Page 69 of The King of Frost and Shadows

“Yes, let’s proceed,” he snapped, but his voice was hoarser than mine.

“One, two,” I inhaled, bracing for what came next. “Three.”

Lorne used his good leg, and we stepped upward. I moved quicker than him, but not so fast that our chain tightened, and we stumbled to our knees onto the next platform.

My attention homed in on the one after it, where two walls were closing in toward each other, and not very slowly. Right now, there was enough room for about three of Lorne to go through abreast, but the gap closed with Moira and Rona limping around the corner at the end, almost a quarter of a mile down.

Crap. We weren’t out of the woods yet, especially with Lorne’s fresh injuries.

He’d already climbed to his feet when I straightened. I waited until he’d rolled his shoulders back, which he did whenever he was ready to move forward, like he was psyching himself up for the next threat.

This platform was only six inches lower than the next one, but that didn’t matter. We were still behind.

We moved in tandem, not even needing to discuss what we were doing, though it helped that I was limping almost as bad as him. We made it to the next obstacle course with the wall as wide as maybe two and a half of him.

“Run,” Lorne commanded.

My heart hammered, and I took off first, knowing I might have to tug him the rest of the way. Each time I landed on my left foot, fireexploded through me. I tried to run at a steady pace, but Lorne continued to move slower and slower.

The space between the walls was now about two of him, and we’d made it only a quarter of the way there.

“You need to run faster.” I glanced over my shoulder, and my eyes widened as I took in his state. A thick trail of blood followed him, and I could only imagine what his feet looked like underneath the boot … not that I wanted to know.

“We’re almost there.” I reached down and snagged the chain, yanking it. Ineededhim to go faster. I’d been so focused on the slanted wall that I hadn’t consideredthis.

“I’m trying,” Lorne grumbled.

I yanked on the chain harder.

The walls continued to close in around us.

He grunted, picking up his pace, but it wasn’t enough.

I was almost at the end, but Lorne was a full two feet behind me and moving slowly.

If I didn’t do something, he’d die.

I had to save him, especially since we’d been helping each other this time around. I wouldn’t leave someone behind when things got hard.

In a last-ditch effort, I rushed back to him and grabbed his hands. I ignored the warm liquid I felt on my hands from his.

The wall was almost on him, moving faster like we were out of time.

Not wanting to lose traction, I moved my hands to his wrists so they didn’t slip off, and I yanked harder than I ever had before.

The muscles in my back strained, and something felt like it ripped. A warm pulse shot through my body into myhands. Slicing pain throbbed through me, and the sound of something tearing tickled my mind.

My body shifted as I flexed, and our bodies sailed the last few feet, breaking us free of the closing walls. We fell onto our asses. Something strange shifted behind me, and I turned to see sparkly sea-green wings that reminded me of the water in the bathtub.

I blinked, trying to understand what was going on, but when my back tensed, the wings folded in toward my back … like they were mine.

Blighted abyss! I hadwings.

Even though my blood was gold, seeing the wings made all this more real. My vision grew fuzzy, and I tried to understand what the hell was happening to me.

“Bless the gods,” Lorne whimpered. “I don’t understand how this is possible.”

He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. Even though I was coming to terms with being fae, I hadn’t expectedthis. “I guess Seelie have wings too.” Now I was worried this would prevent him from working with me, the wings a big reminder that I was hisenemy.

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