He shoots me a sidelong glance. “Is that meant to be a compliment?”
“It’s a simple statement of fact.” Those lean muscles of his are quite strong.
Wynn’s eyes dart between us, and she chews her bottom lip as she considers.
I throw my arm around her shoulders, more determined than ever to bring her along. It’s not her fault that she was born without wings. She deserves to go through that portal as much as the rest of us. “Come on, Wynn. Don’t back out on me now. We’re so close.” And I know without a shadow of a doubt that if she doesn’t come, she’ll be kicking herself tomorrow.
“You’re right,” she says with a resolute nod before glancing back at Senan. “Besides, how many chances will I have to fly around with such a handsome Scathian?”
Senan nudges my shoulder with his. “See, Allette. That is how you give a man a compliment.”
Oh, please. The last thing Senan needs is more compliments. Every woman I know swoons after him. If anything, he needs to be taken down a peg or two.
Senan scoops a giggling Wynn right off her feet and carries her over to the pool’s ledge. “Race you down?” he throws over his shoulder, obviously forgetting the way I thrashed him the last time we raced.
“Only if you want to lose.” I step up next to him, nervousness and excitement buzzing in my chest. This is it. The moment I’ve been waiting for. “Five…four…three?—”
Senan leaps straight in. Wynn’s screams echo through the square until the silver liquid swallows the sound.
Bloody cheater! I dive after them, starlight closing around me like lukewarm bathwater. Only, the liquid isn’t wet. It feels as if my body has been greased in oil as I slip deeper and deeper, falling for what feels like forever until the light vanishes, replaced by frigid air and darkness.
My wings catch the updraft as I search the night. Senan’s bark of laughter echoes far below. I dart toward the sound, blinking rapidly against the icy wind stinging my face. Eventually, my feet meet a rug of frosted grass in the middle of a standing stone circle.
Although there are plenty of footprints, there is no sign of my prince or my friend. Glamouring my wings, pointed ears, and hair takes far more magic than usual, as if the simple spell I’ve been practicing since my wings grew has drained my well of power as bare as the trees creaking around me.
Senan and I will need to conserve our magic if we want to dispel our glamours and recall our wings. Without them, we won’t be able to get back to Kumulus before the portal closes. No one knows why the portal only opens at midnight on Samhain. Some say it’s when the veil between worlds is the thinnest. Either way, we only have until dawn to return. If we miss the window, we’ll be stuck down here for an entire year.
Senan leaps from behind a standing stone, sending me backing into another, squawking like a bloody crow.
“What’d I tell you about sneaking up on me, you gowl!” I ball up my fist and punch him in the shoulder. The night echoes with his laughter.
He doesn’t even have the decency to wince. He’d better watch his back. I’m going to make him pay for that.
Wynn peeks from behind one of the trees in the forest beyond. “Sorry. He made me swear to stay silent.”
“I don’t want to hear it, traitor.” I’ll get her too. Maybe give her salt for tea instead of sugar or leave a frog in her bed. Either way, she will pay for crossing me.
A thud sounds behind us. We turn in unison to find a tall man standing in the center of the circle, his shoulders as broad as the stones at his back. When I see the silver leathers hugging his muscular form, my blood runs colder than the air in this realm.
He isn’t just another Scathian but a member of the royal guards.
Senan curses.
The newcomer’s gray wings remain spread wide as his narrowed eyes lock onto the prince. “You,” he snarls, “are coming with me.”
Four
SENAN
Well,this is a fucking disaster, isn’t it?
So much for a clean getaway. Looks like Aeron and I need to have a little chat about the meaning of the word “decoy.” Sure, I asked him to distract the night guards via a note because I promised my girl I wouldn’t speak to anyone, but the fact that I’d meant for him to distractallthe guards should’ve been implied.
Now this one—who has been a pain in my ass ever since he was hired two weeks ago—is staring at my girl like he wants to eat her alive.
Get the hell back, lad. She is mine.
I tuck Allette behind me in case things get out of hand. And from the shade of red painting the guard’s face, I have a feeling we aren’t in for a laugh.