Page 24 of Prince of Never

‘Hello, bird,’ Ves said, twiddling his fingers in her direction.She rumbled a low growl.‘Maybe this is your problem.You’re spending so much time with your griffin that you’re starting to handle social situations like one.’

‘Don’t antagonise her.’I approached her, and she dipped her head down to nuzzle at me.

‘You’re going after the human girl!’Ves suddenly exclaimed, smacking a hand against his forehead.‘I was sure you would just let her suffer whatever fate she brought on herself, but you’re actually going to go flying off into the Shadowmire to pluck her up and bring her back!This is marvellous, Tarian.You’re acting like an idiot hero in an action film.It’s so ridiculous, I’d almost say...’The joviality dropped from his expression, leaving him slack-jawed and staring for a moment.‘You’re not, are you?’

‘You spend too much time in the human realm,’ I said, ignoring the revelation hanging from his open mouth.‘She belongs to my household.I’m going to retrieve her.’I kept the words curt, dismissive, and pulled myself up onto Melaie’s back.She was unsaddled, but I didn’t have time to fix that.I’d just have to hold on tight.

‘You couldn’t be,’ he continued, as though I hadn’t spoken.‘To a human?’

‘Ves, if you decide to leave while I’m gone, don’t feel like you have to stay around and wait to say goodbye first,’ I grumbled, before lightly tapping my heels into Melaie’s flanks.She crouched low, then launched into the air.I felt viciously pleased to see Vesryn duck for cover with his arms over his head as dust sprayed up around us and the remainder of the wall tumbled to the ground.

‘Oh don’t worry, I’ll be here,’ he called as we plunged off the roof and into the night.

Chapter 12

Imogen

FindingtheEastwallhad been good in theory, but seeing as I had no way of knowing which way east was, I ended up wasting far too much time following the wall and peering at clumps of vines until I found the part that actually had an opening behind it.Not that I would have done any better in the human world.Why did people feel the need to use East as a direction?Who carried a compass with them, anyway?Not to mention, this place was freaking huge.

When I finally found the vine in question, I was relieved to see that the leaves didn’t have a speck of orange on them.But I wasn’t willing to assume that meant it was safe.I tentatively touched one, and when nothing happened, I pushed it aside to reveal the opening.

And by opening, Sarah had clearly meant a large crack that a normal person couldn’t fit into without scraping every inch of their body and panicking halfway through because they were going to die stuck in a wall.

This was a terrible idea.What was I even doing?

With a final shove, I managed to squeeze myself through and I took a few moments to suck air into my lungs and allow the panic to die down a little.Once I was calmer, I looked around to try to get my bearings.It was totally different from when I’d come out with Sarah.There was no road in sight, no way to know where I should go, no helpful little street sign that said,This way to the human world!Going back towards the village would be the most logical option, but I also couldn’t see the gate from where I was.How long would it take me to walk around until I found it?Would Tarian have learnt of my disappearance by then?What if the guards were out looking for me?

God, this had been such a bad idea.But there was no way in hell I was going back now.

I took a deep breath as I tried to calm my racing mind.All around me was darkness and trees and a few glowing flowers and bugs.The moonlight was nice, but once I got into those trees, how much would I really be able to see?And I had to get to those trees because if I stayed out in the open much longer, I’d be caught in thirty seconds flat.

‘Shit,’ I muttered.Perhaps if I hadn’t been so desperate to escape, I might have come up with an actual plan.As far as plans went, wander around in the strange wilderness alone and hope that I find someone to help me by sheer dumb luck wasn’t great.But what other choice did I really have?The longer I waited, the more time Tarian had to find his cure or whatever so he could kill me.

No thank you.

There was a path to the right, leading into the trees, but it looked well used—at least, it wasn’t overgrown with plants and weeds.I decided to take it.I didn’t know where it would lead me, but surely a path was safer than no path.At least it should lead somewhere and I’d be less likely to walk around in circles wasting my time.I needed to put as much distance between me and that castle as possible before Tarian realised I was gone.

The castle quickly disappeared from view, swallowed by the canopy of the twisted trees.Strange sounds made me jump, and even as I tried to tell myself it was all just birds or friendly little woodland creatures, I had no way of knowing that for sure because this wasn’t my world.I had no idea what creatures lurked in the shadows, in the darkness that coiled and swayed with the trees, ready to swallow me up.Fear gripped my heart and my breathing began to quicken, along with my pace.Where was I going?How long would the trees go on for?A twig snapped and I spun around, but there was nothing but darkness behind me.Was something watching me?Huntingme?Oh God, what was I doing?

I reached for my usual mantra to calm me down.It’s not real.It’s not—Only I didn’t know that anymore.What was real and what was fiction?Had I really been attacked by a vampire that night?Were there vampires here?

I took a deep breath, and then another, gulping the air down greedily as if it could somehow stop the panic rising like the bile in my throat.

‘Get a grip, Imogen,’ I scolded myself, my voice coming out strangled.Just when I thought panic would consume me, I heard a different sound.A soothing, gentle hum.A little ball of light appeared before me, blue, almost ghostly, swaying with the breeze, as if it was dancing.A sense of calm washed over me as I stared into that light and I let out a sigh of relief.

‘Hello there,’ I said, tilting my head at the strange creature.I had read of will-o-wisps in folktales.Some said they led you where you needed to go.Sometimes that was where you wanted to be, sometimes it was where you needed to be, even if you didn’t know it.Was that what this creature was?

Looking at this ball of light, a warm feeling filled me, making my thoughts fuzzy and indistinct.It reminded me of something pleasant, a memory I couldn’t quite catch, one where I’d been happy and warm.I couldn’t imagine anything bad coming from following it.‘I don’t suppose you know how to get to the human world?’I asked.It was probably a dumb question, but I didn’t know how this place worked.Maybe they could really lead me home.

The wisp hummed.And then another one appeared a few metres ahead of it, and another ahead of that one.They were leading me off the path, into the darkness of the forest.I hesitated as I stared into that darkness.The first wisp danced around my legs, leaving behind a zinging tingle where it touched me, as if it was encouraging me.

‘I don’t like the dark,’ I found myself saying.The little ball of light hummed soothingly as it continued to sway around my legs, and suddenly all the fear that had been weighing me down lifted, and my feet began to move, following the next wisp.Each time I passed one, another would appear with a gentle hum.

I broke through the trees and the wisps began to sway more, as if they were excited, as if we were getting close to our destination.I found my lips curling into a smile as I watched them, even as my feet became wet, water seeping into my shoes, climbing up my ankles, higher with each step.

‘Imogen!’

I barely had time to place that voice, the familiar sound paired with an unfamiliar tone.Almost like panic.The wisps began to hum more frantically and I took another step forward, only to be yanked back, sending me tumbling against a hard chest.

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