AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe I can save us all.
The horse is picking up speed when, suddenly, she whinnies and stumbles. She slows down, quickly, almost throwing me over her neck because I wasn’t prepared for the sudden change in motion.
“Whoaaaa.” I try to soothe her, but then I realise why she has stopped. “Maura?”
Standing in front of us, arms wide, Maura stares at me with steely eyes.
My heart races so fast I feel it might rip a hole in my chest. “What’s happened? Where are the others?”
She lowers her arms, resting her hands on her hips as Eldrion comes to a stop beside me. She doesn’t even look at him. “I have no idea what happened. I left the camp to try and stop you from doing something stupid.” She looks up at me, disgust swimming in her eyes. “But it seems I was too late. Your stupidity began months ago. When you decided to trust a Shadowkind jester more than you trusted your own kin.”
“Alana, don’t react,” Briony whispers. “She’s trying to get you to?—”
“And why would I trust you?” Indignation flares quickly in my chest as I stare down at the elder fae, but it is laced with hurt. The hurt I’ve felt over and over and over again since I was a child. Because, no matter what I do, I am never enough. “You have done nothing but?—”
“We do not have time for this.” Eldrion extends a hand to Maura, moving his horse towards her. “Are you coming with us or are we leaving you here? I do not care which option you choose.”
Her eyes flash. She hates him. A deep, fiery hatred. But she takes his hand, flicks her wings, and jumps up onto the back of his horse. She does not hold on to him, even though she looks frail enough to topple over if the horse moves too quickly. Instead, she uses her wings to help her balance.
Eldrion doesn’t say another word. He simply grunts, and continues towards the forest.
SEVEN
Alana
As soon as we reach the edge of the treeline, tar-like dread thickens in my veins. My limbs feel heavy. My wings curl in on themselves.
The smell.
Charred flesh, and fear.
The air is so dense with it that I can barely breathe.
Eldrion climbs down from his horse and takes its reins in his hand. Maura follows suit, her bare feet landing softly on the mossy ground. She shudders visibly, and wraps her arms around her waist. “By the stars,” she breathes. “What happened here?” She turns to me. “What did he do?”
I close my eyes and try to push away the visions that are clambering to return. Beating against the backs of my eyes, blinding me to anything else. I can’t move. I know I need to walk, but I can’t seem to find the energy in my body to leave my mare’s warm, safe back.
Eldrion strides to me and holds out a hand. The way he looks at me, it’s as if he loathes me and yet wants to protect me at the same time.
I take it reluctantly, and hold on tight as I lower myself to the ground.
Still gripping his hand, unable to let go, I shake my head. “I can’t.”
“We have to,” he growls.
“It’s already happened. We’re too late.” Panic is rising in my chest. “I can feel it. Can’t you feel it?”
Eldrion looks down at me. He is so tall, and so broad, and so powerful. And yet in this moment, I know there is nothing he can do to protect me. If Finn returns now, right now, we are at his mercy. Eldrion is weakened.
Right now? I am probably stronger than he is, and yet his hand holding mine feels so good. So needed.
I hate that I need him.
I have never needed anyone, and I certainly won’t begin now.
Roughly, I tug out of his grip, help Briony down, and then stride towards the treeline. Shoulders back, legs steady.
I caused this, so I must face it.
