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I have to remember that.
“Let’s go together.”
I hold out my hand to him.
He doesn’t take it.
“Come on. We have to go.”
“I told you. You first.” Gripping my upper arm gently, Rys turns me so that I’m facing the shimmering portal. “I’ll be right behind you. It has to be this way. Siúcra will only hear one of us at a time.”
I don’t like the way Rys says that. Like Siúcra really isn’t just a prison, but… a being.
If it doesn’t like what we have to offer, it won’t let us out. Rys made that perfectly clear when he proposed this crazy plan. That’s the magic of Siúcra, what makes this prison a perfect trap within Faerie.
I gulp, staring at the shimmering gate. I don’t know what’s going to happen on the other side of these bars, but it can’t be as bad as what’ll happen if the guards catch up to us.
“Leannán—”
“Yeah?”
Rys takes his hand off my arm, lifting it slowly toward me. I think he’s aiming for my cheek and I stay still, waiting for the heat of his hand to fall against my face. His fingers keep going until he reaches the top of my head, stroking one of the stray hunks of hair that fell from my ponytail while he ran.
Letting the strand of teal hair slip through his fingers, he smiles. His scar crinkles with the quirk of his lips, his eyes bright and shining as he watches me as if I’m the only woman in the world.
It’s been so long since someone looked at me like that. Like I’m special.
Like they cared.
“Go,” he says again, softer this time but just as firm. “I’m right behind you.”
I don’t bother arguing. If Rys can hear the guards coming after us, they’ve got to be close. If they catch us here, mid-break out from the jail, being tossed back into the oubliette will be the least of my worries.
Just in case it’s the last time, I quickly rise up on my tiptoes and press a kiss against his cheek. “See you on the other side,” I tell him and, before I lose my nerve, I dash through the gap in the gate.
The second I cross the threshold it feels like I’m swimming in jello. A heavy weight pushes down on me and it’s all I can do to stay standing. Actually moving? It isn’t easy. Only the reality that the guards have caught onto our jailbreak and that Rys is waiting for his turn to hop through the portal keeps me going.
It’s bright. So bright, I can’t bear to keep my eyes open. I narrow them to slits because I hate the idea of going blind, but that doesn’t help. I get the feeling like I’m not alone in here. I don’t see Rys, though. I don’t hear him, either.
There’s no turning back. I have to keep going.
I push and I push, my feet shuffling forward. I keep my hands out front. It’s a good thing that I do. After about ten hard-earned steps, my hands press against something that feels like plexiglass. It’s cold and smooth and nearly impossible to break through. If I’d walked into it without knowing it was there, I might’ve whacked my nose.
Who goes there?
I just about swallow my tongue when the booming voice echoes all around me, it’s so loud and unexpected.
“... Hello?”
Who goes there? Which of my prisoners attempts to break free from my halls?
Oh my God. Oh my God. It’s so incredibly hard to believe, but I think… I think it’s Siúcra who’s talking to me. And something tells me that telling the prison that I’m Elle isn’t going to fly.
“Helen. I’m Helen.”
You can not leave, Siúcra booms. Not without leaving something in your place. What will you give me for your freedom?
Looks like I finally hit step four.
