Chapter 33
I hit the earth so forcefully that all the air was expelled from my lungs.
Geraint’s gray eyes were wide through the shrinking portal, his hand still outstretched.
He had shoved me through it with more strength than I would have expected from a stringy thing like him.
I didn’t have time to thank him before the portal closed.
Sucking in a ragged breath, I forced myself to sit up, scanning my surroundings. I had landed in the middle of a pine-filled forest. Above my head, the sky was crowded with blinking stars.
I cursed. I could be thousands of miles away from anywhere familiar. Worse still, my rescuer hadn’t taken the time to undo my bonds before dumping me here.
I scrambled to my feet, spinning around in an attempt to find something familiar in the sprawling darkness. Wolves howled somewhere in the night, and I prayed that the blood trickling languidly down my cheek wouldn’t draw them any nearer.
Who knew what other horrors awaited me in the dense thicket?
I had heard stories of the ancient woods of northern Valen.
Evil spirits were said to wander them in the dead of night, lying in wait for mortals to fall helplessly into their laps.
If I started walking, only the gods knew how long I would be wandering until I encountered anyone. I willed myself not to cry.
The chorus of howls grew louder. I whirled around, looking for anything that might allow me to cut my bonds.
Spotting a jagged stone sticking out of the earth, I threw myself to my knees and began hacking away at the rope.
It was no use. The twine was thick, enchanted perhaps.
Panic took hold of me, constricting my chest. My vision blurred.
I took a shaky breath, pressing the heels of my bound hands to my eyes to stem the flow of tears that were threatening to erupt. “No,” I said stubbornly. “This will not be what breaks you.”
I sat back on my heels, inhaling a ragged breath.
I held it for just a moment before releasing it into the cold evening air.
Like Ivor had taught me. My thoughts clearer, I forced myself back to my work.
The only sound for several minutes was the scratching of twine against rock.
The edges of my bonds frayed agonizingly slowly before the twine finally gave, splitting in two with a snap.
“Aha!” I cried, flexing my fingers. “Not bad, Erramun.”
I pushed myself to my feet. Staring into the empty space before me, I visualized the sprawling grounds of Hollybrook. Blood rushed into my fingertips, but no portal appeared. A dull ache bloomed between my temples.
I sniffed at my wrists. The faint scent of angelica lingered, anchoring me to the strange woods. “Okay,” I said to myself, choking down the unease that grew with every howl carried in on the breeze. “Try something else. Something simpler.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I’d projected my will plenty of times before, I reasoned.
Granted, my targets had typically been only a few feet away, but I knew that it was possible to do more.
If I could cast my thoughts out into space, I could find Enhart.
Guide him to me. A sense of calm rushed through my veins. I will find him.
Enhart, I thought, unfurling my will like a spool of thread. I’m here.
The breeze rustled the dead leaves of the trees above me. Small creatures scuttled by, their eyes flashing in the dark. Somewhere, an owl hooted into the darkness.
I exhaled again. Enhart.
A branch snapped behind me and I froze.
Before I could scream, Enhart appeared before me. Relief crashed over me at the sight of his face. Without thinking, I threw my arms around him. He hesitated for a moment before squeezing me back, his hand cupping the back of my head.
“It’s okay,” he whispered into my ear. “I’m here now.”
“Thank the gods,” I murmured into his coat.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, his gaze raking over my trembling frame.
I shook my head. His expression darkened as he laid eyes on my bloodied cheek.
He swept his fingers under my chin, running a thumb along my jaw as he examined the wound beneath the pale light of the moon.
He sucked in a breath as if smelling me. I watched wordlessly as his lip curled.
“I’m fine, I …” I trailed off, recognizing the look in his eyes.
As quickly as it had changed, his face became placid once again. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.
“I know,” I whispered.
I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. Wherever the encampment was, it hadn’t mattered that I was without shoes and clad in only a thin shift. Here, my skin pimpled in the wind. “Where are we?”
“Not far from the university,” he replied.
Loosing the clasp nestled against the hollow of his throat, he peeled off his cloak and draped it around my shoulders.
I gratefully folded my hands into the fabric as the now-familiar scent of petrichor wafted toward my nose.
“We’ve been combing the area for you since we awoke to find you gone.
I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear your voice. ”
My heart fluttered pathetically for the briefest of moments before a moan echoed through the trees. “What is that?” I asked, my blood running cold.
“I didn’t bring the horses,” Enhart said, ignoring my question. “I thought they would slow me down. Can you phase?”
“I don’t think so,” I whispered. “I tried but—but it didn’t work. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he assured me. “I can smell the angelica on you.”
“You can?” I asked.
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Yes. I’ll wait to ask who it is I need to throttle for using it on you until you’re safely back at Hollybrook. We’ll go on foot.”
“Witches,” I croaked, seizing his sleeve. “It was witches. Dozens of them. How is it possible?”
His lips parted, but for a moment no words came out. Another moan sounded. This time, though, it was much closer. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“I have about a thousand questions for you,” he said hurriedly. “But we should get you out of here before— Fuck.”
The musty stench of death wrinkled my nose. Enhart’s eyes scanned the woods behind me.
“Wightgasts?” I rasped.
He nodded, his voice echoing in my mind. Yes.
My jaw clamped shut. I strained my ears for signs of their approach, magic bubbling sluggishly beneath the surface of my skin.
They’re close, he warned as his eyes scanned the tree line. I squinted in a feeble attempt to see through the darkness, but whatever he was seeing was beyond my sight. Something rustled through the brush and I froze.
Remember what I told you, he thought, sliding the serpent dagger into my open palm.
My fingers went white as they curled around its hilt.
They may have appeared docile last time, but they will rip us apart if they get too close.
Fire is your best weapon, but if all else fails, a sharp blade to the skull will do just fine.
Any other advice?
Enhart squeezed my arm, flashing a fleeting grin. “Stay alive.”
Three wightgasts lumbered out of the trees, each as horrifying as the next.
Without the ward to protect us, I found myself fixated on their sharp, broken teeth and razor-like claws.
The brush rustled beneath their naked feet.
Their movements were jolting as they circled us, their bloodshot eyes nearly glowing in the darkness.
Enhart shoved me behind him shortly before the closest creature lunged.
The prince bared his fangs and met it, wrapping his arms lithely around its neck.
They hit the ground with a smack as the scent of blood and sweat filled the air.
Seizing a fistful of its matted hair, Enhart ripped the creature’s head off and sent it flying across the clearing.
My stomach churned as some foul substance oozed out of its corpse.
Before Enhart could find his footing again, a second wightgast threw itself on top of him, sinking its claws into his flesh.
“No!” I cried. Opening my palms, I released a plume of fire that was more smoke than flame.
It hit the creature square in the back of the head, singeing its skin and releasing the acrid stench of burned hair into the air.
Enhart kicked out and I winced as the wightgast’s chest caved in with a gruesome crack, sending it flailing backward in a cloud of smoke and fire.
At my command, the fire burned the creature until it no longer thrashed.
“Look out!” shouted Enhart.
I spun in time to raise a ward against another wightgast that had approached me from behind, eager to sink its claws into my gut while I was otherwise distracted.
Inches from my face, I recoiled at its foul breath that reeked of decay.
The beast ricocheted off my ward, hitting the ground with a thud.
I sent a stream of fire sailing through the air in an arc, wrapping it around the wightgast like a rope.
It wailed as its skin peeled off the bone until there was nothing left where it had once stood but charred earth.
I yelped as Enhart raised his steel dagger and flung it in my direction.
It sailed over my shoulder and landed with a thud.
Spinning on one heel, I recoiled as another wightgast fell to what was left of its knees, the knife sticking out of its chin.
Enhart appeared at my side and grabbed the hilt of the knife, bringing it upwards and cleaving the monster’s head in half.
I clapped a hand over my mouth, tasting bile.
Enhart’s lip curled as he sent the corpse flying with a swift kick, leaving a trail of black sludge in its wake.
I doubled over with a stitch in my side, my ragged breath the only sound in the empty woods around us.
My gaze flicked to Enhart. There was hardly a scratch on him.
Vampires, I nearly groaned. He locked eyes with me as he brushed debris from his shoulders.
“Well done,” he said. “Although I’m a little concerned you may have overexerted yourself. ”
I squeezed my eyes shut as my surroundings swam. “You weren’t so bad yourself,” I managed.
He grabbed me by the elbow. “Don’t you dare faint on me now, Erramun,” he warned.
I managed a weak laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
He peeled off his boots, ignoring the bewildered look on my face as he helped me into them. “You need them more than I do,” was all he said.
They were too big, but I relished the warmth that began to creep back into my toes as he knelt before me.
I watched him silently as he tightened the laces, the supple leather molding around my feet.
My fingertips brushed his shoulder as I willed myself not to keel over. “Thank you,” I said, shivering.
“Be careful not to trip in those,” he advised, straightening. “Let’s go.”
He placed his hand on the small of my back, ushering me ahead of him. I didn’t dare look at the carnage left in our wake. We set off through the brush, our footsteps muffled by the fallen pine needles that carpeted the path ahead.