Page 11 of Crown of Chaos

“Come on.” I helped her stand, and then we started to retreat. We tripped, landing hard, and it took me several tries to get us up and moving again. All the while, I focused on getting us as far away from the stronghold as possible. “It’s not much farther. We need to run,” I stated firmly, fighting against the pain burning from where the arrow had been embedded in my abdomen.

The sound of men issuing orders drew me to look where I’d assumed the fort walls were, and I changed my and Esme’s trajectory so we were moving in the opposite direction. The unnatural night was more disorienting than it should have been, which told me the confusion was by design.

After a handful of labored steps, the voices sounded again, only this time they seemed to be coming from all around. I cocked my ear, listening and noting that they seemed farther away than they had a second ago. It was as if they were out here searching for us, expecting us to be encased in ice or pin cushioned by arrows.

I didn’t wait to see if our pursuers had spread out before moving us both toward the sound of rushing water, barely containing a cry of agony as I slammed into a tree. I placed a hand in front of me, searching for obstacles in my path, then my foot got hooked in a tangle of roots, and I pitched forward over a downed cedar, grunting when Esme fell on top of me. She groaned in displeasure, standing and yanking my arm until I followed her.

Neither of us made a noise as we barreled through the thick forest. We heard dogs snarling and barking, and it made us pause to locate their position. Anxiety ripped through me, and I choked back the urge to scream in pain as I pulled off my blood-covered dress and tossed it in the opposite direction of where the sound of the water was coming from.

“Can you open a portal?” Esme whispered through trembling lips.

“No, I’m tapped on magic. Hurry, take off your dress and throw it as far away from us as you can. Now, Esme,” I ordered in a hushed tone. It wouldn’t stop dogs from following our trail, but it would buy us precious moments to get deeper into the forest.

I wasn’t certain I held enough magic to even open a portal, and if I did, I knew Knox would be on my heels. I had no intention of slipping away from one monster and into the arms of another. I didn’t have time for that bag of shit today.

Our feet crunched loudly over the frozen vegetation, but neither Esme nor I slowed. My muscles ached, burning from exertion, and branches slapped against our cold flesh, causing gasps of pain to slip free from our throats. The dogs and men hunting us kept us moving onward, unwilling to be captured.

Esme’s top, and bottoms were both drenched in blood. Her thigh was also leaving behind a trail as we moved through the terrain. She limped, while I held my burning side. The issue was, we were weakening, and the injuries were much worse than either of us had realized.

“I’m losing too much blood,” Esme admitted softly, forcing me to pause as she slowed to a jog. “Go, Aria. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Fuck that,” I snapped frantically. “I have seen that shit on enough television shows to know better than to trust that you will actually follow me, asshole. Come on. We can make it,” I urged, grabbing Esme’s hand once more and forcing her to run with me.

“I can’t!” she cried out, and the men’s yelling echoed closer to us, alerted by her scream.

“I’m not leaving you,” I informed, accepting that we were about to be caught by the enemy. “If we go down, we do so together.”

“Just go! You have to leave. They’re coming.”

“I know they are,” I whispered, trying to gain control of my breathing so I could fight them when they reached us.

The shouting grew louder and closer, and fear curled within me because if they caught us, we would decorate the walls along with the other witches. Esme continued to softly argue against my stupidity while I was slowly succumbing to the cold was seizing my muscles and burning my lungs. Worse than that, though, was that it was a race to see what claimed my life first: the men and the dogs or the poison rushing through my system.

It took everything I had to stay upright, and when I pressed my hand against the wound, I sucked in a breath when my blood singed my palm with the familiar burn of hemlock. My legs finally gave out, and I fought to get back up, gasping as the air escaped my lungs with the agonizing pain on my side.

I saw a blur of motion before someone slammed into us, sending Esme and me back to the ground. The echo of weapons clanging against one another filled the night, and confusion slithered through me. A dog barked, snarling before a loud whine sounded inches in front of us.

Carefully, I wrapped myself around Esme, who hadn’t made a noise since we had been smashed backward. Blood dripped down my side, soaking into the earthen floor beneath me, and a fresh wave of copper-scented air hit me. I wasn’t sure if what I smelled was our blood or that of our pursuers, but with how much pain was rioting through my body, I didn’t care.

Hands grabbed me, pulling me off the ground, and I cried out. The woodsy aroma of male and spices surrounded me, replacing the obnoxious odors. I struggled against the arms holding me, fighting to get to Esme, but I was weakened beyond the point of doing anything other than being a slight burden.

“You’re safe,” a deep, soothing voice whispered as my eyelids closed and everything went silent. “Grab the other one and let’s leave here before the frost takes them both.”

Chapter Seven

I sat upright, groaning aspain shot through my side and memories of almost dying in the woods assaulted me. I lifted my hand to the spot where I’d been impaled by the arrow, and I whimpered when I found the wound covered in moss, mugwort, and other herbs.

Esme’s unmoving form was on a cot beside me. She was on her side, and the injury on her leg was covered in the same green goop concoction that was on mine. I shifted so my legs were over the edge of the bed and then had to grab my head to try to stop the world from spinning. Nausea pushed at the back of my throat, burning with the threat of expelling the contents of my stomach.

“I wouldn’t be up and moving so soon, mistress. You were shot with an arrow soaked in hemlock. You’re lucky the men carried you here to me. If they hadn’t, you’d be dead. As it is, it took me days to remove the poison from you. Someone wanted you to breathe no more,” a woman announced from beside me.

I turned toward the voice, and when my eyes landed on the speaker, my jaw dropped open. Silently and unnervingly, I studied the woman with horns protruding from the side of her skull, right above her ears. She had enormous eyes that looked as if they didn’t fit into her sockets, and her skin was mottled, as if it wasn’t all hers and had been patched together over time. Blinking sluggishly, I backed up until pain ripped through me. She lifted her hands, palms exposed as her soft brown gaze lowered to my abdomen.

“You will reopen the wound if you continue moving as you are. You are safe here. I am a healer, and I am only trying to help you,” she pointed out carefully, and as far as I could detect, her words carried truth. If what she claimed were true and I’d been out for days, then she’d had plenty of time to harm me. She clearly hadn’t and I didn’t see any weapons around her or the bed. Still, trusting strangers wasn’t exactly high on my list of smart things to do.

Nodding cautiously, I noted the windows were covered in makeshift curtains and random objects littered the floor, as if she’d scavenged for them. Glass containers of herbs and tonics sat on a table with other alchemy items and what appeared to be a chemist set were tucked away beneath it. Bottles were being filled as the blends being brewed dripped into them. The scent of lavender, chamomile, and sage was enticingly thick in the air, comforting me as a fire crackled in the stone fireplace.

“Who brought us here?” I asked softly.

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