Brokk locked eyes with her, screaming words that she didn’t register. All she saw was his golden eyes burning like molten: the grief, the rage, and determination. The world bled away, and it was only them. She saw in him everything that fiercely coursed through her.
It was the briefest of seconds before he ripped his gaze away, and everything crashed around them. She swayed when he shifted, fear immobilizing Emory as she watched Brokk charge the army. Her screams were lost in the chaos as she lost sight of him. She couldn’t lose everyone she loved.
The chains snapped back, and the creature rumbled, “You are coming with me, little heir.”
Swiveling around, she slammed her boot down on the creature’s leg, her calf screaming as the wound tore open even more. She threw her body weight backward, pulling toward Brokk. He was lightning streaking across a stormy sky, and she cried as he was closed in, his fur covered in blood. She became feral when he stumbled. The binds that held her to her humanity untethered when he fell.
“NO!!” She was spinning into that eternal blackness that clutched the edges of her world, dragging her down. There was a crack like thunder, and she snapped her head up, honing into the completely obliterated doorframe of her home. Adair stood there, looking out at the courtyard with a bored indifference.
And the world exploded into flame.
Being wrenched back, she clawed at empty space as she watched her best friend turn into someone she didn’t recognize. She looked to the creature as he forced her to stumble after him.
“We have to go back!” she cried. “I don’t care if you kill me, at least let me save my friends. Please.”
It stopped for a moment, flashing her its grotesque teeth. “You really don’t know? Your friend back there, he’s the reason your parents are dead and is the reason that the darkness that once held the world will rise again.” She balked, and he laughed, tugging her harshly. “As I said, that is our cue to leave.”
They plunged down the rolling hill, and she swallowed hard against the bile clawing its way it up her throat.
No, no, no.
The forest loomed before them, looking like a city carved from ice, and as they ran into its cover, all she could smell was smoke and ash.
***
Blinking away the memory, Emory sucked in a deep breath, and took in the forest around them. Shivering against her shock and the bitter cold, her fingers turning blue, her mind desperately tried to plan.
With chattering teeth, she asked, “Where are you t-taking me?”
“Back to my lair.”
“What are you?”
It snapped at her. “An ancient creature that has been long forgotten. I have been trapped in between time, waiting for this day to come. Usually, I take a blood price to feed my magic. I’m sure you know little Fae, that our power is always a give and take.”
Her mind raced as she pieced it together, the only creature she knew from myth that took a blood price: A seer and exchanger of truths.
“Gortach,” she whispered.
“Clever girl.”
Emory was sure early hypothermia had set in, her limbs becoming more sluggish with every second and her mind diving into the betrayal.
Adair killed your parents. He killed your parents.
Licking her cracked lips, downy flakes of snow shook off the trees, drifting lazily on them. One landed on her nose, melting; the icy droplets turned pink from the dried blood, and tears slipped down her face.
Why didn’t she try harder to reach through to him? To make him explain what was going on. Each day, he had become more withdrawn; each day, he had pulled further and further away. All along, he was the nightmare. The threat. She steeled her heart at the truth. If Gortach didn’t kill her, Adair would.
The snow crunched underneath their feet, and they wove through the trees, deeper and deeper into the heart of the woods. Hours must have passed, and they were lost to what was happening. It was an amazing effect, how entering the forest was like entering another world, everything peaceful and quiet when outside its confines the world was being ripped apart.
Stumbling, she landed on her knees, throwing up in the same moment. Tears stung her eyes from the force, the foul acidity filling her senses.
“Get up!” Gortach scowled, but she couldn’t move.
The iciness of the snow held her, and she bowed her head. Tremors raked her body; she was frozen.
“Pathetic human, move!” He pulled as she fell face first in the snow, ice shards tearing her skin.
That’s when she felt it. The sharpness in the air, the churning of energy. Gravity left her, and in a flash, she was being held up against Gortach’s chest, his inky talon pressing against her throat, poised to end her.
Vomit and blood covered her, and she swallowed, her gaze roaming the empty woods. The wind picked up, blowing more snow off the branches as Gortach rumbled, “If you want her to live, reveal yourselves!”
It was a split second before Memphis stepped out from the dying light, his blonde hair matted and stained as he hollered, “NOW!”
The snow around them shifted state, turning into water. The wind became savage, and the trees bowed as the water rose and rose, gathering into a roaring wave. Emory saw two figures behind the water, their green hair shining. The wave crashed down, and they both succumbed, drowning on land.
The water crashed against Emory, knocking the wind out of her chest. She was dragged down with Gortach, the chains binding her, the metal collar cutting off her oxygen. She felt his talons rip through her clothes, clawing at her back. Frantically kicking her legs, she tried to swim up,
