1
Leap
“How could you lose the girl, Slaugh?”
Leap winced as the woman shrieked pierced his ear—he tugged on the thread of wind a little, moving it away from his ear so her rage wouldn’t deafen him. Perched on one of the castle towers, he had a perfect view of the courtyard below, and more importantly, the quarrel taking place.
It had only been a few hours since he, Einar, and Mavlyn had stormed Castle Kaipei to rescue Adara. Leap hadn’t witnessed what had taken place inside the castle—he’d been too busy distracting the guards outside, dropping bombs on the battlements and hurling lightning bolts at the soldiers while Mavlyn and Einar had flown in through an open window. He’d taken shelter in a nearby cave and waited for a sign from his friends—Einar was supposed to send up a smoke signal from the nearby forest—but he’d yet to see anything, so he’d snuck back to the castle, intending to find out what had happened.
“I apologize, my lady,” Slaugh said in a low voice Leap would have been unable to hear if not for his ability to eavesdrop with the wind. The general’s posture was subservient—head bowed, shoulders rounded, looking for all the world like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs. You would have thought he was cowering before some mighty beast, ready to rip his jugular out with her fangs.
Instead, he stood before a willowy female Leap had never seen before. Leap narrowed his eyes as he studied her. She was tall, with glossy, dark green hair and coppery skin. And though she wasn’t Slaugh’s height, she carried herself as if she was—chin raised, chest out, shoulders back, a proud tilt to her head that proclaimed her better than everyone and everything else, that the only commonality they shared was that they both walked the same earth, and breathed the same air.
He knew the type very well, and he loathed them. But it wasn’t any of these things that scared him. It was her eyes that gave him the heebie-jeebies—they were pure black, like the surface of a frozen lake at midnight, with not even a hint of white at the edges. Impenetrable, unfathomable, unknowable.
And undoubtedly full of dark magic.
“Your apologies are worthless,” the female snapped, folding her arms over her chest. Twilight crept into the sky behind her, suffusing the deep, velvet blue with pearly hints of dawn. Leap knew he couldn’t stay for long—they would spot him for sure once the sun rose—but he needed to know what happened, where his friends were.
“Adara was at her weakest, her magic depleted. It should have been child’s play for you to lock her up in the dungeons, or even kill her. I handed both her and the dragon to you on a silver platter!”
“I wasn’t expecting the hostages to put up as much of a fight as they did,” Slaugh growled. “They proved to be a formidable force, as you saw. It took all of us to contain them, and that’s only because you told us we couldn’t kill them.”
“Yes, and you nearly bungled that, too.” The mystery fae rolled her eyes. “Are you certain you’ve searched the entire castle? How did they escape without being seen, anyway? I thought I told you to make sure all the exits and entrances were covered.”
“I did,” Slaugh insisted, bunching his hands together at his sides. “But that air fae boy was creating havoc out there, using his lightning strikes to blow up the parapets, and air currents to blind and confuse the guards. He maimed and killed many of them before he fled—it would have been all too easy for Adara and her friends to sneak past. Also, I don’t mean to be impudent, my lady, but you were there. Why didn’t you use your shadow magic to bind Adara and her friends?”
“Because, you imbecile, shadow magic has no effect on Adara!” the fae spat. “Not yours, not mine, not anyone’s! Besides,” she added, her lips thinning with displeasure, “this earth fae bitch’s body is proving to be more troublesome than I anticipated. Gelsyne isn’t nearly as strong as King Aolis was, but she is putting up a fight, and I only just took possession of her body. It will take some days before I’m fully able to control her and use my abilities without her interference.”
Leap nearly fell off the roof. He gripped the spire hard as his head spun, trying to make sense of these revelations. The female down there was Gelsyne, Adara’s mother? And she was being possessed? And what was this about King Aolis being stronger than her? Was he still alive?
He has to be dead, Leap told himself. Why else would Slaugh be taking orders from this fae? And who was she, anyway?
“I see.” Slaugh raked a hand through his sparse red locks, briefly exposing the grotesque burns bubbling along his scalp. He gave a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping a little. “It’s possible they took one of the two secret escape routes in the castle.”
“And you’re just mentioning this now?” The mystery fae looked like she was two seconds from stringing the general up from the parapets by his balls. “What are these secret entrances, and where do they lead?”
“One leads to into a cavern in the Wistful Woods, just inside Lochanlee. The other leads to the base of the Gaoth Aire.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Send your men to check them both!”
Slaugh sketched a curt bow, then whirled on his heel and stalked out of the courtyard, his cape flapping behind him. The bossy fae pinched the bridge of her nose as she watched him go, irritation souring her features. As the sky lightened further, Leap noticed the shadows around her writhing, as if mirroring her emotions.
She sighed a little, sitting down on a stone bench. Reaching out with a slender hand, she traced the edge of a blossom from one of the flowering vines crawling along the wall behind her. The flower blackened instantly, and Leap watched in horror as the rot crawled up the entire wall.
“Soon,” she crooned to the shadows as they wrapped their tendrils around her limbs. “Soon.”
“Cirra,” Leap whispered under his breath, calling for his cloud familiar. Squalls, he needed to get out of here before he got caught in whateverthat thing’sclutches were. Turning away, he rolled down the slope of the roof and straight off the edge, free falling for just a few seconds before landing on top of her fluffy, golden form.
Where should he go first? Toward Lochanlee? Or back to Wynth?
Cirra hummed beneath him, sensing his distress. Leap closed his eyes for a moment, letting her vibrations soothe him and clear his head. Cirra might not be able to speak to him using words, but she always knew exactly what he was feeling, and had her own way of offering comfort or advice when he needed it.
“You’re right,” he murmured. “We should try Lochanlee first.”
Cirra needed no further encouragement. She zipped away from Kaipei Castle, heading south to the water fae lands. If Leap was wrong, he would never make it to Adara and the others before Slaugh’s men did, but his gut told him Adara would head toward Lochanlee. She was, after all, a water fae, and besides, they’d made too many enemies in Wynth with their recent stunts for her to want to return there.
As Cirra carried him above the cloud cover and away from prying eyes, Leap replayed the conversation between Slaugh and the mystery fae. Adara and Einar, at least, appeared to have gotten away. But what about Mavlyn? And what exactly had happened to King Aolis? The female had said Adara had been at her weakest, her magic depleted… did that mean she’d used all her power fighting Aolis?