Chapter 26
Themis will give you no rest when she learns what you seek to achieve.
— ALARIC SARE’S PAPERS FOR EMBERLINE ARKOVA
Hart yanked me to my feet. The mood in the room shifted, and the smoky taste of his lust left only a bitter tinge of anxiety in its wake.
“We have to get you out of here,” Hart mumbled, and I couldn’t tell if he spoke to himself or me. Long strides took him toward the door. As he reached for the knob, a loud crash sounded on the other side. It repeated, and the handle jangled as someone attempted to let themselves in.
The king’s guards moved quickly.
“Shit.” Hart shoved a chair from the kitchen table beneath the rattling doorknob to hold it in place. Screams echoed from downstairs, and I could imagine patrons fleeing in all directions. The back exit that led to the alleyway beneath us would be flooded.
There were no other exits up here.
Panic overtook me. I wished we had nightmare magic at our disposal.
As someone pounded against the door again and Hart’s gaze raked the room like that of a caged animal, I took inventory of the magic we had left.
We hadn’t checked the pendant since the tavern, but envy—and therefore persuasion—seemed likely lost to us.
That was the last of the offensive magics.
Lust could heal, and joy could extend your life, neither of which would help us overpower a group of soldiers.
Hart pulled something small from his pocket and handed it to me. The adamas ring warmed my palm.
“This has fear in it.” He gripped my shoulders. “Use it as a last resort.”
I tried to hand it back to him. “Use it now. Use it on them to get us out of here.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t have that much left, Chaos.”
I swallowed around an overwhelming feeling of nausea.
Conceptually, I had accepted the adamas usage as a way to overthrow Rodric once the trials took all of our magic.
If I were being honest, I’d hoped that we would complete the trial before we took the throne, and that somehow, with the curse between us broken, we’d have our own magic of emotion again.
I really wasn’t sure if I’d be able to use an adamas ring.
Hart didn’t give me time to consider. He pointed toward the kitchen. “I need you to climb through the window.”
It was small. Maybe even smaller than the window in Alaric’s workshop. I could probably fit, but Hart never would.
Another thump sounded against the door, and the chair holding them back scraped across the floor.
“Chaos. We don’t have time—”
My gaze returned to the window. “We’re on the second story of the building.”
“Glad you remembered.” He forced a chuckle, but the lines of his broad shoulders were still so tense. He gestured me toward the open window. “There’s a small ledge. You should be able to shimmy to the corner.”
This window faced south. The corner it met would be the alleyway with the staircase we entered through. “The alley—”
His jaw flexed in frustration and thought. “Yes, it will be overrun with patrons and soldiers.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re not going to like this.”
I turned to face him.
“Your best bet is to jump for the wall. We’re high enough that you can make the top. From there, you’ll find a tree in the Oldwood you can use to help you down on the other side.”
I froze. His plan sounded ridiculous. Even more so because it sounded like he’d done this before. But that wasn’t the biggest problem. “You’re talking like you’re not coming with me.”
“Chaos,” he growled. “You already noticed I can’t fit through the window. I need you to do this. I’ll distract them on the stairs and meet you at the Storm camp later tonight.”
My body shook uncontrollably as adrenaline rushed in. The banging on the door continued. The wood bowed with the most recent strike. They would break through Hart’s flimsy barrier momentarily.
“Time has never been on our side,” he said with a soft smile.
“What if Themis interferes again?” I couldn’t be sure this raid wasn’t her doing. With how Hart had described the mudslide in the Oldwood, I feared for what our separation would allow.
He touched his lips. “I have an even better reminder of what I’m returning to this time.”
I swallowed, but I knew this plan was logical on some level. Hart could make it out with or without magic. The real danger was that if I refused to leave, I would be a liability for him. He’d focus on keeping me safe instead of fighting his way through.
Fine. I grasped his tunic with my fists and pulled him to me, and our lips met in a kiss that promised everything I couldn’t say. “Come back to me.”
The smirk that curled his lip almost looked genuine. Then he grabbed my hips and lifted me through the small opening. I scrambled through as the crack of splintering wood filled my ears. He slammed the window shut, leaving me on the ledge, and turned to deal with the entering guards.
I closed my eyes, willing myself not to stare into the room and see what dangers Hart faced. He could take on a handful of guards. I’d seen him do so before without magic.
My foot slipped, so I focused on my own predicament. Small was an understatement for this ledge. My heart beat rapidly, and my fear held me in place.
A soldier cried out from inside the apartment. Then another. Hart was doing fine. I needed to do the same.
With each step, I slid a little closer to the wall.
Unfortunately, that also meant I got a better vantage point of what Hart expected me to do.
Forest’s Edge bordered the city’s perimeter.
I’d always thought the Oldwood seemed to overtake the high stone wall that circled the kingdom.
In this case, that was in my favor. The jump itself was only a few feet, but the consequence if I failed…
My gaze drifted to the mele below. The alleyway was overrun with fleeing patrons and guards doing their best to stanch the flow.
I wouldn’t die if I missed the jump, but my chances of escape would plummet.
I pushed away the fear of what Rodric would do if he caught me.
If I made the jump, I could prevent those terrifying realities.
I could make it.
Before I hurled myself forward, a closer shout sounded, and more wood splintered. A body fell from the height of the second story. Though I couldn’t see the staircase from here, the scream wasn’t Hart’s. He must have thrown someone over the staircase entryway to his apartment.
That was a good enough distraction for me.
I pressed back against the building momentarily, then pitched myself toward the stone wall.
My breath slammed from my lungs as I landed hard.
I pushed myself to my hands and knees quickly.
I didn’t see anyone patrolling the wall, but that didn’t mean someone wouldn’t arrive.
As I fingered the ring in my pocket, I searched both directions for an opponent. My escape route appeared clear.
The tree Hart had mentioned was only a few feet farther south. A large branch nearly reached the stone. This second part was much easier. I scrambled onto the tree and slid down into the covering of the Oldwood.
There was a time when the Oldwood in the middle of the night would have been my greatest fear. I’d been scared to lose myself—or scared to find myself, as it turned out. Hart had seen me through it, as he had seen me through every challenge that being a Champion brought.
With a final glance over my shoulder, I whispered words to Hart that I knew he wouldn’t hear. I resolved to tell him soon.
The clash of swords and echo of screams pierced the silence of the forest. I couldn’t linger. Hart had fought guards for hundreds of years. He could fight a few more.
I bit the inside of my lip and forced myself to leave a piece of my heart behind and flee into the Oldwood alone.
As I climbed the familiar path to the mountain pass, I knew I couldn’t stop at the Storm’s camp.
With this unexpected break in our time in Kavios, I wanted to see Charon.
Part of me knew he was the only one with the ability to calm me until Hart returned, and he’d be the friend I’d ask to blaze into Kavios if Hart didn’t.
I left word for Hart with Alysa, then I hiked farther into the Pinnacle Range.
“Is that you, Champion?” Charon’s voice reached my mind before his curled form was visible.
I approached the opening of the cavern where he had lodged himself. He lay curled like a cat, his tail wrapping around his legs and his wings tucked to his body.
“No Cursed?” He lifted his head to glance behind me.
“We’ve been through this, Charon. I am cursed, too.”
Charon huffed, and a wing snapped effortlessly, like a bird ruffling its feathers. “You know what I mean.”
“He’s still in Kavios. He should arrive soon.”
Charon tilted his head, and concern filled his large golden eyes. It made me realize tears streamed from mine. He lifted his wing and ushered me beneath it. “What happened?”
I wasn’t sure where to start. “A raid on Forest’s Edge.” It was the most tactical answer. The others—about my emotions, about my and Hart’s future—were much harder to verbalize.
“Themis,” Charon growled, and smoke flared from his nostrils.
I tended to agree. I just hoped Hart was right about his ability to ignore the goddess’s building influence. If it was her, she was doing her very best to ensure that nowhere was safe for us.
“I—”
Charon’s wing tucked me against his scales, and even though I couldn’t order my thoughts, even though it felt like the future I wanted was so far out of reach, he at least gave me a moment to breathe.
“You know the Cursed is a survivor. You don’t need me to tell you. He’ll be here soon.”