Page 113 of Mirror of Malice
“I’m already sick of you,” I said teasingly.
“You love me.” He blew me a kiss.
Shadow pushed past us. “Oh, this is going to be a long trip.”
“Hey,” Gabrielle said, grabbing my arm and stopping me. “Do me a favor?”
I sent her a questioning look.
“Go kick your stepmother’s ass.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
We rode the horses until they needed a break. My thighs and butt ached, my shoulders and neck sore from the long journey. The sky above darkened, sand spreading out in rolling waves as long as the eye could see. I already missed Apolis and the view of that sparkling sapphire ocean. Pink and purple muddled across the sky as the sun sank lower, and I could already feel the night chill of the desert sneaking in. I frisked my arms.
“We should stop for the night,” Shadow said from behind me. She and I shared a horse, while Driscoll and Jillian shared their own.
She tugged on the reins and pulled the horse to a slow trot as it kicked up sand behind us.
“Oh, thank the blood and earth,” Driscoll said. “I feel like my ass might fall right off my body.”
“Well, there’s an image,” Jillian said.
We stopped at the base of a huge stone arch, the giant round stones stacked on top of each other to create a sort of shelter.Rock formations surrounded us here, providing good coverage from any enemy that may find us.
“I hope Jasper isn’t still looking for me,” I said.
Shadow hopped off the horse. “Jasper has problems of his own.”
“What does that mean?” She held out her hand and helped me off.
“Princess Seraphina has broken her curse and returned to Gilraeth to defeat the sorceress.”
I gasped. “That’s amazing.”
Shadow tied the reins to the arch while Jillian did the same with her horse. “Don’t get too excited. She still has a shadow court sorceress to defeat.”
Hope swelled in me. If Seraphina defeated the sorceress, and I, in turn, defeated my stepmother, the fire and earth courts could be back to their full powers soon. But I couldn’t get ahead of myself. Seraphina had her own battle to fight, and I had mine. I needed to focus.
Soon enough, we had a fire going, Shadow had caught some small rodents for us to eat, and we huddled around the warmth, holding out our hands, the cold nipping and biting. Shadow dug into her satchel and pulled out a cloak, then threw it to me.
“Here,” she said. “I have an extra.”
“Thank you.” I wrapped it around myself, then looked at my two best friends, who both were shivering. “And thank you for coming for me. I didn’t know just how much I needed you until you appeared. Now I don’t know how I’d be able to make this journey without you, face my stepmother without you.”
Driscoll finished his last bite of the rat Shadow had caught, then licked his fingers. “Who said anything about facing your stepmother? We are gonna let you handle that.”
Jillian elbowed with him. “Of course we’re with you,” she said. “Always.”
“I’ll escort you as far as the border,” Shadow said, “and then I have to get back to Mosswood Forest.”
“I can’t believe you rescued them,” I said to her. “I’ll never be able to repay you for ensuring their safety.”
“Well, when Penn gives orders, we follow. We had another mission we were supposed to complete up in Volaris, but Penn told me to cancel all upcoming missions, to make this our new priority and nothing else until we accomplished it.” She took a deep breath. “It was not easy, especially not after Penn had already rescued you. It took all of us and many days to figure out a way in.”
I stopped at that, realizing what she’d said. Penn had ordered this.
“But why would Penn want you to rescue them? How does it benefit all of you?” I asked.
