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“You have nowhere to run. You are surrounded. This is your last chance to hand over the babe, or we will have to kill you.” Drazen took a step closer, his expression utterly serious. He meant every word – I knew it, Liliana knew it, and the Night Fae female knew it.
She looked between the four of us, her gaze lingering the longest on Liliana and me. A lone tear slipped from her green eyes, and she gingerly extricated the babe from her hold and held her in Drazen’s direction. The moment he had hold of Princess Gizela, Savich’s blade sliced through the air, ending the female’s life. I didn’t take as much satisfaction in her death as those of the males.
“We need to get going,” I shouted as the banging on the entry door grew more forceful and shouts rang out in the hall outside. “Take the potion, Drazen.”
Handing the baby to me, he dug for the vial in his cloak and lifted it to his lips. She still screamed, and my ears continued to bleed as I held her. Tapping into my magic, I attempted to soothe her, offering her happy, healing emotions and siphoning away the panicked ones. She calmed quickly in my arms, and I breathed a sigh of relief when the only sounds assaulting my ears were from the angry guards at the door.
It was poetic, really, that I was the one to rescue her when I had been the first kidnapped princess.
Without another moment of hesitation, I led us back to the tunnels, throwing bubbles of light into the air as we entered the darkness.
“We’re on our way,”I mind-spoke to both Ruslan and Zuriel.
Drazen closed the door behind us, and with renewed purpose, I focused all my energy on getting out and stoking the fire in my chest, should I need to call on my magic again for another fight – especially if Kazimir were to make an unwanted appearance. Given that we trudged behind the walls of the Royal Wing, it was likely he was only rooms away.
Our footsteps were hurried as we retraced our path, nearly missing the sliver in the rock that led to the getaway tunnels. Fortunately, I was small enough that I could shimmy sideways while still holding the princess, but when we burst into the wide, rocky tunnel, I was grateful for the space once again.
“We’re in the clearing. No sign of Ruslan yet,”Zuriel notified me, and worry knotted my belly. I hadn’t heard from him since he told me there were soldiers in the castle.
“Ruslan?”I whisper-shouted down our bond, just in case he needed to focus. What if my persistence got him killed?
Silence.
We rushed along, and my heart rate ratched up with each step.
“Drazen, Ruslan isn’t answering me.” I tried to keep the panic from my voice and failed.
The male skidded to a stop in front of me. His usual nonchalance vanished like smoke in the wind. “When was the last time you spoke with him?”
“When he told me there were soldiers in the castle,” I replied, voice shaking. My arms trembled around the little princess, and I fought to keep my emotions from bleeding into her and waking her again.
“Fuck,” Drazen swore, and Savich released a string of colorful curses before turning as if to return to the castle to save my mate.
“Where do you think you’re going? We have to stick to the plan,” Drazen hissed, stopping his soldier in his tracks.
A convulsion rippled through Drazen, and the three of us said, “Oh, shit.”
“Drazen, you need to get above ground. Now.” The big, burly Félvér grasped him by the arm and began half-running, half-dragging his general toward the hint of moonlight that filtered through the door we’d left open to find our way back.
Indecision rooted me in place, my heart torn between the dark tunnel we’d fled and the males scampering toward the cliffside. Liliana tugged my arm again, tearing me back to reality. “You heard Drazen. We have to stick to the plan.”
I sent another nudge down our bond, hoping to get something, anything back. Still, he did not respond. But I could stillfeelhim, which was enough incentive for me to move my feet and chase after Drazen and Savich. By the time we spilled into the briny night air, Drazen was stripping out of his clothes and blue scales were rippling across his body.
“Run!” I shouted, taking off in the direction of the woods and our remaining party.
Drazen’s shift was happening too fast – Ruslan was supposed to move us further away from Vaenor before their Dragon forms took over so we could fly the remaining distance home and conserve magic energy.
“Ruslan, we need to get out of here, now!”I shouted down our bond, and finally, I got some acknowledgement.
“Tell Drazen we’ll meet him in the skies,”he growled, and a moment later, a roar shook the ground beneath my feet, nearly pitching me sideways mid-stride.
Even in the darkness of the night, my mate’s Dragon form was visible in the skies, sucking in every bit of star and moonlight. Beside him, a deep green Dragon carrying two riders flew toward us. Drazen’s wingbeats dusted the ground as he lifted off, Savich barely hanging on as he climbed.
Calling my wings to me, I took a running leap and soared into the night, flying hard and fast away from Vaenor. Liliana was right by my side, bow in hand and ready to fire at any pursuers.
Ruslan banked to the left, and I tracked his movements, brow furrowed.
What was he doing? Where was he going?
