Page 91 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

I kept her gaze for three more heartbeats before bowing and striding out of the temple. Len flanked me, his shoulder grazing mine, wind whipping his jacket out behind him as we reached the outdoors again where night had darkened the sky. “Do we head to Ansair?”

I shook my head. “It would take a week’s hard ride to get there.” I lowered my voice. “If they are truly in trouble now, it will do them no good by the time we could make it.” My heart ached, a helplessness seeping through my bones. And I hated it. Hated not having answers or the ability to do anything about Apollo and Delon or my future. This information didn’t help me; it just left me feeling helpless and worried. Which accomplished nothing. I clenched my teeth as I walked over to where we had tied up our horses. “We head home. There’s much I must discuss with my father. And, god’s willing…” I paused on that vein of thought. I’m not sure gods actually helped at all. “Apollo and Delon will meet us there when we arrive.”

Len gave a sharp nod and strode over to his horse.

And our group clattered onto the road again, the wind whipping over long grasses, the darkening silk of the skies belying the storm that lay ahead.

37

Apollo

Delon ran across the rooftop, which glittered in the fading sunlight. The men who wore dark, loose layers lifted their bows as they reached the top of the ladder.

We moved faster. An arrow whizzed past us, and we jerked to dodge it, veering near the edge, and my vision blurred. The ground seemed so small, people walking along the streets like ants streaming through the dirt. We could trip and fall. My stomach lurched into my throat.

Delon pulled up short where the roof ended, and I stopped, my skin clammy. He looked over his shoulder and then around at the world where conversations hummed about us and intertwined with the clattering of the men’s feet, the light hazy and bright. “We gotta jump.”

I lifted back up. “Absolutely not.”

“Here’s the thing, Apollo,” he said, his speech speeding together and clipping. “These arrows and weapons probably won’t kill you, but sadly, I’m mortal. And today isn’t the day I wish to meet my end. So, we must jump.”

I stared at him for a moment. The men’s voices grew close enough that their words became distinct. Oh, shit. Shit. Shit. I couldn’t do this. Delon’s jaw worked, his gaze boring into me. I blew out a breath. “Okay.”

He nodded and backed up and then dove across the roof to another, scrabbling to gain his balance as rocks tumbled down the side of the building. My blood turned to ice. Oh, fuck. I could not do this.

“Apollo,” Delon shouted and gestured for me to come.

I breathed in the spicy scents of the air, stepped back, letting my weight sink into the solidness of the roof. Oh, gods, the roof. We stood above the world, where we could fall. Faintness threatened to overtake me, and I swayed on my feet.

The last time I’d jumped while up at a height, I’d had Hyacinth’s hand in mine, the coarseness of his palm steady against my fingers. We’d kissed for the first time that night, and he’d looked at me as though I was worthy of being a god, like I deserved a place in the sky. But during our last interaction, his expression had changed.

I swallowed back at those thoughts.

An arrow shot past me, landing with a thunk into a wood beam on the opposite side.

No. I would do better. I’d prove it to him.

Another arrow swept by, nicking the skin of my arm, and I winced.

Well, the best opportunity to make changes was the present.

I took a deep breath and ran, my feet slapping against the hard surface of the roof. The side grew closer. The world milled about beyond, thousands of people full of their own heartbreaks and fears and worries and loves.

I reached the edge and closed my eyes as I leapt into the air.

I brought Hyacinth to mind.

His fingers brushing over a line of poetry, his irises turning honey-gold in the sunlight, the v-shaped dimple forming between his brows, the taste of his lips, his hands rough and needing as they dug into the flesh of my shoulders.

Wind whipped over me, cooling the sweat on my brow. I opened my eyes right as I hit the roof with a thump that knocked the breath from me.

Holy shit. I’d just jumped between two roofs.

Delon grabbed my arm. “Come on.”

We weaved through laundry fluttering on lines, around chimneys, and past a group of women who gasped at us, jerking back and clutching bundles of clothing in their arms. We reached a ladder and clambered down, landing on a dirt path in an alley.

Delon jerked his chin, and we continued pushing down the road, away from our pursuers. We turned a corner, and half a dozen more men dressed similarly to the ones chasing us stood. One shifted towards us, the blade in his hand catching an apricot glimmer of light. “Hey,” he yelled. “Stop.”