Page 119 of Until the Stars Fall

“How much farther once we’re on the road?” I asked, dreaming of a hot bath and Mrs. Bishop’s lamb stew.

Connor looked up to where the branches offered us occasional peeks of the sun and said, “It’s late morning now? I’d say, a little over half the day left.”

A smile crept across my lips, but then I remembered Matthias and our other guards. “Think we’ll meet up with Matthias?”

Connor shrugged. “Doubtful. My guess is it will take them a while to study the attack and lay the dead to rest. He’ll probably arrive home after we do.”

At the edge of the road, Evan dismounted so he could peer around the trees, turning one way and then the other. When he returned to his horse, he nodded quickly to Connor, who signaled for him to proceed. As I urged Honey from the soft grass of the hunting path and onto the hard-packed dirt of the road, my stomach clenched with unease.

It was likely nothing—just my imagination running amok after thinking about Matthias and the scene we had bypassed. I looked over at Connor, who offered me a thin smile. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, willing myself to relax.

I opened my eyes in time to see Evan slap his neck as if a bee had stung him. When he pulled his hand away, he held what looked like a small needle. Slowly he turned back to us, his questioning eyes suddenly widening into shocked horror. I’d seen that look before—the terrified gaze of someone who knew they were dying—on Griffin’s face right after I’d cut him.

“No!” I screamed, reaching forward as I kicked Honey to get me closer to him, even though I knew it was too late. Evan’s eyes rolled back, and his head lolled to one side. His body fell to the ground with a dull thud just as an arrow flew from the trees, piercing his horse’s chest.

Connor and Willem rushed to my side, swords drawn, circling around in search of the attackers, but I knew it was no use. Whoever was out there was using the same poison that had been on my knives, a poison that killed fae and killed them quickly.

“We can’t stay here, Connor,” I said. “We need to run!”

To my surprise, he nodded.

But he didn’t move.

He leaped from his horse, calling Willem over. My heart pounded against my sternum like a war drum counting down the moments until the rebels’ next attack as I watched Connor lift the dead fae up to the other guard.

“Get him home,” Connor commanded, already remounting Rosie.

Willem took off, kicking his mount to move faster, and we followed close behind.

The air was ripped from my chest, though, when I watched an arrow punch through Willem’s head just as another struck his horse in the neck. Their bodies crumpled before us, and I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

Rosie and Honey started to back up instinctively, but Connor corrected his horse, screaming at me, “Go! Keep going!” Honey and I raced off, her hooves thundering against the ground as loudly as the blood pumping in my ears.

Harder and harder, I pushed her onward, desperate to get away before the rebels could get us too.

My heart leaped into my throat.

Something was wrong.

Connor wasn’t beside me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I still didn’t see him anywhere near me.

No no no no.

When I wheeled Honey around, I saw him. So far behind me. On the ground.

No no no no. This can’t be happening.

Leaning over Honey’s neck, I begged her to go faster. She skidded to a stop when we reached him, and I slid down from the saddle. Rosie had fallen, an arrow in her belly. Her breathing was uneven as she struggled on the ground. Connor lay beside her, eyes closed, one leg trapped underneath her. I rushed to him, reaching out my shaking fingers to his neck to find a pulse.

It was faint, but it was there. He wasn’t dead. Why wasn’t he dead?

I searched for any sign of the same dart that had killed Evan but found nothing. Connor’s neck was fine. No puncture wounds. No cuts.

Quickly I hovered my hands over his body, hunting for what had hit him.

There, in his back! I pulled his shoulder toward me to see a slender needle drooping toward the ground, barely hanging onto the fibers of his shirt. Had it not gotten enough poison into him? Is that why he was still alive?

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