AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ugh. I’m never gonna eat another peach again so long as I live. Which, if the Fae Queen has her way, won’t be long at all.
Wonderful.
Because of the threat she poses to me, Nine won’t risk bringing me to Faerie with him. Rys will, but only if I agree to mate with him. Yeah, that’s g
onna be a no. Marrying my enemy to save my skin? Even I’m not that desperate.
That leaves me one choice.
I’ve spent years accepting that the only person I can rely on is me. I might not have gotten myself into this mess. Still, I guess it’s gonna be up to me to get out of it.
A small shadow forms on the opposite wall, a distorted shape that seems to grow as it moves. My eyes are drawn to it, my hands curling into fists, ready to push up off of the ground if I have to.
It’s a rat. That’s totally a rat over there. It skitters along the far side of the narrow sewer, its long, bald tail slithering behind it as it dashes past Rys’s lantern.
A couple of days ago, I jumped and freaked because I imagined that my hand brushed up against a fuzzy spider. Not now. My first instinct is to reach out and grab the silk thing that Nine gave me. Still feeling bitter, frustrated, and sad, I ball it up and throw it at the rat. Poor thing’s claws clatter against the stony ground as it squeaks and scrambles to escape.
I feel bad for it. Just… not as bad as I feel about my situation.
Ugh.
Thinking is hard. Focusing, too. My brain is pounding like a drum against my skull, pulsing angrily as I try to come up with some kind of plan.
I’m not having much luck.
This is definitely the worst hangover I’ve ever had. I wish I had some more of that water Nine brought back for me. I’m so thirsty that, for a second or two, I start thinking about drinking from that nasty puddle again. When I actually agree that it would be worth it to get rid of this godawful dry mouth, I realize I’m in trouble.
Yeah. If dirty sewer water starts to sound tempting, I’ve gotta do something about that.
There’s only one thing I can do.
Tilting my head back, I look up at the ceiling way above me. That small sliver of light in the distance gives me some hope. So long as the manhole cover isn’t flush against the road, I can still pry my fingers in the gap and leverage my shoulder against it to get it to move.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. After I fish my slipper out of the puddle where I left it, I jam it on my foot, then yank the other one from my hoodie pocket. I take a second to fluff it, to bend it back into shape, then slip it on. My body is as stiff as the material on the side of the stained slipper. My knees creak as I pull myself up, my back screaming at me.
Jesus. I’m almost twenty-one and, after the last couple of nights I’ve had on the hard sewer floor, my poor everything aches like I’m eighty. It’s nothing a couple of aspirins and a nice hot shower won’t fix, but since it’s not likely I’ll get either one of those things anytime soon, I suck it up and start climbing the ladder.
Halfway up, I realize that my ankle feels fine. Maybe it’s because the rest of me hurts like hell, but I don’t even feel the slightest twinge as I go from narrow rung to narrow rung. That’s one good thing. How far was I really gonna get if my ankle was still banged up from when I ran from that cop?
Just when I get to the top, I remember the silk scrap that I tossed at the rat. I purposely left behind Rys’s lantern—because I just couldn’t willingly get any closer to that enchanted fire—but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t go back for Nine’s gift. I might be hurting from the way he rejected me last night, but I’ll get over it. I always do. And, whether I like it or not, Nine’s the only one I can turn to. The silk scarf thing is the first thing he’s given me in years.
I want it back.
I glance down, picking out the orange haze and the pinprick of light that marks the lantern. The fact that it’s so small makes me realize how far up I’ve climbed.
I really, really don’t want to go down there again.
So I don’t. I hesitate on the last rung for a few seconds, waffling between giving up on it—the rat probably ran off with it out of spite for all I know—and going back to get it. I finally found the strength and the balls to leave the sewer. I’ve got to keep going.
That lid is freaking heavy. It takes every last bit of energy I have to knock it aside enough to climb back out. My hoodie almost gets snagged as I struggle to push my way out, and it takes holding my breath to fit, but I do it.
It’s early. Like, the sun has just risen early early. I’m so stinking happy to see that it’s daylight that I let out a huge sigh of relief as I crawl out of the sewer. I draw the line at kissing the asphalt beneath my hands and knees, but it’s close. I don’t even care if there’s a cop waiting up here for me. The second I’m out, I collapse on my belly and just breathe in the fresh air.
Once I’ve settled myself enough to focus on my next step, I jerk up my head. Because it’s early, the alleyway is empty. No cops. No delivery trucks, either. And, I realize after a second, no Light Fae lurking nearby to say gotcha.
I was almost expecting to find him up here. Now that I haven’t, I can admit that to myself. Nine told me that he managed to erase Rys’s mark on me when he did… whatever it is that he did to me. I wanted to believe him.
Maybe I can.
