“I don’t need him anyway,” Lavana said. “I’ve decided to claim Riker.”
Magda almost stumbled into the bars. “Riker is here?”
Lavana bared her teeth in a savage smile. “That’s right. I caught him. He’s mine now.”
“And Damion?”
“Open the damned door!” Lavana barked as the guard swayed where he stood. The key hovered in front of the lock, and then finally, he pushed it in. The lock thunked.
Magda gave the cage one last shove, clearing the drain. The guard stumbled back as the cell lurched, dropping the key, clutching his wounded hand. The door swung inward.
Magda reached through the bars, grabbed the cover, and then dragged it through to her side. She dropped onto her butt, legs dangling.
As she slid down, Kaelan grasped her waist to help her down.
Lavana had to wait for the cell’s door to stop swinging. She stood on the other side, white-faced, hands fisted, two slaps of red high on her cheeks, her aquamarine eyes full of cold fire.
Behind her, Endreas smirked and winked at Magda.
Magda dragged the iron grate over the opening once more.
She caught Kaelan’s shoulders as she splashed into the wet muck. They were chest to chest in the tight space. She couldn’t tell if it was his heart pounding or hers. Though it was pitch black, his eyes glowed like dewy grass in starlight. His breath slid warm over her face. A woozy tingle spread under her skin.
“The tunnel is small. But we should fit,” she said. “We’ll have to crawl. We need to hurry. There will be guards.”
“There’s another way,” he said. “Close your eyes.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”
“We don’t have—”
He slammed her against him, stealing her breath and covering her eyes with his hand.
The weight of her body seemed to lift from her, so she was only a whisper of herself. Cool, sweet air trailed fingers over her skin, evoking shivers all through her. A faint breeze seemed to murmur in her ears, as if she were running. But, other than a vague sense of floating, she didn’t feel as though she was moving at all.
And then she eased back into the heaviness of her body. The shivers remained, goose bumps pricking over her skin.
Kaelan let out a soft huff as his hands slid from her. He slouched to the ground. She grabbed his shoulder in time to ease his fall.
“Are you—?”
“I’m all right,” he said as she laid him down on the mossy ground.
Moss.
She gazed around. They were at the edge of a forest, upon a tussock, overlooking a meadow. She drew away from him, standing, taking in the starlight falling like silver snow upon the tall grasses and slumbering flowers.
Real stars.
A river of light streamed across the sky. From some distant perch, a fairy flute played a quiet lullaby, and an ache that she hadn’t known she felt abated. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she drank in the wine of the night air. The clean, rich taste ran down her throat and filled her lungs. Her chest hitched and then clenched around her swelling heart.
Finally, she was home.
Her fingers pressed to the smile on her lips as a whisper moth fluttered by her. The face on its wings shone in the starlight. Every beat of its flight shook secrets from the air that murmured like hushed fairy voices.
She held out her hand and the moth lit upon her palm, tickling her skin with its delicate feet before taking flight once more.
