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Chapter 25
Bree
Bree’s heartgalloped in her chest as she twisted on the horse to see where the attackers were hiding. Another dozen arrows soared through the air. Bree kicked the horse’s sides and yelled, flicking the reins as it bolted forward. Eurig did the same, the two of them racing toward the front gates that were still too far in the distance tosee.
“What do we do, Eurig?” Bree shouted into the chilly air that bit into herface.
He frowned as he turned to look behind them. Despite the intensity of the situation, she couldn’t help but gape at him. He was not even holding on to the reins as his entire body curved toward the attackers now riding after them, dozens of horses kicking dust into the night air. Eurig’s leg muscles rippled as he rode, and his golden eyes glinted underneath the light of themoon.
She had never seen anything morepowerful.
The riders behind them began to gain ground, and Eurig motioned for Breeto...
Jump. He wanted her to jump off her horse. Bree shook her head, refusing to do any such thing. Not only would that hurt like hell, but they’d be stuck on the ground where the rangers would no doubt hit them with their constant lobby ofarrows.
“Trust me,” hemouthed.
Their eyes locked, and something passed between them. Affection, heat, and a kind of trust that she didn’t feel she could ever earn. Not from him. Not fromanyone.
Eurig pushed off his horse and tumbled to the ground. Gritting her teeth, Bree followed suit. Her body slammed hard on the dirt, and her shoulder screamed in pain. Eurig was beside her within an instant, grabbing her arm and hauling her to herfeet.
He pressed his forehead against hers and hissed, “Shift. Change into your beast. It’s the only way we’ll be fast enough to beat them to thecastle.”
Shift. Of course. Because Eurig was right. In her beastly form, Bree was far faster than any horse, any human, or even any fae. She took one glance behind her at the riders quickly approaching and forced her mind to center on what she had to do. Eurig had already begun to change, his lion coming to him far easier than Bree could claim herwolf.
And there was no time towaste.
Bree’s arms and legs stretched out into long powerful limbs as she succumbed to the power of her beast. Claws ripped out through her fingertips, and her head shifted and shook as sharp teeth cut through her jaw. Her entire body ached from the force of such a quick shift, but she did not pause to catch her breath. The distant sound of hooves on dirt had grown louder and louder, signaling that their attackers were only feet behindthem.
Beside her, she could hear the panting of Eurig’s, and then his roar that shook out across the rolling hillside. He took off in a run, and the beast within her yearned to follow. Together, they raced across the dirt, the night blurring by in silverstreaks.
The sound of hooves grew fainter as the massive gates of the castle rose up before them. They reached the iron entrance within moments, and somehow, Eurig had transformed back into his fae self just as he slowed to a stop before them. He reached up and pushed open the gates, and the iron clanged from the force of his touch. Bree galloped just behind him, her beast making claim to her body. As much as she had practiced shifting these past few months, she had not mastered it, not fully and completely as Eurig had. She would need time to catch her breath before she could shift back into her mortalself.
But that didn’t matter. They had made it. Eurig slammed the gates behind them, blocking out the riders and their arrows. Fornow.
* * *
After Bree had shifted backinto her fae form, they headed straight to her quarters where she threw on another set fighting leathers. She tried not to think about the torn shreds of her Light Fae leathers that she had been forced to leave behind on the dirt path. She had managed to grab her dagger in time, but there was no way to gather the scraps of her clothes. Those fighting leathers had been her only link to her past, the only reminder of who she truly was. And now they weregone.
“Who were they?” Bree asked as she shoved a tunic over her head, blinking the tears out of her eyes. “Another Wilde Faeclan?”
The truth was, she hadn’t caught a particularly good look at their attackers. She had been far too focused on shifting and charging toward the castle gates. But she had caught a glimpse of their faces, and she had seen the size of their forms. They didn’t look like Wilde Fae, or at least any of the full-blooded Wilde Fae that she had seen in the past. Those fae had been massive, their skin tinged with green or yellow. And their faces had been twisted and gnarled. The fae she had seen on the horses chasing them…well, they had looked just like any of the other fae atCourt.
Eurig’s jaw rippled as he clenched his teeth together. “As hard as it is for me to believe this, I am afraid those were outposters you saw. I recognized some of them. Friends of mine from way back then. And they recognized metoo.”
Bree froze, and her gut churned with dread. “Outposters? Are youcertain?”
Eurig gave a solemn nod. “I am more certain of that than I am of anything else. I want to be surprised by this, but it makes sense. The Queen has likely decided to make her move against the Court here. The outposters have been unhappy for years, and the Queen’s wrath has only increased as the years have gone by. She did not trust Midas, though she did fear him, so it makes sense that she would choose Taveon’s coronation as her chance to attack and take the throne. I would not put it past her. She has already taken onecrown.”
“But I thought there was a truce,” Bree said in a whisper. There had been dozens of riders chasing them, and if Eurig was right, there would be far more than that when they decided to attack the castle. He had said there were thousands of outposters. Thousands upon thousands. And they were more highly-trained than anyone thought. Eurig was the perfect example ofthat.
“There was a truce between King Clarke and King Midas. Both of them are now dead,” Eurig said in a hardvoice.
Bree fought back the urge to sit down. This was bad. Really bad. She needed to find that raven and bring it back to life, and she just had to hope that the Court would wake up before the Queen launched her army at the gates. As strong as the barriers were, and as much of an advantage that the castle held against attackers, they needed to soldiers to protect it. They needed archers to rain down their arrows. They needed swordsmen on the battlements to fight off anyone who managed to scale the walls. Without all that, there was nothing to stop the Queen from invading and taking the castle ashers.
“So, she will take this castle,” Bree said tugging the leather belt around her waist, and slipping the dagger into the band. “And what will she do to all of the cursed fae when shedoes?”
Bree knew the answer to that question. She did not need Eurig to confirm the reality of this war, but she felt compelled to ask him anyway. She needed to hear him say it. She needed the reality of what was about to come to solidify itself in her mind. Because it would be what she needed to keep movingforward.
