She bit her lip and tried to think. Couldn’t go back. Shouldn’t go to either side. Urien would spread his men out as they pursued her. Damn. Nothing to do but go forward. Maybe she could get to the other side before she was seen.
She bounded down the incline, hit the bottom and sprinted with everything she had.
Pia, Dragos said.
She stepped into some kind of animal hole and went down. Pain lanced up her leg. She clutched it and rocked. Dragos! Damn it.
She thought she heard him say, Thank you, gods. Then he demanded more loudly, Where are you?
Well, I don’t know that, do I? she snapped. I got drugged again and carted off to one of Urien’s vacation homes. Then I escaped, and now he’s chasing me, and I just stepped into some damn gopher or rabbit hole. Damn, DAMN, damnedy damn it—
Did you break anything?
I don’t know. She bit her lip and with a gigantic effort flexed her ankle. The pain was a railroad spike shooting up her leg.
Can you run?
I don’t know! She pushed to her feet and tried to put her weight on the ankle.
Describe where you are, he demanded.
She pushed her hair out of her eyes, looked around and told him what she saw. The ankle protested but bore her weight. Barely. She lurched into a limping run, but her former speed was gone.
Hey, big guy, she said, gritting her teeth against the pain. I can’t tell you how glad I am that you came or how good it is to hear your voice.
How glad you are that I came, he said in a flat voice. What the hell does that mean?
What do you think it means! she snapped. Forget it. I can’t talk right now. This is too hard.
She tried to push harder, to eke out a little more speed, but there wasn’t any more to be had. Jagged splinters of pain shot up her leg with every step. If she were a horse, she would have herself put down.
She wasn’t going to make it.
She put her hands on her hips, caught her breath and walked. The rain felt good, nice and cool on her overwarm body. She was about halfway across the meadow when a sense of malevolence made her turn around. She looked back to the tree line from which she had just come.
Urien and his men, mounted on horses, stood staring down at her.
She had passed the in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound road sign a long time ago. Hell, she was cruising the neighborhood streets of tonnage by now. Limping backward, she raised her middle finger to the Fae King.
Their horses plunged down the incline. With a casualness that spoke of contempt, he and his men trotted toward her.
She pulled the crossbow from her back. As soon as they were in range for her, she would be in range for them. She must stand out against the twilight like a lighthouse. She tore off her white T-shirt and tossed it aside, then turned her body to present less of a target.
I’m so sorry, peanut.
She located Urien in the crossbow telescope. The bastard had started a nasty smile. He kicked to a canter. She shot just as a blow slammed into her.
It knocked her down.
She lay sprawled on her back and blinked up at the rain that felt so good, so maybe she was the only one on the ground who saw the dragon plummet, screaming, out of the sky.
Forelegs extended, talons spread, wicked teeth bared, Dragos snatched Urien from the back of his horse. He pumped his wings to rise in the air above the trees; then he threw back his head and roared as he ripped the Fae King apart.
“There’s my bad boy,” she whispered. God, he was breathtaking.
A strange melee played out in the meadow. It was like something out of a nightmare. Gryphons attacked Fae while horses screamed and plunged in terror. She thought she saw a winged, demonic-looking creature rip out the throat of a Fae. There was a huge dark bird that caused thunder with the beat of its massive wings. Lightning flashed out of its eyes, but maybe by that point she was beginning to hallucinate.
Graydon bent over her. “Oh fuck, no,” he whispered. He grabbed for her crumbled shirt and pressed it around the crossbow bolt sticking from her chest. “Hold on, honey.”
She touched his hand. “I’m okay,” she tried to tell him. “Everything’s going to be all right now.”
She didn’t think she managed to get the words out because he wiped his cheek on his shoulder and shouted, “Dragos!”
Then Dragos fell to his knees beside her, and her world turned right again. His face was ashen, his eyes stark. He added pressure to the wound at her chest and laid a hand against her cheek.
“Pia.” He spoke like the words were ripped out of him. “Don’t you dare leave me. I swear to God, I will follow you into hell if I have to and drag you back by the hair.”
One corner of her mouth lifted. She put her hand over his on her cheek. She said, “You say the most god-awful things.”
She was tired so she rested her eyes for a minute.