Page 71 of The King of Frost and Shadows

Looking over his shoulder, Lorne released one of his arms from around my neck and reached for the monkey bars. Tears fell from my eyes and down my face, hitting the cracks from the fire. Every single part of my body throbbed or burned.

His hand missed the bar by a few inches. My body screamed in protest.

I’d clearly pissed off fate or something else out there that was determined for me to die in this trial, but I’d gone through too much to give up.

Not caring how weak I sounded, I screamed, letting out the torment I’d been in while giving myself one last little bit of strength. I managed to fly up one more inch, but no more.

“Got it!” Lorne shouted with relief, and his legs tightened around me. He then said, “Now it’s your turn to hold on because my leg isn’t healed all the way.” He released his other arm, and as soon as he held his own weight, my wings gave out and flopped limply behind me.

Even though I didn’t remember having wings, I didn’t have to be a brain surgeon to know that having them hanging flat like that wasn’t a good sign. My back had a deep ache from the strain I’d put on my body.

Lorne didn’t move as he adjusted to carrying our weight, and when I glanced up, I saw the strain on his face. I needed to get up on the monkey bars too, though my arms felt like mashed potatoes.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out and took the bar in front of him.

“I can carry you across,” he insisted behind me.

I untangled my body from his, and the hair on the nape of my neck rose like a warning. If he helped me, he would believe I owed him, and I didn’t want to get in the same situation as Tavish was with Eldrin. My arms strained, but luckily, my wings had taken the brunt of his weight. My dad had always made sure that Eiric and I pushed our bodies to the limit, so I should be able to push through the shaky sensation as long as Lorne moved quickly enough. “I’m fine. Let’s get going. This platform could collapse at any moment.” I didn’t have to add that I couldn’t fly again because my wings were convulsing faintly at my sides.

He moved forward, joining me on the same bar, wide enough for us to work together. We locked eyes and nodded then moved to the next one. With each bar, my arms weakened more, and we had at least thirty more to go.

On the platform in front of us, Dougal, Bran, Rona, and Moira fought the person they had been chained to. It was clear that Bran and Rona weren’t part of Lorne’s group, and everyone wanted to reduce their sentence the best way they knew possible—by killing each other.

My stomach dropped. There was no telling what awaited us. How could Tavish have created this sort ofcruelty for his people to enjoy in the name of justice? No wonder his subjects had no problem turning on him when things got rough—that was the attitude he’d allowed Eldrin to encourage.

Anger roared through me, and adrenaline burned off the edge of pain and soreness and drove me on.

But Lorne slowed beside me.

Now, it was my turn to annoy him and tell him something he already knew. “Only ten more bars.” The end was in sight, and this was the last bit we had to push through. “If we die now, I swear I’ll find a way to bring you back just so I can kill you with my bare hands, night fiend.” The insult rolled off my tongue, though I didn’t remember hearing it before.

Lorne laughed, startling me. The material of my shirt was still wrapped around my hands, which was the only reason I didn’t slip off the bar.

“I never would’ve thought I’d be so happy to see your wings and memories coming back, but I won’t lie. I’m relieved.” He continued forward like a little bit of energy had infused him.

Dougal stepped away from his fight and glanced at us. His jaw dropped as Bran rounded on him, but Dougal pointed at us. “Blighted abyss, Lorne and the sunscorched made it.”

“That’s blasting impossible.” Bran pulled his punch and blinked like we had to be a mirage. He then spat, “And the wildling got her wings.”

All four of them forgot about fighting each other as they stared me down with hatred etched in every line of their faces.

My heart dropped to my stomach. I already knew howthis would go down. They’d team up on me, including Lorne, and why not? As long as they killed me without me falling off the platform, Lorne would be fine. We’d made it through the obstacle course to the end of the second gauntlet.

It’ll be fine,I lied to myself.I made it this far. I can finish the last bit without dying.Even as I tried to motivate myself, my blood ran cold. The truth told a different story. I was wounded, exhausted, and dehydrated. The last thing I needed was a fight, but by the same token, they should all be as bad off as me. We’d survived the same obstacles, though none of them had been paired with an injured person.

We reached the end of the bars, and the four of them stayed back, no doubt waiting until Lorne was safe before attacking. Even the siblings seemed to hesitate when it came to Lorne, which made me wonder whether he held some sort of power over them.

Needing my strength, I dropped to the platform. Pure agony raged from the bottom of my feet, raw from the fire, and my knees went weak and wanted to crumple. I forced them to lock and my feet to stay firm on the ground. I refused to show my weakness.

Lorne landed next to me, and we faced the other four, but I knew that wouldn’t last long.

Rona moved forward. Her eyes darkened as she readied to fight me again.

They’d have to blow the horn soon, surely.

Not wanting to be near the edge of the platform, I moved toward her, and her eyes widened with surprise.

She threw a punch and nailed me right in the chin. My head jerked to the side, and a sharp ache shot through my face, but I punched her in the stomach.

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