AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But, strangely, he no longer wanted to fight to the death. He wanted to survive, as Essie had begged. It was time to conserve his strength, bide his time, and put his trust in Essie.
As darkness closed in around him, he clung to the warmth of the heart bond. She was still alive, and she would come for him.
ESSIE DIDN’T LOOK BACK. She raced the way they’d come, thankful her dancing shoes were flat, not the heeled shoes that were coming into style.
Footsteps pounded behind her. Too heavy to be Farrendel’s.
She risked a glance over her shoulder. Mark Hadley sprinted after her, long legs eating the distance between them.
Essie dodged around crates and swerved around some of the smaller sheds in the dockside complex. The crackle of Farrendel’s magic buzzed through the air. The ground trembled with the force of his magic unleashed.
Something exploded, shaking the ground and rattling the windowpanes in the abandoned guard shack as she raced past it.
As long as the explosions and fury of magic continued behind her, she’d know he was still alive.
“Princess Elspeth! Stop!” Mark Hadley shouted, only a few yards behind her now. “There’s no point in running.”
Wasn’t there? Lord Bletchly had flat out told her he planned to kill her. Why would Essie just give up to Mark Hadley knowing that?
“Stop!” His voice was even closer now. He would catch her in a few more seconds.
Fine. She’d stop. She was backed into a corner, and she’d come out shooting if Mark pushed her.
Spinning, she planted her feet, facing him. Running until the last second would only delay the inevitable. Better to face him now, while she had some distance. She stuffed the troll’s knife into the knot of her dress at the small of her back and drew the derringer. When she pointed it at Mark, her hands were steady. “Don’t come any closer. I will shoot you.”
Mark slowed his pace, but he didn’t stop. “Now, princess. You shouldn’t play with weapons you can’t handle.”
As if he knew anything about her abilities. Her blood pounded in her ears, anger pulsing hot in her chest, but she shoved all of it away to keep her aim steady. “You just kidnapped me and my husband, threw us in a train without food or water or a water closet for an entire day, and then handed us over to his enemies to be killed. I dare you to take another step.”
She’d have to wait for him to take a few more steps than that. Derringers didn’t have a long range, and she needed accuracy.
He smirked and kept strolling forward.
A concussive boom tore the air. The force pounded Essie, the ground heaving beneath her feet.
She was on the ground, gasping for air, a ringing filling her ears. Burning shards of wood and metal fell from the sky. A metal shard stabbed into the ground a few feet away.
