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Fern’s eyes were large, watching Kellan check the men’s pockets for weapons he could use. When he turned to face me, my stomach tightened. He was hardly sweating, but blood soaked his T-shirt, where he’d been nicked in the shoulder.
He breathed in deeply, his mouth open as he panted for breath. The stairs to the attic creaked, and Ernest stumbled down. Missing the last one, he twisted his ankle.
Kellan jumped forward, catching him as he hit the wall beside him. “Are you okay?”
Ernest nodded. “I think I twisted my ankle. I’m sorry the ceiling creaked—”
“It’s fine,” Kellan said. “We need to leave. When the king realizes the guards aren’t coming back, he’ll send more. We don’t need to be here when that happens. Gather your things. I’ll dump the bodies, and we have to go.”
He gave Ernest no time to disagree. He grabbed both bodies and began dragging them out like he was made of steel.
“What do you need me to get?” I asked Ernest.
He pointed toward the herbs on the chair and a small wicker basket in the corner. “Put all my herbs in there. Some food. Water. Clothes. Anything we’ll need for a few days.”
Fern began helping me gather the things we’d need. For some reason, I grabbed more because I thought we’d be gone longer than a few days. I wasn’t sure how long Deidamia would chase us before she got tired and just faced off with us.
The front door slammed ten minutes later, and Kellan walked inside. The distant look on his face stopped me in my tracks.
The longer he stared at me, the more sadness I saw in his eyes. “Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded, walked around me and grabbed the bag of our belongings that Fern had in her hands. “We don’t have long.”
Ernest stood against the wall then Kellan wrapped his arm around his waist and began helping him out of the back door. I glanced around the cabin to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind.
Kellan stood in the back yard when I reached the back steps. A sense of fear hit me square in the chest.
It was his. I circled around. Stopping in front of him, I stared up at his handsome face. He was dirty from our time in the forest, his clothes torn and his muscles flexed from overuse.
“Kellan,” I said softly, reaching up to touch his jaw.
He closed his eyes and cupped my hand with his. “We need to leave,” he whispered. Turning away from me, he tried to open a portal.
It slammed shut like a vault door. The noise rattled my eardrums.
Kellan braced himself and tried again. The portal fizzed out like a candle, leaving a cool gust of wind around us.
Kellan’s shoulders slumped, and he dropped to his knees. At first, I thought he was overwhelmed. Lost. But a sense of failure settled inside of me.
I walked around him and dropped to my knees in front of him. “What’s the matter?”
He turned his face away from me, but I pulled him back, so he faced me. “Kellan. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just—I don’t know where to go. I’ve failed to bring you back to your father.” When those dark eyes met mine, my heart ached at the sadness that he hid there. “I’ve failed you.”
“You haven’t,” I argued. “You saved me from Deidamia’s castle. Brought me here. We are going to get through this together.”
Kellan groaned in frustration of my positivity. “I have no idea where to take us. I can’t get you home. Deidamia is going to follow us everywhere we go. They know we’re here. That damn bird watches everything. It’s only a matter of time before the entire kingdom comes after us. She’s a witch and is manipulating everyone—”
“She’s a witch that is scared of another person with power. She wants Ernest gone for some reason. Why? Because she’s all knowing? No. Because she’s scared. We just have to find out why she’s scared.”
Kellan nodded, though the realization that we could win didn’t reach his eyes.
“Get up.” I stood, waiting on him to follow. He stood up, looking down at me with an annoyed look. “Take us somewhere.”
Kellan shifted. “Where?”
“Wherever the portal will take us. It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Take us away from here. We’ll go from there.”
