Fuck. They’re coming right for me.
She pressed her back to the stalk, trying to avoid being spotted. Unfortunately, she was now trapped between the giant caterpillar and the approaching oneiroi. Adrenaline burned through her veins.
Frantically, she looked around. A smaller mushroom stood a dozen yards away—further than she’d ever shadow run.
She couldn’t see the cap, but she needed to find a way to get there before the sodding caterpillar ripped its fangs into her head.
Swallowing hard, she envisioned the top of the mushroom cap. Shadow magic rushed through her bones, carrying her through the air. An instant later, she smacked into the top of mushroom. Even with the relatively forgiving softness of the mushroom’s surface, the landing took the wind out of her.
She dug her fingers into its flesh with her nails.
Still, from here, the oneiroi—or Bael—would be able to spot her if they looked up. She needed to get to the canopy’s next level.
She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the mushroom caps that towered over her. In the next instant, her body whispered through the air, and the shadows slammed her onto another mushroom top. She dug in her fingers, anchoring herself to the mushroom.
Below her, she could hear the oneiroi mutter to himself, “I could have told him it was just a caterpillar.”
Clinging to the mushroom, Ursula lay perfectly still, listening to footsteps moving closer to her. A cold sweat beaded on her skin. She inched forward, spying the tops of the men’s heads. The Gray Ghost walked by Bael’s side, his hands cuffed behind his back.
She waited until the footsteps faded before dropping down the lower mushroom, then sliding off to the damp ground.
Her jaw ached from where she’d smacked into the mushroom’s flesh, but the caterpillar at least appeared to have retreated. As quietly as she could, she followed the path back to Bael’s manor. The last of his oneiroi disappear into his storage space.
What were her options? She could wait, then try to sneak back when they’d all climbed up the ladder.
But in all likelihood, they’d be mulling around his cavern, blocking her exit. In fact, they could be mulling around the old storage space. The Gray Ghost’s hands were secured behind his back—he was unlikely to climb anywhere.
Right now, the oneiroi were probably guarding him by the old furniture and compasses.
A lump rose in her throat. In the brilliant/moron stakes, the needle is swinging wildly toward fuckwit.
She’d just have to find another way out—one that didn’t involve revealing herself to Bael. She turned, walking in the opposite direction from the way she’d come. The forest had succumbed to an eerie silence, and a chill spread through the air. She hugged herself.
As she drew closer to the clearing where Bael’s coven had conducted the spell, the soil crunched below her feet—frozen solid from the stunning blast of Bael’s shadow magic. She had no idea how Bael and the oneiroi had remained standing for that, when the blast had nearly ripped her skin off.
She peered into the clearing. Where the coven had stood, nothing covered the soil but a layer of ice.
She turned back to the bath, walking on, her teeth chattering. Honestly, she had no idea if this direction led to a way out, but it was worth a shot.
The air grew warmer as she moved away from the clearing, following the path deeper into the mushroom forest.
Along the path’s edges, the mushroom stalks clustered. The path twisted and wound like a serpent between them. Up ahead, she caught a glimpse of a slithering movement, and goosebumps rose on her skin. She drew Cera’s blade from her belt.
In this part of the forest, the mushrooms towered as high as sequoias, and just above their enormous caps, she could hear the echoing shouts of the bats.
Her skin grew cold as she took in the landscape. Here, among the larger mushrooms, the caterpillars were everywhere. A giant insect slithered over every stalk, crunching through fungal flesh.
A scream pierced the silence, and she whirled to find two caterpillars fighting over the carcass of a third.
Her skin crawled, and her fingers tightened around the blade. Isn’t that charming?
Her throat went dry, and she hurried further along the path. But instead of continuing on through the forest, the path ended abruptly with the edge of a cliff.
She gasped. Spread out below her, a second mushroom forest extended into the distance. Hundreds of feet below, mushroom gaps glowed—sea-green, periwinkle, and cornflower blue. Stunningly beautiful, like the surface of a luminescent sea.
A grunting noise behind her made her turn her head. Two caterpillars crawled toward her, saliva dripping from their mandibles.