Whisper whimpered between us, looking pathetically terrified.
Harnessed in with a makeshift contraption meant for cargo—cargo the pilots definitely hadn’t been briefed about—he had no choice but to hunker down and hold on.
It’d taken Lucien a couple of angry commands followed by actually scooping up the giant beast to get him on the helicopter. The poor cat panted with pure panic, looking like he’d happily leap out and take his chances.
Whisper howled and pressed against me, trembling like a kitten.
Leaning forward as much as I could in my tight five-point safety belt, I pressed my hand on his trembling shoulder blades. “It’s okay, oversized kitty cat. We’re almost there...I think.”
Smoke curled faintly from Lucien’s shoulders as he flicked me a guarded look, hearing me through his own headset.
His usual attire of all black now included black boots instead of bare feet like he preferred in Cinderkeep. His blue-black hair was still damp from his shower, and he’d changed into one of the complimentary outfits onboard the plane.
They must’ve had our exact sizes because the black trousers fit his long legs far too well, the shirt tailored, and coat so similar to what he’d wear when hunting in the night.
He suited black.
Frankly, he looked delicious in black.
But...he didn’t do it for fashion. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he chose black because he expected blood and violence and preferred a colour that wouldn’t stain.
Smoothing down the matching white blouse and skirt ensemble I’d ‘borrowed’, I wished my blinding headache would go away.
Tearing my eyes off him, I continued to stroke the petrified panther and looked out the window instead. My mouth droppedopen as ribbons of fog wove around mountain ranges that swallowed us whole. Ancient trees and thick greenery strained toward the heavens, roped with vines and wildflowers.
No signs of habitation. No towns or cities or people.
The deeper into the wilderness we travelled, the more ancient it became.
Everywhere I looked, the landscape was untouched and dangerous andalive.
A flock of birds suddenly exploded from the trees below, disrupted by our noise.
“The Gaoligong Mountains welcome you home, Mr. Ashfall,” one of the pilots said through our connected headsets. “We’re getting close to the location you advised. Are you sure landing won’t be an issue?”
Lucien jerked as if he’d been deep in thought—most likely going over his kill list...hopefully not including me.
He nodded, flicking a look at the pilots. “There’s a spot right outside the wall.”
Wall?
Anotherwall?
I swallowed hard at the thought of trading Cinderkeep for another inescapable palace.
Lucien’s threat repeated over and over.
“Ashfall Cliff: where no one can find you and there’s no escape unless I give it to you.”
Had he meant to sound so scary when he’d said that?
And did I really need to let my nerves get the better of me and blurt words like ‘enemy’ and ‘my fault’? Had I learnednothingwhen it came to him? He wasn’t exactly normal when it came to protecting himself and his knee-jerk reaction was always murder.
For the hundredth time, I cursed myself.
You truly are an idiot, Rook.
If only I’d told him about Snowflake Corpbeforetaking everything out of context and making it seem like I was the mad scientist who’d personally created him.
