“Where are we, Veronica?” I grunt.
“Some delightful place called Crow’s Fault.”
I stare up at her. I’ve never heard of such a place. “You can’t keep me here forever.”
“Would you prefer I kill you, Fox?”
“You can’t. I’m immortal.”
“We both know that is a lie. There are ways I could kill you.” I growl at her, and she smiles at me. “But don’t worry, darling. I’d much prefer to keep you alive. You’ve always been my favorite. It’s why I’ve planned for a little re-education, Professor. To help you remember who you really are,whatyou really are, and where your true alliance lies. You’re going to be mine again, Fox.”
“No,” I say simply.
“It’s okay. There’s no hurry. Unfortunately, I suspect our stay here is going to last some time, which means I have all the time in the world, you see. And time is a funny thing to us immortals. So many of those humans come and go and we’re still here. It teaches you patience.”
“Then I hope you have a lot of it. Because I will never give myself willingly to you again.”
“Such valiant words, darling. Let’s see how long they last.”
She twirls her hand through the air, and then I understand what those shapes are that swirl up in the mist, what those sounds are.
Demons. They come swooping into the room, hurtling towards me and my last sane thought is,I hope she doesn’t come for me.The danger is far too great.
Chapter Four
Briony
My heart rips right down the middle, the wound more and more painful the higher we rise into the stormy sky, and the further Blaze soars away from the black lake below us.
Fate is trying to tell me something. I’m not meant to be away from my mates. But my mates include Fox Tudor. Whether I stay or go, this pain in my heart will persist because this little circle we’ve formed, this strange little family we’re becoming, will be incomplete.
I don’t have a choice in the matter.
The air still gasps in my lungs. My body continues to shake.
I kick my heels against Blaze’s broad rib cage, urging him onwards, pleading with him to fly faster. He struggles against the storm, buffeted around by the strength of the wind. The rain drives into both our faces, and I’m forced to screw up my eyes, squinting against the onslaught.
The wind becomes more violent, whipping around my face, punching us this way and then that. Blaze grunts and wrestles against the force, the wind howling over his out-stretched wings.I grip him more firmly, the clouds rolling like waves around us, gray and black and sinister.
The gale lashes us up high and then drops us a moment later. I scream but then the wind catches in Blaze’s wings again and he’s plowing onwards. The muscles in his back ripple beneath me and I can tell how hard he’s working.
And then a clap of thunder roars right around us as lightning crackles millimeters from Blaze’s flank. He jolts in alarm, and I’m bolted from my seat, almost slipping from his back completely, only stopping myself from tumbling to the ground by my fingertips.
“Blaze!!” I scream, desperately clinging to his wet scales as my grip begins to slide. “Blaze!”
I swing my legs desperately, trying to propel myself back up onto his back.
It’s hopeless.
He rumbles back at me. He knows I’m in trouble. But still the storm knocks him this way and that and he’s struggling to help me.
I search for that magic in my veins, beckoning it forth. However, I don’t know how to use it to help me. I’ve only learned a few spells, only picked up one or two more. I don’t have the instinct the Princes do; this is all too new to me. I can’t work out how to use my magic to save myself.
I make the mistake of peering down at the ground. It’s far far below me. The Princes are somewhere in the distance now. They won’t even see me fall.
Around us more bolts of lightning spike through the sky and the very air rumbles with each clap of thunder.
“Blaze!” I cry out because this isn’t how I wanted it to end. Far from everyone I love. Alone. Nobody will even know what happened to me.
