There were gasps behind me and I whirled to see that a crowd had gathered at the windows just behind Sharol and I. Whispers of “the mayor” floated throughout as we watched the spectacle unfold in front of us.
The man behind Holt yanked his head up by his curls and I got my first glimpse of his face. He was battered and bruised, his lip busted in two places, both eyes blackened, and he clearly had a broken nose. All those injuries pulled at my heart, but they were surface level.
I can fix that.
What I wasn’t prepared to fix was the knife that appeared seemingly from nowhere and came to rest against his throat.
“NO!” I screamed through the glass and, before I could register that I was moving, I threw open the door and vaulted down the first two steps before I was roughly pulled back by a pair of small but strong hands. “NO!” I yelled again. “Let him GO!”
Holt’s head turned toward where I was standing, his neck grazing across the blade of the knife, leaving a small trail of blood.
“Little Fay,” his voice was a hoarse whisper that I would’ve been able to hear no matter how far away he was. “Stay in the wards, little Fay.”
I struggled against the hands that held me back, lurching and fighting to get to Holt. “Let me GO. Let me go to him!” But the hands just held tighter.
“I warned you, Fay. I warned you. You HAVE to stay in the wards!” Sharol was frantically whispering in my ear, but I heard none of it.
Holt!
I scratched and clawed at Sharol’s hands and arms, my nails dragging lines of red down the endless tattoos of runes on her skin. She hissed as her blood activated one of the runes, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to understand what was happening, or the pain I was putting Sharol through. I continued to fight like a feral cat to get to Holt, and only redoubled my efforts when the man holding his head craned it up even further, a maniacal smile covering his face.
“Soyou’rethe one we’re looking for?” He licked his lips.
Sharol’s grip was iron, but I still felt her tense behind me.
“No, she is not. I am,” Sharol said, her voice loud and strong, but I detected a note of fear beneath it all.
The man holding Holt cocked his head to the side. “I think not.”
“I’m the one she wants, not her. Take me and leave this place, leave these people. Can’t you see they’ve suffered enough?” Sharol was practically shouting as she released me briefly to readjust her grip and gesture to the destruction and death that riddled the streets around us.
I took that moment, that singular second of weakness, to break free from Sharol’s grasp. I wrenched myself out of her arms, her fingers clutching my tunic as I half-fell, half-ran down the remainder of the porch steps.
“No!” the shout came from both Holt and Sharol, but I didn’t care. Icouldn’tcare.
They have Holt. No one else is going to be taken from me today.
I needed him. His strong presence, his guidance, his love. I may fool myself and everyone else into thinking that I was fine on my own in the woods, and I was, for the most part, but IneededHolt.
Just as I reached the edge of the wards, my hand outstretched to reach for him, a rune on my arm flared and I heard a crack, like that of a whip. One minute I was reaching for Holt, the next I was flying backward. My back hit the bottom step of the inn’s porch and I groaned as the air left my body.
“I told you not to try and leave the wards, Fay.” Sharol was kneeling beside me, her voice quiet in my ear as she helped me into a sitting position.
My eyes met hers, mine full of betrayal, hers of strong resolve. “What . . . what did youdoto me?” I asked in a broken whisper.
She was supposed to teach me, help me keep my family safe. Give me something to help people. Not whatever this is.
“I did what I had to.” Her voice was iron.
I wrenched myself away from her, unable to stand her hands on me any longer. “Don’t touch me,” I spat. Sharol simply sat back on her heels, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes watching my every move.
I approached the line of runes more cautiously this time and let my hand trail across the invisible barrier. The rune on my arm glowed but didn’t throw me backward again.
It must only activate when I desire to leave.
“I know that look, Fay,” Holt said, his eyes trained on me. “Don’t try and puzzle it out right now. My life is not worth yours.”
“I disagree,” I said absently as I experimented with the barrier and my rune.
