I brought my blazing hand to the first dried twig, the fire caught easily, and I watched it as it tricked down the path, bringing the flames toward the building.
My palm still blazed; I sent another burst of fire careening through the forest, the dead leaves coating the ground burst into flames.
I sent four more balls of flames into the forest, each of them igniting the ground beneath them.
Soon, this entire forest would be up in flames.
Step two complete.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Declan and Nico nodded in confirmation, and we took off jogging through the woods. It was a long way around if we wanted to stay hidden, it took everything in me not to use my enhanced speed to ensure I was there when Lennox escaped, but Declan insisted we stay together.
He would not let the High King out of his sight,he declared, and I listened, in fear that if I didn’t, he’d make me stay behind with Kara at the Inn with the guards who had accompanied us from Alethens. Declan wouldn’t risk having all three royals coming along, much to Kara’s protests.
“Did you hear that?” Nico slowed to a walk and tucked his silver hair behind his ear. “I could have sworn I heard growling.”
I pulled the twin blades from my back, my eyes scanning the forest as another growl rumbled through the trees.
“For fucks sake.”
In a flash of magic, Nico shifted, his silver wolf form leaping through the trees as the Dhampir pounced. Nico ripped the Dhampir in half, blood spraying the forest floor as four more Dhampirs swarmed for him.
Nico clamped another beast between his jaws as Declan and I rushed to his aid, my sword cutting through a Dhampir’s chest in one swoop as another met the arc of Declan’s blade, its head falling to the ground with a thud.
We quickly made work of the remaining Dhampir, only for another herd to appear.
One after another we slayed the monsters, their blood coating my skin and sticking to my leathers.
The snow beneath our boots was stained black with their blood, dismembered pieces of the beasts littering the forest floor.
Eventually, no more growls rumbled through the trees, only the sounds of our ragged breaths echoed in the forest.
Nico, still in his wolf form, looked over his shoulder, motioning for us to get on his back as he lowered to the ground.
His silver coat was covered in the black blood of the Dhampirs, but Declan and I didn’t protest. Nico bent onto his front knees, and I slipped on his back, reaching a hand out and pulling Declan up. I gripped the silver fur in my hands as he stood, clamping my thighs tight around Nico as he took off into the woods.
The wind whipped at my hair as Nico ran; it had been years since he’d let me ride on him, not since we were children messing around in the woods—trying and failing to outrun our parents. Even now, that feeling of freedom tugged loose in my chest.
Nico let loose a howl, tilting his snout up toward the darkening sky.
In no time, we made it to our meeting spot. With the delay with the Dhampirs, I had expected Luciana and Lennox to be waiting for us, but they were nowhere to be found.
I slipped off Nico, continuing to scan the area surrounding us.
“They’re not here yet?” Nico wondered out loud, having changed back into his human form.
“What time is it?” Declan pulled out his pocket watch, his face betraying nothing as he continued to avoid my gaze.
“What time is it?” I demanded.
“Quarter past eight bells.” Declan looked at the building behind me. “They should have been here by now.”
Our plan had been for them to move once they heard the ring of the eight bells. We didn’t know what they’d encounter getting out—we had accounted for leeway, but this much leeway—my stomach sank.
They should have been out by now.
13
