Page 433 of Primal Bonds

“Fuck.” Marjani turned in a circle, hopelessly lost. The shadows had somehow messed with her internal GPS. “Where’d they go?”

“I have no idea,” Jace muttered, while Fane just shook his head.

The shadows seemed to sense their confusion. The vines twisted around them. Not trying to touch them now, just weaving an inky cage.

Marjani hissed and shrank back against Fane. It was like the vines knew she was terrified of being caged—any fada was, but her own recent experience with Blaer’s cages had amped the fear up to near-panic level.

Her chest compressed. She snarled, her animal brain telling her to run like hell. She sprang forward. But the vines caught her, throwing her back against Jace and Fane.

Her terror ratcheted. “The charm isn’t working anymore,” she croaked.

Jace gave a low growl. She scented his own fear of being trapped, and it amped up hers.

“Easy, love.” Fane squeezed her shoulders from behind. “Try focusing the charm on one section.”

Yes. She gripped the charm, shoved it at the vines in front of her. To her relief, they parted. She moved the charm in a circle until she’d cleared a large enough opening in the vine-cage for her to pass through, then squeezed through sideways, unable to wait any longer.

Fane and Jace were right behind her—which gave her an idea.

“Form a single line behind me,” she said and moved forward, the charm held out in front of her. Fane hooked his fingers through her waistband, and she heard him direct Jace to keep touching him.

As before, the vines parted to let her through, and Fane and Jace were able to pass through as well before they closed again. She increased her pace, and the vines and trees merged into each other, twining into a narrow passage with walls of a dank, murky fog that was nevertheless too solid for them to pass through.

She was growling continuously now.

“Keep moving,” Fane ordered. “Don’t stop, whatever you do.”

They continued to what looked like the end of the passage, but wasn’t. The shadows had formed a maze, forcing them to turn first right, then left, then another left and a right, and so on, in a seemingly random pattern.

Marjani lost all sense of direction and time. All she knew was that somewhere nearby, her brother awaited his execution—and she was trapped in this thrice-damned forest with its living shadows.

She was running now, her feet beating out a frenzied rhythm.

Hurry, hurry, hurry.

At last the walls of the maze thinned so they could see the trees again. Marjani checked, unsure which way to go.

Another explosion lit the night.

The three of them sprinted toward it—and exited the trees at last.

Chapter 44

Give Merry to Langdon?

Rosana didn’t even have to look at Adric to know what his answer was.

“No,” she growled. “We don’t accept.”

The prince turned to Adric. “And you?”

Adric’s eyes were that flat bronze that was somehow more scary than the blue of his cougar. “You heard her. We refuse. In fact,” he said, slowly and precisely, “you can take your bargain and shove it where the sun don’t shine.”

Langdon’s mouth tightened. “Then you die. You’ve been informed of the charges against you.”

“Which I don’t accept,” Adric shot back.

Langdon continued as if Adric hadn’t even spoke. “I could demand you accept my geas, but as long as you’re alive, your clan will plague me. I’ll be fighting off assassination attempts every time I leave New Moon.”

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