Fine.I grasped his tunic with my fists and pulled him to me, and our lips met in a kiss that promised everything I couldn’t say. “Come back to me.”
The smirk that curled his lip almost looked genuine. Then he grabbed my hips and lifted me through the small opening. I scrambled through as the crack of splintering wood filled my ears. He slammed the window shut, leaving me on the ledge, and turned to deal with the entering guards.
I closed my eyes, willing myself not to stare into the room and see what dangers Hart faced. He could take on a handful of guards. I’d seen him do so before without magic.
My foot slipped, so I focused on my own predicament. Small was an understatement for this ledge. My heart beat rapidly, and my fear held me in place.
A soldier cried out from inside the apartment. Then another. Hart was doing fine. I needed to do the same.
With each step, I slid a little closer to the wall. Unfortunately, that also meant I got a better vantage point of what Hart expected me to do. Forest’s Edge bordered the city’s perimeter. I’d always thought the Oldwood seemed to overtake the high stone wall that circled the kingdom. In this case, that was in my favor. The jump itself was only a few feet, but the consequence if I failed…
My gaze drifted to the mele below. The alleyway was overrun with fleeing patrons and guards doing their best to stanch the flow. I wouldn’t die if I missed the jump, but my chances of escape would plummet. I pushed away the fear ofwhat Rodric would do if he caught me. If I made the jump, I could prevent those terrifying realities.
I could make it.
Before I hurled myself forward, a closer shout sounded, and more wood splintered. A body fell from the height of the second story. Though I couldn’t see the staircase from here, the scream wasn’t Hart’s. He must have thrown someone over the staircase entryway to his apartment.
That was a good enough distraction for me.
I pressed back against the building momentarily, then pitched myself toward the stone wall. My breath slammed from my lungs as I landed hard. I pushed myself to my hands and knees quickly. I didn’t see anyone patrolling the wall, but that didn’t mean someone wouldn’t arrive. As I fingered the ring in my pocket, I searched both directions for an opponent. My escape route appeared clear.
The tree Hart had mentioned was only a few feet farther south. A large branch nearly reached the stone. This second part was much easier. I scrambled onto the tree and slid down into the covering of the Oldwood.
There was a time when the Oldwood in the middle of the night would have been my greatest fear. I’d been scared to lose myself—or scared to find myself, as it turned out. Hart had seen me through it, as he had seen me through every challenge that being a Champion brought.
With a final glance over my shoulder, I whispered words to Hart that I knew he wouldn’t hear. I resolved to tell him soon.
The clash of swords and echo of screams pierced the silence of the forest. I couldn’t linger. Hart had fought guards for hundreds of years. He could fight a few more.
I bit the inside of my lip and forced myself to leave a piece of my heart behind and flee into theOldwood alone.
As I climbed the familiar path to the mountain pass, I knew I couldn’t stop at the Storm’s camp. With this unexpected break in our time in Kavios, I wanted to see Charon. Part of me knew he was the only one with the ability to calm me until Hart returned, and he’d be the friend I’d ask to blaze into Kavios if Hart didn’t.
I left word for Hart with Alysa, then I hiked farther into the Pinnacle Range.
“Is that you, Champion?”Charon’s voice reached my mind before his curled form was visible.
I approached the opening of the cavern where he had lodged himself. He lay curled like a cat, his tail wrapping around his legs and his wings tucked to his body.
“No Cursed?”He lifted his head to glance behind me.
“We’ve been through this, Charon. I am cursed, too.”
Charon huffed, and a wing snapped effortlessly, like a bird ruffling its feathers. “You know what I mean.”
“He’s still in Kavios. He should arrive soon.”
Charon tilted his head, and concern filled his large golden eyes. It made me realize tears streamed from mine. He lifted his wing and ushered me beneath it. “What happened?”
I wasn’t sure where to start. “A raid on Forest’s Edge.” It was the most tactical answer. The others—about my emotions, about my and Hart’s future—were much harder to verbalize.
“Themis,”Charon growled, and smoke flared from his nostrils.
I tended to agree. I just hoped Hart was right about his ability to ignore the goddess’s building influence. If it was her, she was doing her very best to ensure that nowhere was safe for us.
“I—”
Charon’s wing tucked me against his scales, and even though I couldn’t order my thoughts, even though it felt like the future I wanted was so far out of reach, he at least gave me a moment to breathe.
