I was sure a nightmare had come to life as the walls started shaking and a sharp blade pierced the stone, hacking an opening through the thick wall.
Debris filled the air, and the sound of steel against rock echoed around me.
In the bloom of dust, I caught a glimpse of a muscled arm and golden skin, tattoos swirling over a bicep that I recognized.
My heart leaped. Was this real?
Torin appeared in the opening, his tattooed chest coated in gray dust. He looked down at me, his pale eyes beaming with an unearthly light.
Maybe it was the dehydration and general delirium, but he looked so much like a god towering above me that I held my breath. He was a bruised and bloodied god, but a god nonetheless.
How was he still so strong after the past few days in here?
His gaze slid slowly over me, and I remembered that I was still completely naked. I’d left my dress to dry after cleaning it.
My heart thudded, and I hugged my knees to my chest.
The Seelie king sheathed his sword. “We’re getting out of here, Ava.”
Sword in hand, he faced the tree trunk and closed his eyes, brushing his fingertips reverently along the blade. Then, with a wide arc, he hacked at the trunk. I gaped in disbelief as the blade slid right through the thick oaken walls, and otherworldly voices echoed in the air.
Whispers…
A lump rose in my throat, and I winced. Why did the sword in the trunk feel like I was watching someone get stabbed?
I reached for my dress, my muscles shaking from weakness. As I clutched it in my fingertips, Torin scooped me up and carried me out into the night.
The shock of freedom danced wildly in my chest, and adrenaline sparked through my nerves. I’d been so certain I would die in there. I couldn’t believe we were out under the stars. I clutched the dress over myself. No time to put it on.
From the castle, horns blared.
“Are you all right?” Torin asked. “I heard you screaming days ago.” He was trying to move quickly, but I could tell his gait slightly favored his right side. “What did he do to you?”
“I’m fine. You’re the one he really hates. Torin, are you limping? I can run on my own.”
“We’ll get a horse from the paddock,” he said, ignoring my question. His gaze drifted down my body again.
I tugged the top of my dress up, trying to cover myself. I wasn’t being modest; this didn’t seem like the ideal time to distract him.
“Torin. Morgant claims you find me repulsive and slovenly, but I feel like you’re not keeping your eyes on the mission.”
“I only said that to get him to leave you alone. I didn’t want him to think we were allies. Apparently, it didn’t work.” His breathing was labored, and he held me tightly. “We’re almost there.”
I turned to see a small paddock where horses grazed surrounded by a stone fence. A cacophonous throng of crows swept over us, cawing wildly under the night sky.
“I’m not letting them get you again,” he said, almost to himself. His velvety voice was like a balm against the ravages of the last few days. “I’m getting you away from the fucking demons.”
“Awkward that I’m one of them,” I muttered.
With me in his arms, he clambered over the stone wall. For a moment, his dark eyelashes lowered, and he met my gaze. “It doesn’t appear that they agree.”
He let me down in the grass, and I grasped for the hem of my dress to slip it on—but Torin pulled it out of my hands, turning back to the horse.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“We don’t have much time.” He laid my dress over the back of a white horse, folding it. “And trust me. You will want something between you and the horse when we break into a gallop. The dress is all we have.”
He scanned the wall and grabbed a halter and lead rope that had been slung over the stone.
I hugged myself and cast a glance back at the castle, my pulse quickening. Steel glinted in the starlight. The soldiers were coming after us already.
Torin spoke to the horse in Fae and fashioned reins out of the lead rope. As if enchanted, the white mare knelt before him, folding her front legs in front of her.
“Get on,” Torin said. “Now.”
I glanced back at the castle looming over us. Dark stone towers pierced the sky, rising from twisted midnight roots, half stone and half tree, with dark boughs twining the towers and blooms of cascading red leaves. It was as if a castle had grown from the soil, and the earth was reaching up to drag it back. The enormity of it made my stomach plummet.
I slid onto the horse, straddling my own dress, and gripped her white mane. Turns out Torin was right. I really did want something between myself and the horsehair, because this was already weird and uncomfortable enough.
What was the opposite of a bucket list? Because whatever that was, “riding a horse naked” was on mine. And yet, one glance back at the oncoming soldiers told me this was not the time to worry about the method of transportation.
Torin mounted the horse behind me and slid his arm around my waist. With his free hand, he grabbed the reins.
When he spoke again in the Seelie language, the horse rose to her full height.
Torin gave a light kick, and we took off, galloping through the middle of the paddock and then leaping over the stone wall. The cool night wind whipped at my hair and my bare skin.
My heart raced as I clung to the mare’s mane for dear life. Still, Torin’s grip around my waist was like iron. And after a few moments, it started to feel exhilarating. After far too many days withering in a dungeon, it felt like I’d come to life again.
Though it was also a situation for which I would have greatly appreciated a sports bra.
Once I was certain that Torin wasn’t letting me go anywhere—that his powerful arm around me was a vise of security—I released the mane with one hand and tried to hold my boobs in place.
Gods, it felt amazing to be out here, finally free.
Horns blared from the castle, and the sound floated over the starlit kingdom. My gaze trailed over the rolling hills to our left, dotted with little stone buildings, and the flecks of warm light that beamed from their windows. In the distance, a circular fort stood on the top of a slope, bathed in silver light. And even further over the horizon, a dark mountain range stood against the sky, its peak illuminated red.
The horse sped into a line of trees. Above us, moonlight pierced the red leaves.
As we swept over the path, the forest wrapped around us, concealing us under its canopy. Torin guided the horse onto a narrow path off the main route. Mist twined around us as we galloped deeper into the forest, and Torin steered the horse to a trail that wended between the trunks.
“Oh, my gods. You did it, Torin.” Everything had happened so quickly that I’d nearly forgotten about the actual escape. It almost seemed like part of a dream. “How, exactly, did you get a sword that could cut through walls?”
“A gift from the gods to their anointed king. I was able to open a portal large enough to pull it through. I couldn’t keep it open long enough to get us out.” I felt Torin shift behind me, and his breath heated my neck. “What the fuck happened to your shoulder? Was it the demon’s magic?”
I shook my head. “Yes. That’s probably when you heard me scream. Then it got infected, and Morgant came back to heal it.”
“Did he take your dress from you?” A steely violence laced his voice. “I already want to rip his lungs out and hang him from the castle gates, but if he forced himself on you, I will find a slower method of death.”
“No. I took my clothes off to wash them in the rain. I really have been craving a bath. And food. So much food.” I leaned back into Torin. “Oh, God, I kept dreaming about ice cream.”
“I was dreaming about apples,” he said quietly.
I turned my head back to him, and my face brushed against his. Something about the feel of his warm cheek against mine made me aware of my utter nakedness all over again.
His thumb rested just over my hip bone, and it brushed over my skin once, like he was trying to soothe me.
With my thighs, I clenched tightly to the horse. “Any idea where we are going?” I asked.
“Not really. But I want to get us away from the castle and maybe find some shelter. Then I want to find the Veiled One. And I’ll feed you apples.”
He sounded slightly delirious, but I was drooling anyway. “Apples,” I repeated. “Wait. Back up. Who is the Veiled One?”
He breathed in deeply. “According to the legends, she’s an oracle who lives among the Unseelie. They call her the Veiled One. She’s like the Unseelie counterpart to our oracle, Modron. Modron can only see the past, and they say the Veiled One can see the future. Some say the crones are old gods, or spirits of the land itself. I don’t really know what they are, but if anyone can tell us how to get out of here, it would be her. I just don’t exactly have any idea where to find her. And when we do find her, I don’t know if she might murder us.”
“She has powerful magic?”
He inhaled sharply. “I believe so.”
My muscles burned from the exertion, racing as we were at a breakneck speed. “Do you see any signs of shelter?”
“I’m not looking for that yet. If we find our way to a river, it will help to hide our scent from trackers.”
The air was cooler now, and goosebumps rose over my bare skin. I nestled back into Torin for warmth and heard a low murmur rise from his throat.
His fingers were tight on my waist.
Around us, moonlight pierced the canopy, streaming down to the dark forest floor and dappling it with silver flecks.
At last, a river rushed between the trees, sparkling with light.
“There we are,” Torin murmured, guiding the horse into the water.
The horse galloped into the shallow stream, and cold spray washed over me. I licked my lips, my throat still burning with thirst. The rain had been nice, but not nearly enough. Every drop of river water was a blessing from the gods.
Torin’s steely chest warmed me from behind. With me secure in his grasp, my muscles slowly started to relax and melt into him. For the moment, at least, I felt safe with him. But when it came down to it, we were probably still stuck in this world. What were the chances of finding this veiled woman? And if we did, would she help us?
It felt like chasing smoke.
But as long as Torin had hope, I’d keep my dark thoughts to myself. I couldn’t bear to see the look on his face if I told him I thought we could be trapped.
