creatures could see them from above. Which meant she needed to get them out of the marshes faster than she expected. There was only one trail that would take them out of the marsh, and that was the one path she didn’t want to go.

Apparently, she would be forced to travel down her memories if she wanted to end all of this. And still, it made her heart twist in her chest.

“Lore!” Abraxas called again, and this time she heard him stomping toward her. The mud sucked at his feet, giving his position away as he did his best to catch up with her. “I said slow down!”

He caught her arm and all that anger and disgust at herself lashed out. A blast of power sent him reeling away. He stumbled a few times and then landed on his ass in the mud.

Her dragon stared up at her in shock. She stared back with wide eyes and a heaving chest that she tried to get under control, but she couldn’t no matter how hard she tried.

“Are you—”

“Did you—”

They spoke over each other.

She knew what he was going to ask. Did you mean to hurt me? While she had wanted to know if she’d done just that. It wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be taking her anger out on him, but what else could she do? She’d put them both in danger, and maybe it would be best if she’d left them both in Tenebrous.

He wouldn’t let her do that. And suddenly she felt trapped.

Everyone wanted something from her, and she’d forgotten to steel herself against that. Abraxas wanted her to be herself. Beauty wanted her to save Zephyr. Beauty’s father wanted her to save the humans. Everyone wanted her to do something and she couldn’t breathe anymore.

She just needed a little time to get her head back on straight. To roll herself up in whatever control she could grasp out of this situation before it was all pulled out from under her again. And she couldn’t do that when he was staring at her like she’d lost her mind.

“I need a few minutes,” she rasped, stumbling away from him.

“How far are you going?”

“Not far.” She didn’t think so. She wasn’t going to run, if that’s what he was asking her. “Are you all right?”

“I’ve survived worse.” He stood, and she watched to make sure he wasn’t limping or showed any sign of pain. He didn’t, thank goodness. At least he was a dragon and could take a bit of a magical beating. “Are you all right?”

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