A flash of lightning lit the field, and Sable stumbled forward.
As soon as she was certain no one was looking, and the bone chariot lurched into the gray sky, Sable slipped into the shadowed forest after it.
~
When Avalon came to, shaking off the memory that had chilled her blood, the sun was just rising. Someone had made a fire; smoke curled before her where she lay on her side, the crackle and pop of the wood a staccato rhythm.
As the events of last night crept into her memory, her heartbeat quickened.
She peered through her eyelashes, taking care to keep her body relaxed and her breathing steady. Whoever had brought her here… It would mean trouble if they discovered she was awake.
A knife lay nearby, close enough to touch. While the hilt gleamed like new in the sunlight, the blade was marked with a thick crust of blood.
Carefully, she fluttered her fingers across the gravel and took the hilt into her hand. With every second that passed, the remnants of sleep lifted from her mind like fog dissipating at dawn, and in its place swarmed a million questions.
Where was Hadrian? Had the mask been taken? Why had the Wraith aided them against those corrupted Elves, and why wasn’t she tied up? What did the Wraith plan to do with them now that he’d finally caught them? Caughther?
Opening her eyes again, she spotted the Wraith seated on the other side of the flames, cleaning his nails with the tip of a dagger, apparently unaware that she was awake.
Perfect.
Taking a deep breath, she tightened her hold on the knife and lunged—
But Hadrian’s hands were suddenly around her wrists, his hold firm enough to restrain but loose enough to not cause any pain, as he lowered himself beside her.
“Nightmares?” he murmured. He gently pried the knife from her fingers.
She stared at him in confusion, and then her head whipped around to look at the Wraith, who was now watching her with mild curiosity.
Unable to bear looking at that frightening, ghoulish face any longer, she turned back to Hadrian. “What happened?” Her voice was hoarse.
With a reluctance he didn’t bother to conceal, the captain admitted, “The Wraith gave us a hand against those Elves.”
The Wraith gave a snort and cast the captain a withering look. “I did more than that,” he grumbled. “I all but saved your pathetic lives.”
The captain reached for a sack of yellow plums sagging by a piece of driftwood. “Thank you,” he said to the Wraith. He peered inside the bag, and the corner of his mouth tilted down at what he saw. “Although you bruised at least half of them.”
“Next time go pick your own bloody plums,” the Wraith murmured as he resumed cleaning his nails.
Avalon wrapped her cloak tight around her shoulders. Not only was she unaware of whether they were being held captive, she was also worried about how much the Wraith had managed to figure out while she was unconscious. Despite that Avalon had grown up at the House of Fire, and the Wraith—whose birth name was Elden Kipling—had been one of her father’s most powerful men since before she was even born, she didn’t know the first thing about him. Least of all why he would be interested in helping them.
It’s a trick. It must be a trick.
As if sensing her agitation, Hadrian stroked a reassuring hand down her back. The effect the contact had on her wasn’t reduced by the amount of clothing separating their bodies, her skin prickling with goose flesh all the same. Only a moment passed before he draped his arm around her shoulders, as if to restrain her.
Before she could stop herself, Avalon blurted, “Why don’t you have us tied up?”
The Wraith balanced the dagger on his knee. “Why should I?” he inquired calmly.
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Avalon snarled, her temper snapping. “We know my father sent you to find us.”
“Correct,” said the Wraith. “But I have no intention of feeding you to the wolves.”
“Then why come looking for us?”
“I’ve been observing you since I first tracked you down in the Realm of Wind. I watched as that mask sealed with your skin. I watched as someone…elsetook control of your body, fighting off those lethal shadows in the woods.”
Avalon bristled.How?She remembered back to that night she’d left Hadrian in the Temple of Wind, only to run into the Silver Maidens in the woods. She remembered feeling like something was watching her. Once the Silver Maidens had attacked them, she’d dismissed her paranoia, expecting the red-eyed shadows were to blame. But to think the Wraith had been trailing them this entire time…
