Hudson landed behind us moments later, and together, we peered out across the black expanse that led to the City of Amaranth and its imposing wall.
“Wow,” I said, the sight nearly stealing my breath. “Looks likesomeone’sarchitect has Mordor on his inspiration board.”
Jax let out the faintest laugh. I smiled in response, but didn’t show it to him. He’d been a total jackass to me, so no, he wasn’t getting any of my personal sunshine tonight.
Or any of my screaming orgasms either…
Ignoring the pulse of heat between my thighs, I turned to ask Hudson about the plan for getting over the wall.
But before I even opened my mouth, the rain started.
And it… burned?
“Um, guys? Is this normal?” I held out my hand, catching a few glowing drops. They sizzled into my palm like sparks.
“Shit! Starshowers!” Jax grabbed me and pulled me close just as Hudson stretched his massive wings over us, shielding us from the rain.
“Are they really falling stars?” I asked as the red-and-gold sparks hissed into the grass around us.
“Just a name,” he said. A few of the sparks were starting to catch, igniting a series of little fires in front of us. “We can’t stay here. We need to move.”
“But what about the plan? How are we—”
“No time for a plan, Haley. Let’s go.”
“But—”
“Hudson has to take us over the wall. It’s the only way.That’sthe plan, okay? So do me a favor and just… Just hold still and don’t freak out.”
The showers picked up in intensity, and a gust of wind sent a spray of sparks flying into my chest, a hundred points of heat biting into my skin. I patted myself down, tamping out the embers.
It was raining fire. It was fucking raining fire.
Flames surged up from the grass behind us, and without another second to waste, Hudson lifted me and Jax off the ground, tucked us in close, and took off at a run, leaping from the cliff and soaring out into the falling-star night.
I couldn’t scream. Couldn’t even catch my breath. All I could do was cling to Hudson’s massive arm and do my best to ignore the vertigo, the bite of the starshowers nipping at my legs, and—if I was being totally honest—the thrill charging through my bloodstream at the sheer fucking wonder of it all.
Midnight was deadly and dark and terrifying, sure.
But it was also fucking amazing.
We swooped down across the abyss, skimming along the black sands before taking a sharp turn upward at Beggar’s Moat, where I caught a brief glimpse of the creatures dwelling in its shadowy trench, lit up by the starshowers.
Skeletons. Shambling, shivering skeletons.
I bit back a gasp. Definitely worse than alligators.
We zoomed up Vanderham’s Wall, sparks pinging off Hudson’s leathery wings as he cut through the air. When we reached the top, two guards spotted us, shouting and pointing but making no move to leave the relative safety of their tower—especially not for a lone gargoyle and a couple of carry-on bags with no visible weapons.
We sailed up and over, then dropped down to street level on the other side, Hudson landing with a graceful thump.
Thankfully, the starshowers fizzled out fast. People who’d clearly just run for cover spilled out onto the streets again, dousing small fires with buckets of water that seemed to be kept on hand for just that purpose.
Jax led us through a maze of alleys to a no-name pub in the Hollow neighborhood—the rally point, he’d said. Elian would supposedly find us there.
While he went inside to check things out, Hudson and I ducked under a tin overhang, and I took a minute to catch my breath and take in my surroundings.
The city was black and craggy, as if the surrounding mountains had started crumbling and the inhabitants decided to carve out homes rather than clear away the rocks. Newer buildings had been erected too, and now the city was a mix of crumbling rock-hewn structures, sleek black skyscrapers, and a mass of single-story shacks with tin roofs, all of it thrown together with no rhyme or reason. From our spot beneath the overhang, I could just make out the rise in the city center, the castle looming at the very top.
