Chapter Fourteen - Leigh
If I fall from this height, all the bones in my body will shatter.
The harpy’s talons dig deep into my arms. They are sharp enough to make me wince while somehow not breaking skin.
We soar through the dense clouds, slicing through thick thunderheads that hover like mourners above the gray wasteland.
We veer right, moving away from the castle.
My heart plummets. That’s where I need to find Fynn.
“Where are you taking me?” I shout, but the unsteady drum of my captor’s giant, feathered wings against the storm drowns out my question.
Lightning strikes. It’s too close. I scream.
The wind pushes us off course, and my harpy captor struggles to redirect herself.
“We can’t fly in this!” I don’t even know if the harpy can understand me.
The treetops below grow closer as we descend. The harpy cries as she brings us closer to the green canopy beneath us. The scent of pine and petrichor overwhelms me. A massive nest appears, and my limbs prick with pins and needles.
Oh gods, I’m about to be harpy food.
We hover above the nest, and I shut my eyes, refusing to see my end. When her talons release me, I cry out, plummeting before landing in the center of an empty nest surrounded by wet, scattered feathers. However, it’s not filled with ravenous chicks.
The harpy lands beside me seconds later, her powerful wings knocking me backward toward the edge. I manage to catch myself before falling. I look down and gasp. We are at least one hundred feet above the ground, high up in the trees.
Now what?
Slowly, I turn to face the harpy. Her clawed feet grip the nest as she fixes me with a glare that suggests I am responsible for all the world’s suffering.
“Please,” I try to reason. “Let me go.”
The harpy’s scarred human face, red with fury, studies me. I step closer with open palms.
“I need to go to the castle. I’m …” I’m wasting my breath. It’s never going to let me go.
The harpy cocks her head, its tangled hair falling to the side.
Overhead, a pained cry penetrates the sky. I peer into the clouds as the wails grow louder and more painful. It sounds like another harpy could be in trouble.
My captor answers with a panicked screech of her own before launching skyward. Moments later, her gigantic, otherworldly form is swallowed by mist and rain.
I hurry toward the other side of the nest. If I want to escape whatever fate the harpy has planned, I need to leave now.
Below me, branches thick enough to support my weight extend from the tree’s massive trunk.
Two more large nests are nestled in the nearby trees.
The forest must stretch for miles. I can’t see the castle.
Thunder rumbles overhead, and lightning flashes.
For a moment, it illuminates the dreary landscape.
There! The castle is closer than I thought.
No time to waste. Kosac and his Dullahan could be torturing Fynn right now.
I swing my legs over the edge of the nest and crouch onto a nearby branch. My pulse pounds in my throat as I inch closer to the trunk.
Don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fucking fall.