Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
B y the following morning, the storm had cleared, and the sun shone weakly through a haze of steely gray clouds. Sorsha and I dressed quickly in fur-lined leathers and ate a cold breakfast in her rooms without any mention of her conversation with Kaden.
Part of me resented that my new friend was keeping secrets from me, but I was too anxious about our journey to the continent to dwell on what I’d overheard. Every step took me farther from the mortal world, but I found I didn’t care.
I couldn’t go back — not when I was the only huntress in existence who could kill the demon king and his son.
Besides, there was nothing waiting for me back in the Quarter.
I had no family, no real friends. All that remained were bad memories and almost certain death at the hands of the vampire clans.
Whether I liked it or not, I was Kaden’s weapon and pawn. And I was determined to end the Dark King before turning my blade on his son .
By the time we reached the east tower, Adriel was already waiting, wings out, with two lumpy rucksacks at his feet. His tarnished copper locks were damp as if he’d been flying, and he wore his usual look of irritated impatience.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Sorsha trilled, smiling sweetly at the prince’s royal guard.
A muscle ticked in Adriel’s jaw as his gaze flicked over the princess, but he merely grunted in acknowledgment. A second later, I felt a familiar prickle along the back of my neck, and Kaden strode onto the tower.
“We’ll have to enter Anvalyn from the Oranthan Mountains,” he said by way of greeting. “There’s a gap in the wards we can slip through.”
He took the rucksacks from his royal guard, and I watched in amazement as they disappeared into thin air — presumably folded into the same magical pocket where he’d concealed the apokropos stone.
“We’ll have to go on foot once we reach the continent in case Alfrigg has patrols in the area. There’s a small Drathen village on the other side of the mountains where we can acquire horses.”
Kaden approached me, arms outstretched, and an unwelcome heat surged through my body.
For a moment, I considered asking Adriel to fly me across the sea. But one look at the sullen royal guard, and I decided I’d rather take my chances with the demon prince.
The corner of Kaden’s mouth twitched as though he’d read my thoughts, and I hurriedly checked to be sure my mental shields were in place before sliding an arm around his neck.
A low chuckle rumbled through him as he scooped me up, and I tried to ignore the hard muscles of his chest pressing into the side of my body and his intoxicating charred-cedar scent. But despite the hatred coursing through my veins, I still felt an annoying swoop in the pit of my stomach.
Leaping onto the battlements, Adriel stretched his wings, preparing for flight, but Sorsha didn’t move.
“What is it now?” Kaden asked his sister, exasperation mixing with the hint of a plea in his voice. “I already begged.”
“It's just —” Sorsha broke off, face reddening as she looked out toward the sea. “I can’t summon my wings anymore.”
Kaden’s whole body stiffened.
Sorsha bit down on her bottom lip, looking close to tears. “I-I think I’ve been away from the mainland too long, and —”
I couldn’t see Kaden’s expression, but when Adriel turned, his face might have been carved from stone. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he demanded.
“You’re hardly ever here.”
“How long?” Kaden asked, his voice low and somber.
The princess’s shoulders sagged. “Two turns.”
“Two turns?” Adriel growled, his eyes narrowing to slits. “You haven’t been able to summon your wings for two turns , and you never thought it worth mentioning?”
“There was nothing you could have done.”
“Nothing we could’ve —” Adriel broke off, dragging a hand through his choppy locks. “If we’d known, one of us would have come and plucked you off this miserable rock.”
Sorsha scoffed .
“I never would have left you here if I’d known,” Kaden said quietly.
“None of us had a choice,” Sorsha replied.
A heavy silence fell between them, and Kaden shifted toward his royal guard, a silent conversation playing out between the two of them.
“I’ll fly her,” Adriel told him.
Sorsha gave a low growl of protest, and the corner of Adriel’s mouth twitched. “I promise I won’t drop you.”
Kaden made a noise of assent, and I didn’t have time to brace myself before he launched us skyward.
My stomach lurched at the sudden movement, and I felt a nasty churn of nausea before his wings caught the air and we glided out over the churning black water.
Even without the pelting rain, the atmosphere was damp and frigid, and I found myself retreating into Kaden's warmth as he flew us across the Drathen Sea.
Every so often, I glimpsed the shadow of wings above us and felt a fresh pang of sympathy for Sorsha — not only for the loss of her magic, but for the indignity of having to be carried across the water when she was a faerie used to flying.
If the animosity I’d sensed between her and Adriel was any indication of their relationship, the flight had to be excruciating.
Soon we entered a thick white mist, and I couldn’t see more than a few feet in any direction. I had no idea how Kaden could tell where he was going. I only hoped his sense of direction was enough to prevent us from colliding with the side of a mountain.
After nearly an hour, shadows appeared through the clouds — the jagged peaks of the Oranthan Mountains slashing through the mist like the fangs of some ravenous beast.
Flakes of snow pelted my face, and the current whipped us through the air as we descended toward the snow-capped peaks. The wind became a dull roar in my ears, and the icy breeze stole the breath from my lungs.
I couldn’t see the wards. Not at first. But I could feel the subtle hum of magic like a headwind.
When I concentrated, though, the threads of power began to materialize from the mist, like gossamer strands of gold. They fanned out over the mountains, crisscrossing to form a net. A magical barrier.
“Brace yourself,” Kaden rumbled as we hurtled toward a small gap in the wards, just over the tallest peak.
My muscles tensed as we approached the mountaintop, and the prince stumbled as we landed.
Rather than his usual running landing, Kaden’s boots sank into the snow, and the impact nearly sent me hurtling out of his arms. I gasped as we rocked forward, and he carefully set me down. I immediately sank into the deep powder, which reached the tops of my thighs.
I heard the others touch down behind us, Sorsha groaning as she, too, slipped through the snow.
“There has got to be a better place to land,” she groused.
“There isn’t,” Adriel replied. “This is the only place to enter the kingdom undetected.”
“No magic,” Kaden warned. “I don’t know what enchantments he might have in place. For all we know, that gap is intentional. We do not want to alert Alfrigg to our presence.”
Sorsha lifted her eyebrows as if to say great , though Adriel’s expression remained impassive .
I wondered what sort of powers the prince’s royal guard possessed if he was neither demon nor fae. His wings resembled those of a demon, but he had pointed ears like Sorsha. Could he glamour himself to look any way he wanted, or was that just how Morkahlfs looked?
Not that I would ask him. Adriel wasn’t approachable on his best day, and after his flight with Sorsha, he looked even surlier than usual.
Without another word, we began our descent. The wind howled around us, miserably cold, and icy flakes whipped into our eyes no matter which direction we turned.
Every step was perilous. Above the tree line, the snow had thawed and refrozen in layers, giving the terrain an uneven quality. Sometimes the hard frost held, only to give unexpectedly one step later. Hidden beneath the snow were jagged rocks that often shifted underfoot.
We didn’t speak as we navigated the treacherous switchbacks. We merely trudged on with our heads bowed against the howling wind.
Within an hour, I was achy and exhausted, my sweaty clothes chilling my skin.
I could feel new blisters forming along the backs of my heels, alternately burning and growing numb as the pustules burst. I’d lost all feeling in my fingers and toes, and small icicles had formed beneath my incessantly streaming nose.
“We’ll find a cave to rest for the night,” Kaden called when the gale grew so violent it seemed as though it might blow us off the path. “There are several scattered among the —”
A tremendous roar made my heart stutter, so loud the mountain itself seemed to tremble. I whipped around, unsheathing my blade, and felt my bowels turn to liquid .
On the path behind us stood a creature at least twenty feet tall and as wide as five men. Its skin was a leathery, speckled gray, allowing it to blend in with the rocky mountainside. We’d probably walked right past it.
Its skull was oddly flattened, with small, wide-set eyes. Its limbs were long and muscular, its legs as thick as tree trunks.
Snow and ice pelted us as it shook itself off with a roar. Two rows of jagged teeth flashed, and I heard the shink of blades being drawn.
My lungs seized. I couldn’t breathe, much less think. What good would our weapons do against a creature that size?
But Kaden and Adriel were already moving, attacking the creature as one. Kaden hurled himself at the beast as Adriel bounded up the steep cliff face on our left, plunging his blade into the monster’s fleshy underarm.
The beast roared and swiped at Kaden, who narrowly avoided its blow.
Sorsha seemed to understand their strategy and threw herself forward as the creature’s next distraction as Kaden slid between its thighs and turned to strike at the back of its leg.
The monster howled as Kaden severed its tendon, thick brown blood spraying the snow.
Taking the steep embankment at a run, I propelled myself as high as I could go and then twisted my body toward the beast. As he lunged for Sorsha, I jumped, plunging my sword into the span of flesh that stretched over its hip bone.
My stomach lurched as I fell, but my aim had been true. The creature’s keening cry rattled my bones as I landed in the snow and rolled.
The other three worked in a frenzy, alternately feinting and attacking with a preternatural speed that I struggled to match.
Though we managed to wound the creature in the onslaught, it seemed impossible to land a fatal blow. The beast’s head was too high, and its internal organs were too well-protected.
Then Adriel took a running leap, thrusting his sword in a sharp upward movement that sliced through the creature’s abdomen. A bloodcurdling shriek echoed off the mountainside, and I felt the ground beneath me tremble.
With an uneasy glance up the mountainside, I saw an ominous cloud of swirling white billowing toward us.
No. Not a cloud. An avalanche.
“Fuck!” Kaden barked at the same moment panic seized me.
Talon-tipped wings flared wide as the prince shot toward me — just as the beast’s huge clawed hand slammed into his chest.
A scream ripped from my throat as the creature tossed Kaden into the cliff face. His body went limp as he hit the wall of jagged rocks, then disappeared from view.
In my next breath, the drift of snow was upon us, completely obscuring my vision.
There was no time to run before it engulfed me, sweeping my legs out from under me and tossing me down the mountain with bone-rattling speed.
Another scream tore from my throat, but it was swallowed by the dull roar in my ears. Snow pressed in at me from all sides as I fought to keep my head above the churning sea of white.
Then my hip struck something solid, and a burst of agony flared through me. I tumbled about like a cork in the sea, black spots swirling in my vision.
A steely gray patch of sky appeared, and I clawed for that opening. But the tidal wave of snow was too strong and too fast.
My own outstretched hand was the last thing I saw before the frigid dark engulfed me.