Page 11 of The Realm That Falls to Her

“A portal that Destan opened.” I hold up the chain. “This can lead us out, back to Faerie. Are you okay?”

“I’ll be better when we’re out of this place,” he says grimly.

A growl sounds from the gloom, and he grabs my hand.

“Stay close to me.”

I pull my sword from the beast’s back as we pass it, and we sprint back the way I came, following the chain past the gallery of ghostly places I’d seen on my way here.

Ruskin’s powerful legs easily outstrip me, and he glances back at me with a flicker of exasperation.

“You’re not carrying me,” I pant before he offers. “You need your hands free in case one of those things?—”

Like I’ve summoned it, a growl sounds closer behind us. Looking over my shoulder, I see something moving in the gloom, a swirl of shadows spilling before it. I choke back my fear, wondering if we can really take on another one of those things. What if there’s more than one? Dark eye sockets sway towards us from the shadows and I urge my legs onwards, pushing them until my muscles scream, gathering up the chain as we go. I know we’re close when we pass the stream, but the beast behind us sounds just feet away, hungry snarls chasing us, as something as hot as steam billows against our heels.

It’s breath, I realize, my skin prickling all over, desperate to get away from that heat.

“There!” I gasp. “The lake.”

I’ve never been so happy to see such a menacing stretch of water, the oily sheen of the surface beckoning to us as we dart towards it.

“You first,” Ruskin says, urging me forward. There’s no time to argue. I step into the lake, turning just in time to see something huge with a face like a skull charging out of the shadows. I’m still holding Ruskin’s hand and tug him forward, pulling him through with me.

The monster’s jaw unhinges, only to come slamming down empty—bone rattling against bone. It snaps at us, but we’re already leaving this world behind, the nothingness swallowing us up. The last thing I see of Interra is the beast’s empty eye sockets staring down at me.

The journey back is so much easier than the one there, because I can feel Ruskin’s presence beside me, his heartbeat and warmth. The bond between us is singing. All of it is proof that I’m with him, and that we will be together again in a realm of light and life soon enough.

We emerge on all fours out of the pool, the damp green grass of Unseelie looking more beautiful than I ever thought it could. I roll on to my back, sucking in lungfuls of air and admiring the cloudy sky.

I hear the suck and gurgle of the portal being closed behind us.

“Oh thank the stars,” Destan says, sounding exhausted himself. “I didn’t know if I could hold it much longer.”

Ruskin stands, offering me a hand, though his expression still looks odd—guarded. His eyes slide between Destan and me with uncertainty.

I can’t explain it, but a spear of fear lances through me.

“Good to see you all in one piece, Ruskin,” Destan says, stepping forward to clap him on the back.

But Ruskin jerks away, eyeing Destan with suspicion.

“Ruskin,” I say, approaching him more cautiously. “What’s wrong? Did something happen in there? I thought you said you were okay.”

Ruskin’s brow furrows as he examines me. I feel like I’m being looked at by a stranger.

“Ruskin,” he repeats, as if sounding the word out for the first time. “Why exactly do you keep calling me that?”

Chapter 4

It’s as if I’ve been plunged back into the icy waters of the portal, except this time they’re swallowing me up, blocking my airways.

“Because that’s your name.” My voice sounds unnaturally even from trying to hold back the panic.

“Is this a joke?” Destan says, though he doesn’t sound amused in the slightest.

Ruskin’s brow furrows. “It seems not. You claim to know me, but I don’t know you.”

Destan turns to me, his eyes showing the same alarm that’s flooding through me too. “It’s Interra—it has to be. It messed with his head. That, or Evanthe did something to him.”

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