Page 65 of The King of Frost and Shadows

“Don’t youdareget us both killed.” Lorne’s jaw clenched. “I don’t plan on dying today, not even while stuck with you. Do you understand?”

Two sickening thuds came from below just as I nodded. My stomach churned as I realized how close I’d come to dying …again.

“Ready?” He arched a brow.

I nodded. We were about four inches below the platform, and Dougal and Bran were crawling under the axes.

“Now!” he barked, and we stepped over in tandem.

When my foot hit the other platform, the weight on my shoulders lightened. Even though we hadn’t gotten far, I’d learned that Lorne was willing to work with me enough to survive. That counted for more than I’d expected.

Lorne had stepped forward with his hurt leg, leaving his healthy one to anchor him from behind. When his injured foot hit the second platform, the area around his eyes tightened in pain, and he dropped to his knee.

I moved to help him but stopped short. I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of his people and ruin the marginal goodwill brewing between us.

Though I doubted we’d survive with his mangled leg, especially given the third obstacle we’d have to get over, which would push his leg to the max, I wanted to take it one trial at a time and not get ahead of myself.

“Move, or we’ll trample you,” the white-haired man called from behind us. “We’re not going to wait here to die.”

Lorne moved in front of me, not bothering to get back up from where he’d fallen.

I understood why. He wanted to pretend he’d meant to drop since we needed to crawl anyway, and I wouldn’t bruise his pride.

He hunkered close to the ground and moved forward as an axe swung right above his back. As I dropped to my knees, I watched Moira and Rona hop to the next empty platform. From this vantage point, I noticed there were thirty axes we had to move under. Some swung lower than others. Great. I’d belly-crawl if that’s what it took to get through this thing. I could only hope it was enough for the super-low areas.

The chain yanked on me, and Lorne turned to glare and rasped, “Get moving, sunscorched.”

I dropped to my stomach, ready to move, but the next axe sliced into his shoulder as he faced forward again. He groaned, and guilt swirled through me. He’d gotten injured because I’d been too slow to follow. I couldn’t do that again, especially since we were hindered enough as it was.

I lay back down and moved my legs and arms forward. They were stiff from when I’d fought at the very beginning, but at least I wasn’t injured. As I moved through the dirt, the axeswhooshedover me. At times, I could feel the air against the back of my neck, causing fear to choke me, but I pushed it away and continued my trek forward.

I wasn’t sure how long we had left, but it felt like I’d been crawling forever when the platform underneath us began to creak like the last one had before it lowered.

My ears rang, and I inhaled, taking in a deep breath of dirt. This whole course was timed, which meant that, even though we had two hours, we didn’t have time to dawdle.

The dirt irritated my throat and lungs, and my entirebody convulsed into a coughing fit as I forced myself to move. I turned my head to the side to keep from getting more dirt in my face, and a sharp pain sliced across the tip of my ear.

I hissed, wanting to see what damage had been done, but I couldn’t risk moving and getting injured.

“Come on, wildling,” Lorne said coldly. “You’re at the end. You’re almost out.”

Those words were enough to get my panic under control and move out, but something grabbed my ankle and dragged me back.

I yelped, unable to swallow the noise, and tried to free my foot.

“I want it noted that I am the one who killed the Seelie princess,” the white-haired guy chuckled. “Make sure you scream loud and give them a good show.” He lifted my leg, making his intention known.

He wanted an axe to chop it off. The axe directly over me swung past, so I turned to my right. He had both hands on my right ankle, with his face looking up to watch me. Using the few seconds between axe swings, I kicked the dick in the nose, resulting in a sickening crunch.

He groaned, and his hold loosened on my ankle. I kicked both feet as hard as I could, and when he released me, I crawled forward as quickly as possible.

The sound of flesh tearing came from behind me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the metal poles marking the end, so I crawled until Lorne’s feet appeared beside me … nothing else. He had to be standing, so I pulled my legs underneath me and stood.

I spun around, wondering if the white-haired guy was right on me, but bile inched up my throat. The man’s head was cut up and bloody, and he lay limp on the ground. Hispartner was behind him, trying to shove him forward to get through.

The world shrank around me at the realization that I’d killed yet another person.

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