Page 8 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

The liquid rolled over my tongue and down my throat, bitter and earthy with hints of bergamot, myrrh, and something I could not place.

“Ugh, that was disgusting! Blech! I’m not drinking that ever again.” Cora grimaced.

A shudder moved through my body. “Wow.” I tried to smooth my twisted mouth and crinkled nose. “That wasn’t one of Greta’s normal concoctions.”

Alec went wide-eyed. “So sorry! Greta insisted it would help.”

Relaxation washed over me. For the first time since Terren appeared, my muscles loosened, and my mind cleared. My heart rate lowered to a steady thrum, my hyperawareness now dulled. I felt cognizant of everything but calmer. Greta was a master herbalist, and whatever she put in that tincture was exactly what I needed. Cora’s bouncing legs and fidgeting had ceased, and she leaned into my arm.

Alec eyed us wearily.

“Everything is fine,” I reassured. “I think we are ready to go.”

We traveled silently through the forest’s tall grass, muffling the hooves of the horse and the groans of the wagon wheels. Lanterns swayed from poles on either side of us, casting moving shadows on the trees. The charge was still palpable, but Greta’s tincture had me at ease, and Cora snuggled up against my side.

This might work. It has to.

A mile off the main road, the route to our freedom sat before us, along with a wall of dense fog. I had only seen it once from a distance, and it was even more threatening up close. The barrier started from the land and jutted up into the sky. It could have ascended through the cosmos for all anyone knew, as the top had never been seen.

Alec broke the heavy silence as the horse pulled the wagon onto a small, worn path that put us parallel to the barrier. “Do you ever wonder what it’s like on the other side of that wall?”

I scoffed. “No. I assume it is filled with nothing more than magic and monsters.”

The barrier was so close I could likely touch it if I leaned far enough out of the wagon. A realization that I pointedly ignored.

Alec continued, “I sometimes think that maybe, like humans, there is a mix of both good and bad seraphs. I mean, Greta told me about that Terren guy. Maybe he belongs on the other side of the barrier.”

I huffed out a breath. “I wish I could banish him there. Terren would probably fit right in. He is a monster, and not the only one I’ve come across. Violence is often the only language men speak.”

Alec turned his gaze to the worn path ahead, staying silent.

Way to offend a man helping you, Rory.

“Alec, I am sorry if…”

“Shh!” He lifted a finger to his lips. “Do you hear that?”

Cora sat straight up, alert, and turned toward the direction of the forest. My head whipped to the barrier, eyes darting around like a seraph would burst through and attack us at any moment. Alec pulled the horse to a stop and turned in his seat, not to the barrier, but to the pitch-black forest. His thick eyebrows furrowed, and his light eyes slowly scanned the darkness.

“I hear it, too, Alec.” Cora’s voice was no more than a whisper.

“What do you hear, sweet girl?” I questioned.

Alec turned to me. “Horses.”

A steady strum of hooves battered the ground, cutting the quiet of the forest.

My heart skipped a beat. “Shit! Terren!”

Alec snapped the reins, and the horse jolted to a gallop, lurching the wagon forward and almost unseating me. “Hang on!” he shouted over the pounding of running horses. Or maybe that was my heart trying to burst out of my chest. A heavy wagon couldn’t outpace a horse with a single rider, and I was aware our attempt to flee was futile. Dread sat in my stomach, and the anxiety that Greta had stifled broke through her herbal concoction, blazing inside me at a level I had never had the displeasure of experiencing.

Lights flickered between the trees of the forest as the hoofbeats became louder and faster, giving away the location of our stalkers.

“Auroraaaaa!” Terren sang out in mocking terror. Cora whimpered next to me, her eyes clenched tightly closed.

Four forms on horseback broke through the trees and onto the path behind our wagon. My heart thumped in rhythm with the sound of the pursuing horses. Cora looked up at me in fear, and as I stared into her wide hazel eyes, I was ready to do whatever was necessary to keep her out of the hands of the monster trying to take her from me.

“Alec, I’m going to jump and distract them,” I exclaimed as I met his eyes. “Unhook the horse from the wagon and jump on him with Cora so you can outrun them. Take her as far away as you can and then send word to Greta. She will know what to do. Please! My distraction will give you enough time to make it.”