Frazer used the pause in pace to ask, “How are you tracking them so easily? Their movements are barely traceable.”
He wasn’t wrong. There’d been no trampled grass underfoot or signs of a struggle. I’d assumed the famous fae senses were being used to track them—obviously not.
Goldwyn uncoiled to look him in the eye. “I got a general location from Mikael when I tortured him to death.” A cold-blooded response.
Liora and I shared the same expression: shock.
Frazer’s expression darkened. “Was that necessary?”
“He tried to stab me in the back. Just like he did with Cecile,” she answered, her voice raw and bleeding.
“He killed her?” Adrianna asked harshly.
“I missed your trial this morning due to my seclusion.” Goldwyn blanched—she didn’t need to add that it’d been because she was in mourning. “That bastard turned up at my door just before everything went to shit. Spun me some crap about how a messenger arrived and lured them from the stands. I knew it was a filthy lie the minute he said he’d escaped from Dimitri but Wilder hadn’t been able to,” she said, her face twisting in loathing.
None of us knew what to say. Mikael had always been quiet, foreboding even. It was still hard to imagine him murdering Cecile.
Goldwyn whirled back to scope the tree labyrinth ahead. Stalking forward, she brushed her fingers over a broken branch and waved us onward. “We keep going this way.”
There was no time for a discussion. The only hesitation came from Frazer when he frowned a second too long at the ground. What’s up? I projected silently, jogging to keep up with the group.
His shoulder brushed mine as he ran alongside. This feels too easy. Dimitri might be arrogant as all hell, but he’s not stupid. The trail’s thin, but traceable. And there’s no sign of a struggle which makes me think Wilder’s unconscious. So, then why isn’t Dimitri flying on ahead to the meet point? Why stay on the ground where he can be followed?
Sidelong, I met his troubled gaze. You think this is a trap?
Dimitri knows you’ve got trackers in your pack. Maybe he’s hoping you’ll follow and attempt a rescue.
Fear lashed at my insides. Should we warn the others?
He was silent for a time. My anxiety ticked up in the pause. I tried distracting myself by navigating the loose earth and dense tree cloud.
Finally, Signal Liora. Just be discreet.
Meaning? I said down the bond.
Meaning if this is a trap, we might be being watched. Spiders can move undetected, even by fae. We don’t want them thinking we’re suspicious.
We could just stop and explain to them—get Cai to use his magic?
After what happened at the arena? I think he needs to save himself for whatever we find waiting for us.
Of course …
I dropped back a bit to flank Liora and meet her curious expression. I motioned to my kaskan and nodded to her sword. Trying to signal with my face and body, Be ready.
Those discerning eyes lit with understanding. She moved off to pass on the message to her brother.
Our race through the forest must’ve continued for almost an hour. A couple of months ago, the pace would’ve killed me. Now, I dug deep and kept going, even if the brutal pounding on my knees turned my thoughts to mush. I welcomed it—it stopped the mental tailspin that beckoned.
One among our pack was suffering far worse: Adrianna. She didn’t complain, but her skin had sickened to a deathly gray, and her gait had become more of a hurried shuffle.
Goldwyn eventually slowed and rounded on us, whispering, “Their scent’s grown fresh. Now, we’ll need to move quickly if we’re to catch him. Because at the first sign of trouble, Dimitri’ll take to the skies, and right now I’m the only person that could give chase.” Her amber eyes darted to Adrianna’s haggard appearance.
A memory shook loose and laid itself bare before me. I murmured, “I’m carrying a concealment charm. We might not be detectable.”
Goldwyn’s brows shot up. “Have you charged it recently?”
What in the burning courts did that mean?
My confusion must’ve shown because she went on. “If you don’t know, we can’t rely on it to work. Charms like that need to be charged every month at the full moon. But just because we can’t trust the charm to work, doesn’t mean we can’t use magic.” She glanced over to Cai expectantly. “Can you cast the spell that stops others overhearing us?”
A pulse in his neck throbbed, but a second later a familiar tingle brushed the air. “I’ll try to contain our scents too.”
Goldwyn smiled tightly. “Good. Then, we go in hard and fast. Any objections?”
We stayed quiet. Although I felt Frazer’s doubts in the kin bond. His face, however, was as stone. Cold and impassive.
Goldwyn was generous and gave us another breath to protest. No one did, so she turned to Adrianna. “You’ll have to stay behind.”
Her bright blue eyes became savage. “Absolutely not,” she said somewhere between a hiss and a gasp. “My wing’s almost healed. It’s just the blood loss.”
“Which has slowed your reflexes,” Goldwyn finished, toneless. “Are you going to risk your life—your friend’s lives—because of your pride?”
Beneath Adrianna’s cold rage, a glimmer of pain shone through. I almost cracked and insisted she come along.
Just when I thought she was preparing an epic argument, Adrianna’s closed fists slackened, and she looked away, muttering, “Fine.”
Nothing was fine, that much was clear. Goldwyn still nodded. Not in approval. But bleak understanding. “As for the rest of you, your priority should be to get Wilder out. I’ll deal with Dimitri.”
She didn’t wait for our agreement before prowling forth on silent feet. Each of us gave Adrianna a commiserating look or touch before going. I followed last, rolling my shoulders, trying to loosen the tightness caused by the rucksack, quiver strap, and kaskan. Once we’d traversed a fair distance, I looked back to check on Adrianna, but she’d already dropped out of sight. My thoughts blackened. What were we getting ourselves into?
Chapter 32
Unmasked
Goldwyn slowed after a few minutes. She’d led us to the base of a leaf-strewn hillock. Up ahead, a small gap in the trees appeared, and the whisper of a woodland stream sounded nearby.
We climbed, inching forward. All of us with hands on weapons, prepared to draw at the slightest provocation, but not daring to speak, despite the spell. That was until Goldwyn crested the slope and halted, transfixed. “There.” She nodded ahead.
I almost rammed into her in my eagerness to see.
My heart twanged.
Across the glade, Wilder sat with his eyes closed, obviously unconscious. He was bound to a tree. That caramel hair had come loose from the knot he usually kept it in, and he had an ugly cut on his lip. Other than that, he looked to be in one piece.
My stomach did cartwheels. Dimitri was nowhere to be seen.
Goldwyn broke our stalemate, rushing headlong into the glade while tearing her sword free. Our pack gave chase, but before the ring of trees could thin, Frazer caught my arm, yanking me back. “Stop!”
Cai and Liora staggered to a halt, looking back as if Frazer had lost his mind. Goldwyn had reached Wilder and was trying to hack the knots apart. Through whitened nostrils and darting eyes, Frazer hissed, “There’s something wrong with this place. Cai—is it magic?”
Cai’s brow crinkled, and he twisted back to the glade. He stilled for a moment, head cocked as if listening.
Then he recoiled, and his face collapsed in horror. “It’s the opposite. My spell’s fraying. We have to get out of here.”
Cai hauled Liora away.
Frazer went to pick me up.
A whistle blasted through the air.
Tysion dropped out of the sky.