Page 63 of Taloned Heart

They all relied on her and she had failed them time and time again. No more. She wouldn’t fail them ever again, even if that meant she had to crush this kingdom underneath her heel.

“We’re leaving,” she said, breaking the spell of happiness that Abraxas had woven around them.

The three of her companions froze and then looked at her. None of them seemed to know what to say until Abraxas cleared his throat.

“Now?” he asked.

“Right now.”

Beauty struggled to fling her legs over the bed, making sure she didn’t touch Zephyr too much in the process. “I’ll pack our things up, then. Give me an hour or two?”

Shaking her head, Lore pointed in the corner where three packs already waited for them. “I did that this morning. You were all still asleep.”

“Oh.” Beauty frowned. “So you knew we were leaving today, and you didn’t tell us?”

Maybe she should have told them in the morning, but there was so much for her to do before they could head out. “I didn’t want to worry you,” she tried to explain. Even Lore knew they were empty words. So she gestured between the three of them as though conjuring back the happiness that had been there only moments before. “I didn’t want to stop that from happening. You all need it.”

“So do you,” Zephyr replied.

It was the first time he’d talked with her since she’d saved him. The first time he’d been able to look her in the eye without getting watery.

Lore held his gaze, forcing him to feel the moment they connected. She needed him to be strong right now, even though he’d had to be strong for far too long.

And now that he’d healed for two days, he could hold her gaze without flinching.

“Good,” she said, and the two of them knew it wasn’t in response to what he’d said. “Get your packs. Zephyr, you’re not walking. Abraxas will carry you.”

“I can walk,” Zephyr protested, then froze when she leveled him with a glare.

“Either I will carry you, or Abraxas will carry you,” she said. “It’s your choice.”

Grumbling under his breath, Zephyr took his time getting his feet on the floor. Even that little movement made him breathless, though. Finally, he jerked his chin toward Abraxas. “It’ll be less humiliating if a dragon carries me.”

She’d admit he was right. The prince of these lands had been infected with poison, beaten within an inch of his life, and still wasn’t anywhere near the healthy point he should be able. Stubborn arrogance would not be his downfall today. Not on her watch.

After that, it took very little time at all for her three companions to ready themselves and get moving. They stepped out of the dwarven stronghold and into the bright light of the sun. And as Lore paused behind them, the last of their party to leave, she felt her entire body clench at the sight of so few people who stood with her now.

She remembered how chaotic it had been with everyone traveling together. How Goliath had poked at Draven and Abraxas while they bickered like two children. And now? Now their party was quiet as they approached the cold edge of the forest. So fathomless, so dark, it was almost as though she looked into the depths of the sea.

Beyond those trees, the deepmongers waited. The Ashen Deep. The elves who had very much denied her and the last time she’d been in this forest, they’d tried to imprison her.

But then they had fought by her side against the king. The Matriarch had proven herself still worthy of the name as she’d whirled through the Umbral Soldiers, her blades that screamed for souls in her hands. They were the few that could wield those blades.

Lore was not looking forward to their temptation once again. The whispers were terrifying. They called to a part of her soul that wanted power more than it wanted anything else.

A little shiver wracked through her body before she let it go. “Come on,” she muttered. “We’ll never get there at this pace.”

Lore plunged into the waiting darkness and hated the cold, clinging dampness that enveloped her. That magic was likely protecting the forest and letting the deepmongers know when someone had entered their kingdom. Even Margaret wouldn’t be so foolish as to stride in here without at least requesting an audience.

The only fools who would do so were Lore and her companions, she had a feeling.

They walked in silence for a few hours, going deeper and deeper into the woods. Lore’s feet slid on the mossy ground. Not an inch wasn’t covered by some kind of moss or algae. Even the trees were a strange, dark color. They weren’t right, or at least the same kind of trees that one would see anywhere else in the kingdom. They moved at the edges of her vision, stretching away from her as though even they were frightened of what had walked into their midst.

“Lore?” Beauty asked, her voice little more than a whisper. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“I don’t need to.” Lore turned her face up to stare at the dark canopy over their head. Not a single ray of light penetrated those leaves, and yet they could somehow see. A silvery light trailed through the forest around them, catching on every glimmering dewdrop on each leaf, petal, or moss.

“You don’t need to?” Beauty repeated, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Why?”

---