AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Their necklaces acted as a sort of talisman, harnessing their powers, but not exactly like mine would be…if I ever found it. With the death knoll hanging over my head, it’s not likely.
“Couldn’t you take the power for yourself?” I ask, tilting my head.
They share a concerned look.
“You know better than the two of us,” Jagger says. “That taking power that isn’t yours leads to madness.”
I nod, folding my arms over my chest like that can protect my heart. My mother always spoke of those evil Enchantresses who would steal other tresses’ talismans for themselves. Siphoning power on top of power until it broke their minds and drove them mad to a point they couldn’t control their magic, let alone make rational decisions.
“You’re coming with us,” Zev says, not asks.
I pop my hands on my hips. “You don’t give me orders.”
“We do,” Jagger says. “Actually.”
Zev nods. “We’re your captors, remember? Delivering you to the Collector.”
My chest clenches. The way he says that it’s almost like he suspects I’ve been letting them keep me all along. But if they really knew my plans, would they try and stop me?
I push past Zev, lightly stroking Rain’s neck as I move forward, hoping my compliance will distract them.
When Rain is the only one to follow me, I glance over my shoulder. “Well? Are you two coming or not?”
Jagger laughs, and Zev grunts before they follow me, Zev moving ahead to retake the lead as we press up the hill.
Three days on the road,and it’s nightfall by the time we reach the plateau in the highlands where the Drifter Academy is nestled atop a brutally chilly mountain. The moon is bright enough that the castle I’ve only ever read or heard about comes into view once we clear the forest.
The travel weariness does nothing to stop my awe as I look at the castle.
The stonework is intricate, with tiers and rows of interlaced rock, spiraling and climbing to create the largest structure I’ve ever seen. Golden lights flicker from the windows carved into stone, illuminating hundreds of levels until the cover of the low-hanging clouds swallows it up.
“Impressed, little tress?” Zev asks, and I blink out of my awestruck stare.
“Who wouldn’t be affected by its sight?”
Jagger shrugs. “When you grow up here, it loses its appeal.”
I consider that as we keep moving, walking up a rough, pebbled path until we reach a long bridge that connects the plateau with the Academy.
“Will it hold him?” I ask, stomach twisting as I pet Rain, eying the massive amount ofnothingbeneath the bridge thatsways on tightly wound ropes. Nothing but sky and clouds and wind.
Zev pats Rain’s hip. “It’ll hold.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief as Zev turns to Jagger. “A thousand-foot drop into darkness and she’s worried about the horse.”
Jagger laughs, urging Rain ahead.
Despite his assurance, I still hold my breath as the horse steps onto the wooden planks, his hooves clopping along as he moves forward like he’s made the walk a hundred times.
“You must’ve dragged him back and forth over this bridge so many times,” I say to Zev, who walks behind me as I slowly follow Jagger and the horse.
“He was less afraid on his first time than Jagger,” Zev answers.
“You almost pissed your leathers, too!” Jagger fires back.
Zev almost laughs, a half grunt sound that definitely has some amusement drenching it as he sticks close enough behind me that he blocks most of the wind as I cling to the ropes a little tighter than necessary.
I glance over the side as we walk.
