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“You know, if you allowed me control, we could move much faster,” Ember chided.
“Now you’re fucking available? If I let you have control, I wouldn’t be a fucking snack. I’ll be a sample you let everyone taste, hussy!” I muttered and then winced as something cut into the heel of my foot. Without pausing to extract the object, I charged through a thicket of trees and then came to a skidding stop, flailing my arms to maintain equilibrium as I stood precariously on the cliff’s edge.
The cliff overlooked a deep ravine with a rapid river rushing through the center. A scattering of pebbles rolled over the edge and I lost sight of them long before they hit the water. Fucking hell it was a long way down. A branch snapped, forcing my eyes to prick as I looked between the tree line, and the fall. When I glanced back at the rushing water, defeat sank its teeth into my mind. My heart thundered agonizingly against my breast as I spun around as men’s voices neared.
“Told you she wouldn’t get far, Vicious.” Basilius’s deep, silky baritone was clear as he pushed past the branches.
“Aria, don’t be stupid,” Zyion cautioned, his face tight with worry.
One of Knox’s look-alike’s snorted and watched me with cold ocean-colored eyes that were filled with mockery. “As if she’d have the balls to actually jump. No one is stupid enough—”
Spinning back around, I leaped recklessly over the edge, not willing to wait for them to overtake me. I’d faced death enough to know he didn’t want me. Not yet, at least. The chilled air hit my face, and my hair rushed up as if trying to become wings. Quietly, I uttered a prayer before sucking a deep breath into my lungs and spinning midair so that my feet would break the surface of the water.
The landing was painful and forced my legs up against my abdomen. Everything screamed as agony rushed through my thighs, stomach, and chest. The moment my feet touched the bottom of the river, I kicked off it and started for the surface. The water was shockingly cold, but I did my best to ignore the pinpricks of pain that dug into my flesh. Breaking the surface, I slowly began moving my limbs, treading water as I moved in the current.
A loud splash jerked my focus toward where I’d gone into the water, watching as Zyion entered the water seconds before Basilius and the others followed. Using what little energy I had left, I began putting effort into swimming toward the shore. Beyond the bank, a dense forest lined the canyon, which would allow me some coverage to hide from them. Crawling onto the shore, I ignored the pain in my extremities as I rushed into the forest, gulping air into my lungs.
I hid in the foliage and ripped off a piece of my gown’s skirt, throwing it in one direction before taking off in the opposite. Shouts began echoing through the forest behind me, forcing me onward. Scanning the dark shadows of the thicker underbrush, I searched for somewhere to hide. It wasn’t until the sound of leathery wings whispered above me that I started running, tilting my head to scan the treetops to figure out where the dragon was.
The silhouette of an enormous dragon was outlined through the low-hanging clouds. Of course, they’d use their beast forms to hunt for me. I hadn’t even considered that before bolting from the room they’d locked me in.
The trees were larger than the Redwood Trees in California and Oregon we’d once visited. I paused behind a wide trunk to catch my breath, leaning against it as I sucked air into my lungs. Above me, the dragon rattled before circling above the tree I hid behind. Since I was rather unwilling to wait around until it figured out I was here, I forced my legs into motion, pumping them harder and faster, each stride taking me farther away from the men hunting me.
I could hear the branches snapping beneath their weight, every crack of wood causing my heart to pound faster. A loud, thunderous banging sounded above me as the dragon rushed toward the ground through the trees, shredding branches in its descent. It landed right in front of me, so I slid on my ass between his four limbs, coming up behind him. Not waiting to see if he melted me into a pile of goo, I continued forward the moment I was back on my feet.
The dragon released an ear-piercing shriek and heat licked up my spine as he whipped around and chased after me. Who the fuck brought dragons for foot chases? If I lived through this, I was fucking designing shoes, because screw these soft slippers. Where had they even gotten the idea from? Princess Academy or some shit? Tears burned my eyes as my legs screamed from running. Branches whipped against my arms, welting the flesh as I forced my body to continue forward.
“Aria, fucking stop! We will not hurt you,” Zyion snarled from in front of me.
How the fuck had be gotten in front of me? I skidded to a stop before sliding around the trunk of a giant tree. The bark and rocks bit into my arms as I felt anger colliding with despair. This was bullshit. I didn’t even want to think of the ‘I told you so’ that Knox was going to feed me for this shit. Eyeing the thick brush, I slid onto my knees, then crawled through it until my arms felt nothing but air. My body lurched forward without warning, tearing a shocked cry from my lips as I landed with a painful crash onto the ground. Darkness swallowed my vision as I landed on something sharp. The coppery tang of blood filled the surrounding air. A growl broke from my lips as I desperately tried to figure out where I’d landed.
It had to be a pit or cave. I groped blindly before grabbing on to something hard and rounded. My stomach churned with unease as I felt two empty sockets and what was likely teeth. Smothering my scream of horror with both hands, I inched backward while scanning the darkness.
Arms wrapped around me before Zyion’s gravelly voice whispered, “Do not make any sudden movements. You’ll be safe if you listen to me.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at him. The last time I’d trusted him, it had disastrous results. Something moved beside us, and Zyion forced me behind the shield of his larger, more powerful body. The sound of the dragon’s rattling overhead incited a challenge from the unknown entity in the dark hole with us. The hairs on my arms rose as crimson eyes opened, glowing in the cave’s darkness.
“Move back slowly, and go as far as you can, Aria. It cannot hear us. It hunts prey by tracking movement,” he warned. Rocks moved in front of us, which caused my head to turn slowly in the direction in which I’d heard the slide of rocks.
“What the hell is it?”
“It’s a wyrm,” he stated, as if I should know what the hell one was?
“What the hell is a wyrm?” I demanded through chattering teeth.
“If you don’t know, now isn’t the time for me to explain what is in the dark, damp cave with us.” I frowned as I strained my eyes, searching the darkness for the wyrm.
“Do you honestly expect me to trust you?” I challenged myself to keep my mind off not knowing what a wyrm could possibly be in this realm. I’d never heard of them, let alone anything that could hunt only by sound.
“I don’t care if you believe me or not, Aria.” His tone was clipped and sharp.
“Screw you and screw this,” I hissed as I began feeling behind me, only to place my hand on scales. “There is something behind us.”
“Not behind us. All around us,” he corrected. “You’re shaking.”
“Is now a bad time to tell you I’m claustrophobic?” I whispered through trembling lips. His snort was the only reply to my question. “What are we waiting for?”
“For the Karnavious brothers to figure out our current predicament and cause a distraction so we can escape without being ingested by the wyrm. You shouldn’t have run from me, princess. There are monsters in the forests that feed on our kind.”
