The harpy watched her intently, those dark eyes unblinking. A second one emerged from the shadows behind her, wings folded against its back.
I tensed, reaching for my sword.
Steel clasped my arm. "Don't worry. They're friends."
"Friends?" I stared at him.
Flint shook his head, disbelief still written across his face. "I've never seen anything like it, Hatter. Those things came barreling out of the sky while the guards were marching us back to the mines. We thought we were dead."
"But they didn't attack us," Steel continued. "They used their talons to break our chains. Then they scooped us into the sky and carried us here."
Flint nodded. “The Uncrowned attacked from below while the harpies came from above. The guards never stood a chance.”
"Bunny and the children too," Steel added. "Gentle as lambs with those little ones."
Alice stroked the harpy’s large wings, the same one who had once been Alanna's slave. The harpy she'd saved.
"She freed her," I murmured. "Alice broke her collar."
I stared at Alice—this woman who had crashed into my life like a storm. She stood before the harpy without fear, her hand outstretched, her golden hair catching the last rays of sunlight.
She had been beaten. Tortured. Chained in a dungeon. She had believed I'd betrayed her—had watched me propose to another woman. And instead of breaking, instead of giving up, she had blown the doors off the throne room and saved us all.
My chest ached.
She was magnificent. Fierce. Impossible.
And she was mine.
I didn't deserve her. I'd put her through hell to keep her safe, and she'd walked through fire to save me anyway.
"She's amazing,” Flint said.
Something swelled in my chest—pride, love, disbelief that she was real. "Yeah. She really is."
Ari, Grump, Caterpillar, and Chester arrived moments later.
Grump went straight to Alice—then froze when he saw the harpies behind her. His hand went to his sword.
"It's okay," Alice said quickly. “They’re with me."
He stared at her like she'd lost her mind. But then he pulled her into an embrace anyway.
I smiled despite everything. The protective father. The proud father. He'd almost lost her twice now.
Ari hung back in the shadows, arms crossed, red eyes darting between us. My blood heated. I hadn't forgotten what he'd done. He was breathing on borrowed time. I didn't trust him. Not for a second. He'd betray us in an instant to save his own worthless skin. The only thing keeping him in line was that damned web bracelet binding him to Alice.
Caterpillar and Chester approached the harpies with what seemed like curiosity. Smoke curled from Caterpillar's lips. Chester's grin flickered in and out.
Bunny hurried over to Alice and threw her arms around her. "Thank you," she sobbed. "Thank you for saving my babies."
Her children giggled nearby, chasing each other in a game of tag around the harpies—blissfully unaware of how close they'd come to death. The harpies watched them with something like amusement, their dark eyes following the little ones as they darted between their legs.
I looked around at our ragged group. Alice barely standing. The twins exhausted. Bunny watching her children. Grumphaggard. We'd escaped Alanna's castle, but we were in no shape to fight. And she'd come for us. She always did.
"We can't stay here," I said.
"I know." Flint nodded grimly. "But our hiding places are slowly being discovered. Soon we'll have nowhere left."
