Page 6 of Mirror of Malice
My gaze trailed to Jasper’s muscular form as he jumped atop the hedge. It shuffled again, and he walked across it with his arms out like he was balancing on a tight rope.
My friends had made no secret about their feelings for Jasper over the years. But they didn’t know him like I did. Yes, he came off as arrogant and self-important, but it was because he had to maintain a certain persona in public, which was the only time they’d seen him. In private, he was different. They’d learn.
“Mother-fucking earth,” Jillian said. “He made it.”
Jasper now crouched on the other side of the maze like a deadly predator. The murder of crows began cawing, flying with a frenzy in the sky.
“They’re going to warn her!” I looked around, wondering what I could do to distract the birds. “Hey!” I waved my arms. “Hey, idiots!”
“What are you doing?” Driscoll hissed. “Don’t call them over here. Those things can fit through the bars, gouge out your eyes, eat your carcass. And I am not going down for Jasper. I haven’t survived this long just to be crow food.”
A few of the crows took notice of me, no doubt rankled over my insult. The beasts might have been loyal to my stepmother, but they also had humongous egos.
“Lil,” Jillian warned.
“Hey, shit-birds,” I yelled. My gaze flicked to Jasper, who was now scaling the castle walls. “Remember the time I tricked you into running into my cell bars?”
“Please stop talking,” Driscoll said.
A few of the crows stopped their pursuit of Jasper and turned their bodies toward me.
“He has way too far to climb,” Jillian said. “There’s no way he’ll make it.”
I stared down at him as he ascended, surprisingly deft, clutching onto the black web of weeds and plants that spread across the castle walls like a virus. When had Jasper trained for this? Learned this kind of stealth and speed? Three of the six crows flew toward me with frightening speed.
“I swear to blood and earth, Liliath, if I die because of you, I will make sure my spirit comes back to haunt you for life,” Driscoll yelled as the crows swooped toward the bars, pecking at my fingers.
I jumped back, the realization hitting me with the force of a mallet. “That’s why it took Jasper so long to come for me! He’s been training. For this very thing.”
“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?” Driscoll yelled again as a crow cawed loudly, flapping its wings while it jabbed its beak at the bars of his cell.
I crossed my arms, staring at the birds. “Oh, relax. They’ve fattened up over these last few months, eating all the carcasses of those who have perished in the maze. They can’t fit through the bars anymore.”
That seemed to make the crows angrier, and they flapped their wings with force, snapping their sharp beaks. Hopefully this, at least, helped Jasper in his quest. A loud bang reverberated through the air, shaking the ground underneath our feet. The crows turned and flew toward the commotion, andI ran to the bars, an explosion of feather, blood, and bone down below.
“He killed the crows using some kind of explosive,” Jillian said. “Oh, that’s going to make the queen angry. No one messes with her crows. Maybe she’ll send the Huntsman next.”
I shuddered at the thought. I hoped not. The Huntsman was a fearsome creature.
The three remaining crows surrounded him as he climbed, higher, higher, higher. I didn’t know how he’d managed to climb so high in such a short time. My heart fluttered at everything he’d gone through for me.
The birds swooped down, circling him.
“They’re about to go in for the kill,” Driscoll said.
A lump formed in my throat. I wouldn’t be able to distract the crows again. Not after he’d killed their comrades.
“Be careful, Jasper,” I whispered.
From out of nowhere, arrows sailed through the sky, piercing the crows. They fell one by one.
“Where are those arrows coming from?” Driscoll asked, and now it sounded like he was pacing back and forth.
“He must’ve brought reinforcements that are hiding in the trees.” Risky, because the trees were under the queen’s control. Everything in this godforsaken place was. But the trees stayed still in the dark night, and though I couldn’t see anyone perched atop their branches, I knew there were others out there. The thought buoyed me. Jasper was close now. So close.
“Jasper,” I yelled. “I’m here.”
But he seemed to already know. He’d really done his research. Maybe he’d had spies watching me for months, reporting back to him. I couldn’t believe he’d done all this. But of course he had. I was his betrothed.
