I startled as I heard my name clearly spoken in my thoughts.
“Lexa, it’s Finn. Do you want to get out of here?”
I started to look toward him.
“Just think it, Lexa. You’re broadcasting you want out of here. We can make it happen. Give you some time to adjust.”
“Yes!”I thought desperately.
“Hold on tight to Griff.”
Before I could blink, Griff had his arms around my waist. Finn reached over and touched his shoulder at the same time.
“Don’t you dare, you—” cried Zachariah as we blurred out of the clearing.
This time, the teleporting was not nearly as difficult. We moved fluidly, instantly through the ether to land in the woods, a gorgeous light shining through, illuminating the autumn colors. Everything was shades of red, orange, and yellow. I only had a moment to appreciate it before the nausea hit and I stumbled forward to retch. The quiet in the forest was almost as jarring as the noise had been—silence after a storm.
“Interesting,” Finn said, looking around at our unfamiliar surroundings. “Where are we?”
“Does it matter?” Griff replied curtly. I could feel his attention on me as I fell heavily on my ass, leaves crunching beneath me, and drew my knees under my chin, arms wrapped around them. I breathed in and out through the nausea, my whole body shaking.
What the hell had just happened?
A hand came to my upper back, rubbing circles, and a cooling sensation radiated through me.
“You know,” Finn was saying, “you normally give some sort of warning before you hurl us into the unknown.”
“It was your idea,” Griff pointed out, his gentle motions never ceasing.
“I was suggesting getting her out of there, not necessarily casting ourselves into the first place you could think of, nice as these trees are. We’re in the forest of Valerion, right?” Leaves crunched as Finn investigated. He didn’t wait for Griff to answer before continuing. “Not one of your brighter ideas, Griff. She looks like she’s about to vomit again. Could have given her some time to prepare.”
“You felt her panic. And Zachariah was being an ass.”
Finn snorted. “You sound surprised. He’s been an ass ever since we were kids. That’s never caused you to fling us into the unknown before, no matter how much you enjoy getting away from Valdris. What changed?”
“Maybe I’m a bad influence on you?” I croaked out, my voicemuffled by my knees.
Finn laughed. “I like her already. But seriously, Griff, since when do you care?”
“Since now, apparently,” Griff replied with wry surprise. “We’re going to need wards. They’re not going to be pleased we absconded with the lost princess.”
“Who is this ‘we,’ brother? We may be twins but I’m not a teleporter. I just came along for the ride. But fair point. It’ll be stronger if she does it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Can’t you feel that power?” I could hear the wonder in Finn’s voice.
I felt like I should be offended by them talking about me like I wasn’t there, but I was still focusing on breathing in and out, the evening air chillier than I was used to this time of year. It was better than focusing on the rolling of my stomach. But regardless of where we were, at least I could breathe out here in nature, away from the populated capital.
Finn approached me delicately. “Can you ward us, Lexa?”
I looked up hesitantly, the nausea starting to abate. “Ward…?”
I was only just now debating the wisdom of letting two strange men take me off into the middle of the woods, with no signs of any civilization around me. Cormac would be so pissed right now. I could practically hear his growls, echoing the thoughts tunneling through my head.Great decision-making here. You leave the protective confines of Fairhaven for the first time and what do you do? Go off into the unknown with strangers. Really smart.My head screamed at me about the stupidity of this, especially since one was clearly a warrior who could snap me in half with a look, and the other looked like a scholar but moved with an innate grace that implied he wasn’t as harmless as he appeared.
Sure, let’s go off into the wilderness with two men I met a minute ago. What could possibly go wrong?
The truly maddening part was that, from deep inside, I kept hearing I could trust them implicitly—which was either myinstincts, which I had always prided myself on being correct, or I was losing my damn mind. But Nana had trusted Griff. And she didn’t trust easily, so he was either incredibly persuasive—something I doubted given his lack of communication skills—or she knew something I didn’t. Given how this day had gone so far, I was betting the latter.
