Page 84 of Lore of the Wilds

She placed a stopper into the pitcher of wine and tossed it over the barrier. It was the only way to encourage Grey to climb. His limbs shook with exhaustion, but eventually he made it over, landing with a cry on the other side. Lore scrambled after him, fingers scraped raw from the stone wall.

She dropped to her hands and knees and searched the ivy-covered ground. Somewhere around here was a large stone, and beneath that, her grimoire. She just needed to find it.

“No, not yet!” she hissed.

Grey had just pulled the stopper from the wine and was tipping the decanter toward his mouth, his movements jerky and rushed. She pulled the decanter from him—or tried to. His grip was iron-like, and he yelled, the sound torn from his chest and carrying over the wall.

Lore heard an answering cry from the guards. They’d heard him.

Fear enveloped Lore. She was out of time. She let go of the wine and looked away as Grey drank from it greedily, a man in a desert who’d just found his oasis.

The shouts of the guards were getting closer. She just had to find the rock. She tore at the ground. Goddess, had she made a mistake? Was this not the correct wall?

She almost despaired, just as her hand scraped painfully against a rock and brushed against the spine of her grimoire. She thrust the rock away and pulled the book into her arms.

She held it with one bloody hand and thrust her other into the dirt, pulling theSourcefrom all around her. The sound of the guards climbing over the garden wall rained from above her.

She had but seconds—theSourcewas strong here near the queen’s palace, and she wondered if this was why she’d built her palace here. Was it that, with so muchSourcearound, the queen and her alchemists had flocked here?

Alight withSource, her hand began to glow, and Lore spoke Old Alytherian. She’d memorized this spell, had been practicing it for weeks. Finally, the shadows all around her leaped up to cover her. She rose, stumbling to where Grey kneeled with the decanter, and she grabbed his hand. The shadows expanded to cover him, too.

“Hey, where did they go? I just saw them!” There was a guard on top of the garden wall, preparing to leap down, and anotherjust behind him. They looked around, their eyes passing over Lore and Grey.

She pressed her mouth to Grey’s ear and whispered. “Stand up. I have more wine at home. Come with me.”

Grey stumbled, drunk, as she pulled him, but they went together into the dark.

Chapter25

Finndryl was waiting in the Exile’s kitchen when Lore and Grey stumbled through the door just as dawn was beginning to lighten the sky.

“What were you thinking?” Finndryl seethed. His eyes were wild and they alighted across her body, taking in her silk and chiffon dress and her slippers, which were now muddy and torn. When he was done assessing her, he visibly relaxed at her lack of obvious injuries.

Then he looked at Grey, who stood, swaying on his feet, his lips stained from blood and wine. His eyes were vacant and lost. He was slumped against Lore, his body giving out from exhaustion and neglect.

Finndryl closed the space between them. Despite his bared teeth and clear anger, he didn’t hesitate to relieve Lore of her friend’s weight. The moment Finndryl had Grey in his grip, the slighter man leaned into him, instantly asleep. Finndryl set him down in a seat at the table.

“Were you followed?” Finndryl stepped over to Lore, where she still stood by the door. His body radiated heat and warmth. She wasn’t sure if she could take another step.

“No.” The word tumbled from her lips.

He stepped closer to her, and she realized he was visiblyshaking. With rage? Fear? Lore wished she could read him more easily. She wished she could reach out and thread her fingers through his. But even if guilt wasn’t holding her back, his hands were clenched into fists at his side.

She met his eyes.

They darkened, fury seething within their depths. “I’ll make sure you weren’t followed.”

“I wasn’t.”

“I wish I could believe you.”

“I used a spell. We weren’t followed.”

“How am I supposed to trust you when you put yourself in danger so willingly?”

“You ask this like you’ve ever trusted me to begin with. Besides, I had it handled.” A wave of nausea swelled through her, and she felt her forehead. Goddess, she was sweating.

“We can speak about this more when I return. Just don’t leave m— Don’t leave again.” He led her to the table where he’d set Grey down. He pulled a chair out for her, and she collapsed into it, leaning against Grey.

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