Page 81 of Sun, Moon & Shadow

Nova’s chest was ready to burst by the time she emerged into the sunlight. Collapsing onto the ground, she twisted to face the cave, sweat dripping down her forehead and into her eyes as she willed Lucan and Callan to come into view. Perhaps it was another hallucination, but, for an instant, she thought she glimpsed a raven, wings spread wide and stark black against the bright sky, before it disappeared behind the mountain’s peak.

An agonizing minute passed before Lucan appeared, the sun glinting off the midnight strands of his coat, his muzzle and the fur at his throat shimmering with fresh blood. Callan stumbled out soon after, falling to his knees. He buried the tip of his sword in the ground and turned to the cave with his arms outstretched. Flowing forth from his hands, a thick wall of ice began to form, covering the mouth of the cave entirely and sealing Idrian and what little remained of his forces inside.

When he was done, Callan fell forward, bracing himself on the ground, and Nova crawled to his side. A faint blue glow faded from his eyes, leaving them dark brown once again. Tiny red droplets freckled his skin, a constellation in blood spattered across his face. Starting at his shoulders, she ran her hands over his body. He caught her wrists gently just as she reached his ribs.

“I’m fine,” he said, still breathing heavily through his nose.

Lucan appeared beside them, leading a large gray stallion by the bridle. He’d returned to his Fae form, his chin and neck still wet and stained crimson. Nova glanced down at her chest, covered with blood from the guard’s broken nose.

“We make quite a crew,” she chuckled weakly, lightheaded with the imminent threat to her life having been thwarted for the time being.

“We need to leave,” Callan said. “That’s a wall of solid ice, but it won’t hold forever.”

“I found their horses tethered in a grove to the east and freed all except this one.” Lucan grinned, patting the animal on the side of the neck. “Nipped at their ankles a bit, too, to get them good and scared. It’ll be a while before they’re able track them all down.”

“Good thinking.” Callan rose to his feet, grunting with the effort. He pulled his sword from the ground and sheathed it. Nova handed him his dagger, which he slipped back onto his thigh. He held out his hand and helped her up.

“We left our horses there.” He pointed to a large rock rising out of the ground in the distance. “How are you feeling?”

Nova briefly touched her temple and examined her wrists and forearms, taking stock of her injuries. Her mind already felt clearer in the short time since the iron cuffs had been removed.

“Well enough to get there,” she said.

Callan gave a close-lipped smile, the rest of his features drawn tight.

“You two take the horse,” Lucan said, handing the reins over to Callan. “I’ll run alongside.”

Callan agreed with a nod and proceeded to help Nova mount. He struggled to get himself onto the horse, exhaling sharply once he settled into the saddle behind her.

“How are you feeling?”

“It’s been a long couple of days, and that ice took a lot out of me,” he said with a dry laugh. “Let’s get you home.”

The word conjured an image of the Silvergard Estate in her weary mind. Nova closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. The strange horse whinnied nervously as Lucan sprinted past, a blur of black in the sunlight. Callan nudged the stallion in the ribs, and the animal took off at a gallop.

They reached the rocky outcrop a short time later, circling behind to where their horses waited, somewhat rested. Lucan shifted in the blink of an eye, leaving Nova momentarily stunned, and untethered the animals. The stolen mount carrying Nova and Callan slowed to a halt. Behind her, she felt Callan slump to the side. She grabbed uselessly at his cloak as he fell from the horse, landing in a heap on the ground beneath her.

In an instant, she slid down from the saddle and crouched on her knees beside him, shaking him by his shoulders and shouting his name. Callan’s eyelids fluttered. His skin was ashen, lips dry and tinged with blue. Nova threw open his cloak and frantically ran her hands over his chest and arms.

“Lucan, help me get this damn thing off him,” she ordered, pulling at the thick leather armor hugging Callan’s solid torso.

They worked together to remove Callan’s chest plate, revealing his blood-soaked tunic. One of the soldiers must have thrust a sword underneath his armor. Nova shoved the darkened fabric aside, finding a deep wound on his right side. Blood flowed from it like a spring, pooling in the sand beneath his body.

Too much blood. Too much blood.

Nova’s teeth chattered, as much from the wind fluttering her flimsy nightgown as the dread taking root in the pit of her stomach, tendrils of it climbing like ivy into her throat.

“We need to get him back to the Estate,” Lucan said soberly, eyes wide. Nova had never been more desperate for Lucan to make one of his jests. The grave expression on his face chilled her to the bone.

“He can’t ride like this,” she said, voice trembling. “He won’t make it.”

Steadying herself with a deep breath, she leaned down to further assess Callan’s wound. It was the width of a few fingers, entering through his abdomen right above his hipbone and exiting his back just below his rib cage. Gods only knew what the blade had struck internally.

Instinctively, Nova placed her quivering hands on either side of the wound and pressed down with every shred of strength remaining within her. Callan’s body jerked beneath her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lucan demanded.

“Healing him.”