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Della and Lawrence climb up on their mounts as Cassius reaches for my hand to pull me up. I look like a fish trying to walk on land compare to them as I scramble up in front of him.
“Why can’t I have my own horse?” I grumble playfully in an attempt to calm my nerves.
Cassius snickers at my back.
I suppose this is for the best. My riding skills are minimal at the best of times, and his added body heat will be welcome once we reach the open plains. At least I don’t have to worry about being thrown again. I shudder, remembering the pain of that night, and the demon that nearly killed me.
“Which way?” Cassius asks.
“East.”
He kicks the horse into a gallop, and the four of us ride into the night. We skirt the northern edge of Nightwich, and once we are away from the city, I tilt my head up and stare at the stars glinting across the endless, black sky.
When we are out in the open, Cassius leans in, pressing the corner of his mouth to my ear. “This will not stop Elizabeth from oath binding him.”
I clench my teeth. “I know.”
Alaric is living his worst nightmare, and this is only a solution for the smallest of the problems we face. I don’t know how to prevent the coronation or anything else, but I will figure that out once he is no longer under her control.
Don’t give up yet, Alaric. I will free you.
Chapter Eleven
Clara
Della turnsher head to glance back at the shrinking city behind us, her mouth pressed in a tight line, while I am drawn to the endless sky. I still can’t get used to the silence of the night here. To be outside after sunset without the howl of demons and to gaze at the stars and remember my last night with Alaric…
“Now, little bird, tell me what we are doing,” Cassius demands, breaking through my thoughts.
“We are going to the oracle witch. She has the power we need to break the queen’s compulsion.”
Cassius stiffens at my back. “No one knows how to find the oracle witch. She might as well be a legend.”
“I do,” I insist.
The arm around my waist tightens as he slows the horse to a trot.
“The oracle witch is a story. Even if she is still alive, she would have to be nearly six hundred years old. Witches don’t live forever,” Lawrence says, pulling his horse up alongside ours, “and even if she is, what makes you think she would deign to waste her magic helping a human?”
“She does exist, and she will give me what I need,” I say.
“How can you be so sure?” When I ignore his question, he glances from me to Cassius.
“This is a fool’s errand,” Cassius says so quietly that I’m not sure he meant for me to hear over the pounding of hooves. “You should let him go.”
My blood boils. I am sick of everyone telling me that. He would never give up on me, and I could never abandon him to a life he dreads.
“If any of you doubt me, now is the time to turn back, but I will not allow anyone to sabotage me.”
“Do you even have a plan?” Lawrence asks.
Della scoffs from his other side. “Of course she has a plan. No human runs from Nightwich into the Sundown mountains without a plan in the middle of winter.” The rising pitch of her voice doesn’t lend confidence to her words. “Youdohave a plan, Clara. Tell them,” she says almost desperately.
I chew on the inside of my cheek. I can’t admit a demon set me on this mission. They would turn around in less than a heartbeat, and all three of them would make sure I didn’t so much asthinkabout stepping foot outside my room without one or more of them at my side.
“Once we find the witch, I will ask her for the spell to break the compulsion.” It’s a weak plan at best, but I have to assume Varin would have given me instructions if I needed to do more. After all, earning my trust rests on my success.
Cassius’s hand squeezes my hip, and the leather of the reins groans under the force of the tightening hold in his other.
