The enforcers were within arm’s reach, almost close enough for Avery to reach out and touch. Both of them held their breaths, becoming as still as the statues in the maze.
A familiar hadn’t followed them in here yet, thank whatever god was listening. The moment one did, those noses would find them in seconds.Think, dammit.They were sitting mice here.
The enforcers passed, including Wren. Felix’s shoulders barely began to drop before another group appeared at the gate, this time with familiars in tow, a dog and a fox.
Fuck. They were intent on finding them.
His shadows slipped into the hedge, winding their way through dense foliage. There wasn’t a tangle of branches or anything stopping them from going through it. It was his only option.
“What are you doing!”Avery said.
He put his hand around her mouth to make sure she didn’t make a sound.“Trust me, little witch.”
Pulling them into a sea of green, he made each movement carefully so as to not make any noise. Out of all the things he had survived, a rustle of leaves would not be his goddamn end.
His shadows carved a peephole. Clear. Just one squad off in the distance that was too far to matter.
“Stay close to me,”he commanded.
For once, she obeyed, hands clinging to his arm as they emerged from the bush. He clothed them in shadow, blending into the night. They kept moving, kept going until the tree line that bordered the campus was in sight.
Almost there.Almost ther?—
The ground shook.
A black dragon took a step forward, its giant head swiveling toward them in a serpentine manner.
“We’re going to die,”Avery screeched into his head.
“Stay very fucking still.”
The dragon did nothing but stare, its gaze boring into them. There was something off about it, like it recognized them even cloaked in shadow.
Voices in the distance had his ears swiveling. A squad was moving this way. They needed to go,now. Felix tugged at a frozen Avery, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the beast just incase it changed its mind. But it didn’t. The dragon followed their movements, delicately sniffing the air and doing nothing to alert its owner. Did it want them to escape?
Those golden eyes watched until the forest swallowed them whole.
The oak doorof the dorm shut behind them, and the tension sizzled between them like water on coals.
Felix had kept his mouth shut the entire walk back. Why had she tried to do something so stupid? He wanted to fuck some sense into her.Shake, he meant shake.
He ran a hand through his damp hair, which he swore hadn’t been dry since he’d been summoned to this wretched island. Her dorm room, on the other hand, had become a sense of safety he didn’t expect. A gentle breeze lifted the curtains, and the fire nursed its final embers. It was the only place he didn’t have to pretend. Or maybe it was just her.
Deep down, he knew. Avery was far more than any ordinary witch. She had heart. Probably too much. The other day, he had almost killed a spider until she got between them, and calmly put it outside, sending it on its way with a care package of a moth that had died naturally.
Or maybe, he had gotten it wrong. Not all witches were as bad as he thought they were. It was a betrayal to even admit that. But watching her now, sitting by the glowing fire, denying it was getting harder. She’d put herself between him and the enforcers without hesitation. He wouldn’t forget that. Ever.
But as much as he appreciated it, he was still angry.Hewas the one who should protect her. He would make sure she fucking knew that.
Felix’s tail lashed back and forth. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Avery said, batting her eyelashes.
“Tsk.Tsk.”
The fireplace crackled beside her, but he could tell the heat had nothing to do with the way she was blushing right now. Even her makeshift shadow clothes tightened at his presence.
“You know what you did, little witch.” He took a step.
