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After what had happened, she figured she was going to cry for a very long time.
Clinging to the dream version of Mordred, she buried her head against his chest and wept. Through her tears and her heaving attempts to breathe, she couldn’t help but blather. “I didn’t want to—I told him to stop—but he wouldn’t listen—I killed him, oh God I killed him.” The smell of cooking human flesh was still thick in her throat. She didn’t know if she’d ever forget it. “But I—I—I didn’t want to die.”
“Shush, firefly…shush. It will be all right.” He stroked her hair.
“No, I—I don’t think it will.” She curled her hands into the fabric of his shirt. She was already staining it dark with her tears. At least she wasn’t on fire in her sleep, that was all she’d need. “Grinn’s been shot which means—”
“What?”He grabbed her by the shoulders, his mood changing in a blink.
She froze. Dread settled on her like a dark cloud. “This isn’t a normal dream, is it?”
“What of Grinn, where is he? Where are you?” Mordred’s expression was a mask of equal parts worry and rage.“Tell me the name of this town!”
“I—I—” Oh no. Oh, she had fucked up and fucked up hard.
“How long have you been traveling with him?” His mood darkened, his rage turning tohate.“He is the one who brought you here, isn’t he?”
“I didn’t—I didn’t know. He didn’t tell me his name until after the Crystal was destroyed.” She felt so very small. Like she’d been caught doing something terrible by her school principal. “I didn’t mean to—”
He swore, so loudly and harshly that she jolted in his grasp. He shut his eyes, took a breath, and slowly let it out. When he turned his attention back to her, it was clear he was on a razor’s edge. One wrong move from her, and she had no idea how he would react. “Where are you, firefly?”
This was going to spell disaster. She knew it. But she couldn’t help it. “Aercester.” She sniffled. “We’re in—”
The dream shattered. She was being shaken by someone. She yelped and pushed them away with one of her wings. She was still shaking and covered in a cold sweat. It was Doc.
He offered her a hand up. “Time to go, kid.”
She took his offer and let him heft her up to her feet. She found herself staring at the smoldering corpse of the soldier.
“No, no. Don’t.” Doc turned her away from the body toward the entrance to the alley she had run down. “Lancelot and Zoe are probably already gone. Grinn is awake and hurt but able to move. Eod is fine. I’m fine. It’s time to leave.”
“I—” Gwen didn’t know how to explain Mordred and the dreams that were suddenly not dreams.
“Yeah. I know.” He smirked. “C’mon.” He took her hand and led her away. The street was littered with the bodies of the soldiers—each one with a large black burn mark on their chests. Dead from electricity, she assumed. She had seen the wizard shooting lightning. Eod ran up to her, ears flat but tail wagging in happy concern.
“I’m all right, baby.” She ruffled his head. She was so relieved he hadn’t been shot or wounded. “Thanks for protecting him, Doc.”
“Naturally. What kind of hero would I be if I let the dog die?” He straightened his tattered blue robe.
She wanted to ask him why he thought he was the hero, but whatever. She didn’t care. They had to go before Mordred arrived. She didn’t know how long it would take him to get there on the back of his dragon, but she was certain he was already on his way.
And when he did show up…?
All hell would break loose.
He had begged her to go back to him for safety. But he had also vowed that the moment she was in his grasp, he’d never let her go again. She’d be his prisoner—for better or worse—for the rest of her life.
However long it ended up being. She didn’t know how to explain to Mordred the situation between her and Grinn. But she knew it wasn’t going to go well in the slightest. Would he use her to get to the demon? Or did he care about her enough to give up his quest for revenge?
Don’t ask stupid questions.She knew the answer to that one, she just didn’t want to admit it.
It was easy to steal a cart and supplies when all the soldiers were dead. They hooked Sunshine to the wooden tongues alongside another horse who eyed them warily but didn’t seem like he was going to fuss too much about being horse-napped. Grinn limped up to them, still bleeding from several large wounds in his chest.
“Oh, God.” She covered her mouth with her hands. He looked awful, and clearly in agony. “Do you—”
He shifted to the shape of a cat without a word, clearly intending to jump onto the back of the cart. But he collapsed before he could, his legs giving out.
Carefully, she gathered him up in a blanket. He was awake, and said nothing as she made him a spot to rest in the corner of the cart. At least he didn’t bite her. Eod jumped in a second later, sniffed the cat, and then lay down beside him.
