AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nic!”
The shadow prince threw a shadowy net at the clowns before twisting around, glaring at me. I pointed up. His eyebrows rose, and he nodded. “Go!”
The clowns seemed to realize they were going to lose their prize. Reality returned to normal, settling around us. Then one of them threw a round object at the fireplace. Gas flared, sparked, and caught fire.
The flames spread.
“Fuck!” Ash yelled through her gag. Her hands were still bound behind her. Casey had managed to get her hands in front of her, and she pulled on Robby’s limp arm.
“Go help Casey,” I shouted.
Ash turned, and I took one hand from Ember’s stomach and helped her get the ropes off. She yanked the gag from her mouth as she ran to Casey’s side.
Nic grabbed Dio and tossed him through the arch. We had no idea where it went, but at this point, we were out of options. Ash and Casey dragged Robby over. Nic grabbed him with his shadows and tossed him through the lyra-arch, too. The winged cat followed.
“You two must get out of here,” Nic pointed frantically toward the lyra.
The gas line exploded.
Nic shielded us from the worst of the blast with his shadows, but the house would be consumed.
Casey dove through the lyra before we could stop her. Before Ash could head for a window and freedom, the walls shimmered, warping into solid mirrors like a demented, burning fun house.
“Fuck!” Ash screamed again in rage before diving through the arch.
Nic helped me get Ember off the ground. “Go, Knight. It will probably close once she’s through it. I can fit with her.”
Letting Nic take my spark, I went through the arch, knowing he’d be right behind me.
We spilled out of the lyra into a very familiar-looking cabin. At first, I thought that perhaps we’d simply gone back to the woods outside our childhood home, then the chill energy of Nightmare settled into my skin, and I knew we’d returned to the place I’d been created.
Ash and Casey were screwed, but they were alive.
Nic stepped through and, as he’d said, the arch snapped shut behind him. He set Ember on the table and vanished, returning moments later with a clear glass bottle full of bright red liquid.
He tipped Ember’s head back and poured some of the liquid into her mouth.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then she took a gasping breath and rolled over onto her side, coughing. Nic and I held her while she recovered from the nearly fatal stab.
“Where are we?” Casey breathed past a sob.
Ember’s eyes widened, and she sat upright. “You weren’t supposed to come.” She looked back and forth between Casey and Ash. “No! Oh no—.”
“Ember, we didn’t have a choice. It was this or burning up in the fire,” Ash had her lawyer face on, but her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“But...” Ember pressed her bloody hand to her face, then jerked it away. “Ew. Wait, why am I not dead?”
Nic held up the empty bottle. “Healing cordial.”
“Why didn’t we give one of those to Geraint when he was hurt?” Ember’s eyes narrowed.
“As much as this did not take me long to procure, they are rare. Those of us in possession of one are wise to save them for truly life-threatening injuries. I’ll have to find another.” He set the bottle down. “Also, at the time, I would not have wasted it on a knight.”
Ember’s lips tightened. “And now?”
“I would save him as long as it didn’t mean losing you.”
I put my hand on Ember’s shoulder. “That’s fair,” I said before she could reply. “I wouldn’t want you to choose me over her. Ever.”
