Ahead of them, she searched for any sign theywere near the edge of the woods. There was none. Noise came fromall around them again, but this time, it was hiding something ortrying to confuse them into making a mistake.
It would be so easy to get turned around inthe forest, and it had been years since Cole was last here. Theycould be walking in circles right now, going in the completelywrong direction, or just on the edge of the wood. It was impossibleto tell.
CHAPTER 77
You can open a portal. You’re not lost here,and you’re not stuck here.
She still wasn’t used to having that ability,and Cole was far better at it than her. He could have them out ofhere in less than a second, but with all the noises coming fromeverywhere, it was easy to forget they weren’t stuck here.
And it was easy to be trapped and killed hereas the creatures waited for them to make a mistake. She swore thetrees were creeping in on them, but that was impossible; theycouldn’t move.
Or could they? This was the Gloaming, afterall.
“Can the trees move?” she whispered toCole.
He chuckled as he replied. “No, not eventhese woods can pull that off.”
“Good.”
She was so busy searching for another threat,she didn’t realize they were almost to the edge of the forest untilCole drew her against his side. Shefinallynoticed alightening in the trees, a glimpse at a brighter, better world, andsomething beyond the foliage.
Together, they stopped at the edge of thetree line. The forest noises died down as the sun warming her faceeased the chill in her bones. She hadn’t realized how cold she wasuntil those rays hit her icy flesh.
Standing at the edge of the woods, stillembraced by the darkness beneath the trees, but halfway back in theGloaming, Lexi stifled a gasp. Her hand flew to her mouth as shetook in the destruction.
The smoke rising from everywhere turned largesections of the pristine, blue sky into a murky gray. Around thepalace, smoke spiraled from the fires still consuming the homes andland, but some of it also rose from the smoldering piles ofash.
She’d never been on the backside of thepalace before, or at least she didn’t think she had. It was easy toget lost, confused, and turned around inside. The palace liked toplay games, and she suspected it enjoyed watching them bumblingaround.
When she discovered the door to the woods,she swore it was on the side of the palace, to her right. Her heartsank when she saw the woods there and the black, charred remains ofthe jagged trees poking into the air.
Much of the woods in that section were gone.It was nothing more than a blackened stretch of land sandwichedbetween this section and another swath of dense, green forest a fewthousand feet beyond it.
“Are we behind the palace?” she whisperedjust to make sure.
“Yes,” Cole replied.
So that meant… to her left was the end of thebarracks for the king’s guard. The smoke rising from the front ofthe palace had to be from the homes they’d all worked sorelentlessly to rebuild.
If any of those displaced fae decided toreturn to the Gloaming, they couldn’t sleep in the guard’s barracksagain. All that remained of them was burnt lumber and smoke.
However, despite all the destructionsurrounding it, the sharp peaks, numerous windows, and imposing airof the palace continued to tower over the land. Relief and joyswelled in her as she tipped her head back to take in all itswonder.
“How is it possible the palace survived?” sheasked.
“Over its many thousands of years ofexistence, many protection spells have been weaved over it,” Colereplied. “The palace has taken on a life of its own over the years.It has been built up and protected by magics created by fae wholived far longer than my father or me. I’m sure the Lord’s men andthe dragons tried to destroy it, but it would take more than themto do so.”
“Did you expect to find it stillstanding?”
“No, but I’m not surprised either. And oneday, I’ll return to it.”
A creak behind them turned both their headsin that direction, but nothing stirred in the forest.
“It’s time to go,” Cole said.
“Are we going to explore the rest of theGloaming, like Underhill?”
“There’s no need. We got most of theresidents out of Underhill, but the dragons were descending on itas we were leaving. Nothing of it remains.”
