Page 108 of Tower of Tempest
“I just need a moment.” I sank down, back sliding against that rough stone like it had so many times before, until I was seated, legs splayed out in front of me.
Maybe I hadn’t been Gran’s weakness after all. Doubt filled me. Maybe she’d never loved me after all. Tears slipped down my cheeks, my shoulders shaking. I hadn’t realized how much I’d wanted to see her again until now, when she wasn’t here.
I pawed at the tears and stood.
“Are you ready to come down?” Leoni shouted. “Just like we talked about. I’ll use my water magic to create a wave that you can ride safely to the ground.”
“Are we sure this isn’t a really stupid plan?” Driscoll asked. “The wind is really rough today. She could fall through the wave and go splat.”
“I swear to the spirits below, if you say ‘splat’ one more time?—”
“Can we focus?” Loch gritted out.
I squeezed my eyes shut. We’d failed, and now I had no idea where to go, how to find Gran. Maybe I needed to come to terms with the fact that we’d never find her, which meant I’d never get the answers I sought. So what was next? I return to Winded, beg for my father’s trust? And for what? I couldn’t become queen. I couldn’t even fly. I had nothing to offer my father or my court.
I slowly came to a stand and faced the window when a shriek split the air.
Cold crept over my skin, goose bumps prickling along my arms. That familiar feeling I’d experienced several times now.
“Poppy, watch out!” Loch yelled.
Then I saw it. A shadow as familiar as this tower. Swooping down toward me. I knew what it was here for. I should’ve fought it. I should’ve used my magic. I should’ve done something. Anything. Butinstead, I climbed up onto the window ledge and came to a shaky stand. The wind made me unsteady on my feet.
“Poppy, what are you doing?” Loch screamed. “Get me up there,” he yelled frantically to Driscoll and Leoni.
Maybe I’d never become queen or find my gran. But I could save Loch. I could use myself as bait to get his shadow, something he’d never agree to.
“Poppy, don’t you dare!” Loch yelled.
I ignored him because I knew exactly what I had to do. I closed my eyes and I jumped.
Chapter Forty-Five
POPPY
Iwas falling. The wind rushed past me, hair blowing wildly this way and that. For a moment, I felt free. Then, inky arms curled around me, snatching me from my free fall and cradling me into a wispy chest. Loch’s shadow.
Far below, I heard Loch, Driscoll, and Leoni shouting.
I knew I was wallowing. Could hear Gran’s voice in my head.
Pick yourself up, girl. This is just pathetic.
She’d said that one time after I fell while running through the forest. I’d sat there in a heap, crying while staring at the scratches on my knees. She’d frowned down at me and told me that I’d never get anywhere if I didn’t get up. She was right. I looked back at Loch’s shadow, all wisps and darkness, red glowing eyes. I might not get the answers I wanted, but I would get Loch’s shadow back.
The shadow carried me over the forest, trees whisking by in a blur. The sun peeked out between the clouds, and the shadow hissed and darted for the forest.
My stomach shot up to my throat as it took a sharp dive. I shrieked and clutched it tighter. The shadow darted into the canopies, and branches and leaves scraped my face and snagged at my clothes andwings, making me wince. A few of my feathers floated up in the air, sun lancing through them. The shadow hissed again and flew deeper into the forest, keeping to the slices of shade.
It slowed its descent until we hovered right over the ground, and it opened its arms, letting me out.
I eyed it warily. “I’m going to trap you, you know. Probably not smart to just let me go.”
The shadow flew around me in circles, and I wondered what it was doing.
“You just so happen to be connected to the man I love, and that means I can’t let you leave.”
“So you love me too, huh?” a voice said.
