Chapter 18
Maggie
Itook one stride down the steps before a rumble shook the trees.
My feet slid around on the stone, tangling Dolly and me together.
When we hit the stairs, I sheltered Dolly from the worst of it with my shoulder.
I scrambled up, pain radiating from my arm, refusing to put her down.
Three figures burst from the treeline, riding hells-for-leather in our direction.
My heart leapt in my chest. I would recognize that stream of midnight locks anywhere.
Noth’s salamander charged forward. Jax and Yaya flanked him on horses galloping like the wind.
They were really coming for me! But they weren’t shaking the ground.
Noth’s waddling salamander was overtaken by the army of what-the-fuck behind him.
The toddling, stubby plants ran out in front of the three riders.
At first, just a few ambled through the clearing but as Noth got closer, more and more poured out of the forest. Their soft feet turned to thunder when thousands of them flattened the green leading up to the palace.
Cream petals, stumpy legs, black stamen–Evie’s harrowing account of meeting walking flowers seared into my brain for all eternity.
Sighting their bloody-tipped petals and thorny vines tripped me down the stairs.
Devil’s Bells. Their cousins, the Angel’s Bells, were peaceful vegetarians.
Devil’s Bells were definitely carnivorous despite their gorgeous appearance.
Case in point, the few that overtook Noth opened a red-rimmed portal above their spread petals and promptly swallowed a black-clad, charging soldier whole.
If we could get close enough, we would all escape together.
I rushed down the stairs, Dolly’s dress, a bright banner behind me.
My grip grew sweaty and I ruined her gown, but I wouldn’t put her down.
We had a better chance with her in my arms. I plowed into the soldiers guarding the bridge.
I knocked some into the water before monsters I didn’t want to examine dragged them into the deep.
We made progress with my strength sigil aiding our rush but too many crowded the too-narrow bridge.
Eventually, surprise gave way to dagger slashes and flying fists.
As I had proved, I wasn’t the best fighter, but I was flexible.
I dodged like there was no tomorrow. We crossed halfway before my arms started to shake.
Someone ripped Dolly away and I ripped her right back.
I wouldn’t let go of my redemption. Expending this amount of magic was a first. While I didn’t think I would burn out, I couldn’t maintain the spell either. I had to put Dolly down.
“Can you run?”
Her head snapped up and down in a ‘yes’ despite her gigantic, fear-filled eyes.
A scream split the air but it wasn’t a guard dying.
It was Noth’s as he tore through the ranks on the other side of the bridge.
The shriek sent chills up my spine and a dart of pleasure between my legs.
We just had to meet in the middle. In the thick of so many bodies, plant, elf, and human, Dolly and I ducked and wove out of grips.
The closer we got to Noth, the more stabby everyone became.
As I dodged the Elf’s sword, I realized that Noth had been treating me gently in every one of our encounters.
He fought possessed, shrugging off cuts and blows that would have killed a lesser monster.
The utter concentration on his face undid me.
Devil’s Bells mingled with the guard, slurping them into their open portals with a fervor that looked mindless but when a smaller flower tossed a hefty soldier to a larger flower’s portal, I realized they were playing with us.
That was just too creepy for words. I ducked away from the flower suddenly before me.
But instead of lunging for me with their thorny vines, it swallowed an elaborately dressed Elf to my right.
Black magic pulsed from their base, spider-webbing over the bottom of their bells and over their legs.
As one, the army of flowers flowed over and around Dolly and me, only brushing us with their petals in a friendly gesture.
“Push over the bridge,” Noth’s order almost made me turn.
The flowers marched on Noth’s command.
He slashed through the guards as I fought forward.
He fought utterly recklessly in his attempts to get to me.
I wasn’t a blade master like he was, but even I saw him take too many strikes just because it was a more direct route to me.
In that moment, the secret to killing him crystalized in my mind.
It was me.
I lost my footing with the knowledge that whatever our hate and lust had morphed into, it could kill Noth. And not in the way I first anticipated. Rue laughed as if she knew all along that my path to revenge was really the road to this man.
Dolly's hand slipped through mine as an Elf pulled her back and I had to retrace my steps, using the palm knife on a few people before I found her again.
She squirmed in the arms of a tall Elf, the train of her dress locking her to him.
The further I got from Noth, the more desperate I felt, but Dolly wasn't doing much more than annoying the Elf.
I blocked out the grunts and cries of the soldiers to move forward and stay free.
“Fight, Dolly!”
Dolly slapped the Elf holding her but it wouldn’t have stopped the Wolf at home, Declan, and he was the sweetest out of all of us. I yelled my frustration and felt an arm snake around my middle.
I struggled with what little strength I had left, stabbing the push knife into the thigh against me.
“Got you,” Noth’s midnight voice in my ear stilled my flailing as I panted against him.
I wanted to kiss him, lay him down on the bridge and fuck him until we both saw stars. He came for me when no one else ever had. But he was also definitely in my way.
“Let go.”
“I'm here to rescue you. Did you miss me?” He huffed a laugh.
I did, but I wouldn't be caught doing the selfish thing instead of the right thing again.
Not waiting for my reply, he hauled me backward. “We have to go, Pumpkin.”
“Put me down. We need to get Dolly.” The Elf dragged her closer to the palace, cutting down Devil’s Bells as he went.
“One woman is a small sacrifice to have you safe. I will find you another friend.”
Yaya blew by, perfectly balanced on the bridge railing, engaging with the soldiers and guards brave enough to wade through the advancing army of flowers. Jax guarded our backs against any stragglers. We had the perfect cover to escape. But I couldn't do it.
Noth dragged me over the bridge despite my protests and blows.
Dolly had all but disappeared in the sea of milling guards on the far side of the bridge but her ridiculous dress flapped every so often to let me know she was still there.
The army of flowers stopped at the opposite end of the bridge, forming a wall. So Noth wasn't going to consume his entire people. He mustered a fearsome plant army just so I could escape.
Guilt rained down on me for losing my grip on Dolly's hand. For not being a better fighter, a better sister.
“No, please, Noth. I can't fail again.”
Noth’s hold turned into a hug. “We can’t win like this, Maggie.
We have to end this before Brad does. Yaya will go into hiding.
Jax will embed with the rest of the humans.
Severin reached out again but will only help as much as it gains him.
We won’t be alone, but you and I will have to finish this.
I need you. We can’t fight him if we stay on this bridge. ”
When the hells did he start making sense? He cradled my face in his large hands, brushing thumbs over my cheeks, searching my eyes for something.
“I’m sorry I left you in there.”
“You had to,” I said quickly.
“I was too focused on getting revenge. I abandoned the most important thing.”
Was that me? My heart beat double time, surging past the adrenaline of the fight.
“That was your bodyguard, right? I would have tried to kill her too, given the opportunity. Brad sent too many soldiers against you. You did the smart thing.”
“And now you have to too,” he said with a gentleness I didn’t think he was capable of.
I gritted my teeth, baring them at him and then set my face to stone. My legs wobbled like jelly as Noth helped me mount the salamander. Arrows followed us to the tree line but Noth shielded us with his shadows. There were no jokes, no banter, just the weight of what we had to do between us.
Eventually, I realized we were not going to Yaya’s cottage. The forest looked too dense, the land too untouched by Elven hands, to be the way back. Nothing else in the territory looked this lush and wild. Magic sculpted every bush and tree in the palace garden. Beautiful but controlled enchantment.
When I asked, Noth replied, “The Sinchester Wilds is what’s left of the Elves’ original magic. We leave it alone if we want to keep it. Further to the northeast is unknown country, but no one goes there. Old Magic still lives there. And it’s butt-ass cold.”
“Everything’s a bit bigger here.” I trailed my hand along the towering fern above our heads.
“It’s the Old Magic. It makes everything grander. See?”
Noth’s hard dick rubbed the seam of my ass and it was sexy, it was, but it was also unexpectedly comforting. I didn’t even laugh, just leaned back into him, wanting to feel his outrageousness against my skin. The sharp edge of our fights had melted into something like home.
“I don’t know. It still feels a little small to me. I’ll have to check again.”