Page 67 of The King of Frost and Shadows

Chest heaving, I gritted my teeth and regulated my breathing, though it was hard. My eyes burned, and I blinked back tears. I didn’t want to cry in front of the Unseelie, despite the fact that my reaction was just because of the suffering.

“What was that?” Lorne rasped, but with how his voice broke, his question was almost inaudible. “You almost killedus.”

Us.

Of course he’d only save my ass to keep himself from dying. Any other time, he would’ve gladly pushed me off. I had to remember how these people operated. They werenothing like my family back home. “If you’d touched the chain, you’d understand why.”

I glanced at the two pairs left with us. They were moving as quickly as possible, but the soles of their boots had already melted off, and they weren’t even on the other side yet. What had looked so easy wasn’t, and their movements were jerky and uneasy.

I looked at my palms and winced at their toasty-pink color from where I’d gripped the chain.

He turned back to the chain. Since we’d arrived, the fire had gotten larger, the flame tips heating the metal. “Blighted abyss. The longer we stay down here, the higher the flames will go, making the climb over harder. They’re punishing us for already struggling.”

“We’d better get moving.” Even as I said the words, every cell within me wanted to never touch that chain again. I spun and noted that the first two platforms were no longer visible, already encased in the foggy gas, with the third one about two feet above it and the one we’d just jumped off two feet below us.

There were no choices other than to continue forward or die.

Death wasn’t an option. I wasn’t ready to give up and accept that fate. I believed there was more to my life thanthis… or I hoped so with every cell of my body.

My hands burned at the thought of touching the chain again, and I wanted to chastise them. If they hurt now, I didn’t want to know how they’d feel when we started the climb.

“Rip off the bottom of your shirt and tie it around your hands for protection. If it begins smoking, we need to suck it up and keep moving forward.” Even though we’d still feel the heat through the fabric, it should prevent massive burns.

“Why would it smoke?” His brows furrowed. “Do human clothes catch fire?”

For the first time since, well,ever, I wanted to thank the fae for their differences. I ripped the bottom of my shirt, turning it into a crop top. “Yes. If the fire’s hot enough to burn the bottom of boots, it will burn clothes.”

Even as we talked, the chains lowered a little, putting them deeper into the flames. I ripped the material in two and tied a piece around each hand. Lorne followed my lead, and soon, we were as ready to climb as we’d ever be.

Lorne straightened his shoulders and glanced at me.

I nodded, and dread pooled in my stomach with each step closer to the chain we took. At the edge, I watched as Bran and Dougal jumped over the top of the incline, black blood dripping from their hands and feet. I didn’t need to know why; we’d be bearing similar wounds soon, if not worse.

We reached for the chains, and the heat seared through the material. Thankfully, it wasn’t my skin like the first time, but the heat made the burn that marred my palms worse. As we climbed, the heat from the flames caused sweat to bead on my brow and chest.

This was worse than summer in Georgia, which spoke volumes. We moved at a slow pace, pausing each time Lorne had to use his injured leg to move up to the next level. In the moment that we waited, I shifted back and forth between my left and right side, hoping that would prevent the soles of my boots from melting as quickly.

The women finally reached the top, Moira’s bottom lip quivering. Hers and Rona’s skin looked black on the bottoms of their feet, where the chains had melted away the soles of their boots.

They climbed over the top, their faces purple withexhaustion and pain. They faced us but began descending, moving quicker.

Lorne grunted. “My blasted boots have already melted through,” he gritted out, bringing my attention back to him.

Holy shit. This wasn’t good.

The last thing I wanted to do was lose progress, but I went down a little past Lorne’s ass, put my right hand underneath it, and pushed up. Lorne took the step he’d been struggling with, and I smelled the putrid stench of whatever the bottom of our boots was made out of burning.

We moved up a few chains, and when we got back to where his injured foot needed to bear his weight, I shoved his ass again.

Tears clouded my vision as my hands felt like they were on fire and my feet became hotter. Between that and the way the flames charred my skin, I had to look like a burned chicken nugget. My skin tightened, making me feel like I was getting close to being well done.

My right arm ached from shoving Lorne upward, but after what felt like years, we reached the top of the incline.

At least now, we’d be going down, which would help our momentum. As we threw our legs over the edge, something dripped into my eyes, giving everything a golden hue.

When I glanced at Lorne, I saw black blood oozing from cracks in his face, confirming I had to be bleeding as well.

The flames were only a foot from our faces.

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