Page 24 of Unraveled
Beyond that, there are buildings. A stable? Perhaps horses are still living there. I can’t make it to Penumbra by myself with a cursed fae on my heels. I must be faster than he can run—or, as it happens, fly.
Making up my mind, I hoist myself onto the window ledge, hoping Finley won’t come in. I’ll run to the stables and get a horse before they catch me. Blood loss and pain have made me delusional, but how different is that from normal?
“Are you alright?” It’s Finley’s voice, and the door handle dips.
I reach for the rose cane. It’s as thick as one of my thighs, and its thorns are sparse enough that I won’t get pricked if I’m careful. The spirit lifts its head, wagging its tails hard enough they slap over the stone floor. The moment my fingertips brush the stem, energy surges from the plant through my arm and straight into my heart.
The blooms around the window turn from black to blood red. With a gasp, I pull my hand back, and the scent of magic wafts around me. It smells of old and new. Of dewdrops in the early morning.
The wolf whines and stands to its full height, looming over everything around me, eyes on the petals as they begin shifting color even inside my prison.
Then the spirit disappears in a puff of mist just as the door cracks open, and I meet Finley’s eyes across the room. He’s wearing an olive-green cloak and his hair is brushed back, revealing the sharp angles of his cheekbones and his roundedears. He freezes, and panic etches his features. “Step down from the ledge, Mia.”
I shake my head, swallowing deep as I take hold of the plant once again. Icy droplets of rain pad at my exposed skin, but with the adrenaline rushing through me, I can ignore their bite. “Ash thinks he owns me because I stared into his eyes. That’s why I’m not dead, isn’t it?”
Finley’s face shifts from worry to understanding as he steps into the room. “Why don’t you come inside and we can talk about it?”
“No, thank you. The elders in my city told me enough.” I peel my lips back from my teeth and tighten my grip on the rose. My fingers are numb, and I should’ve grabbed a coat before climbing up here, but it’s too late now.
I looked the king of the fae in the eyes, and now, I’m his human pet. A thing for him to torment and do with as he pleases.
“He will always find you. You’re tethered to each other, and it’s better if you remain here.”
I can’t wait a moment longer. This might be my only chance to escape, and Finley is stalling me with information he was unwilling to share last night. I ignore the sharp pain from my injuries and climb out the window, holding tightly to the climbing bush even as the wind blows my hair into my face.
My hand slips, and I struggle to find purchase on the rose vines. Energy drums under my palms, vibrating through me and igniting something beneath my skin.
Finley’s hard-soled boots click over the floor as he rushes across the room, and his blond mop of hair peeks over the windowsill. I meet his eyes again.
“How did you open the window?”
“The spirit helped me,” I say, seeing no reason to lie as I continue my descent.
Finley pauses, apparently lost in thought, and his brows pinch in the middle. Then, he moves to climb out after me but stops when he sees the first red rose. His eyes widen with horror as they move over the roses that have changed.
I was so caught up in my escape, I hadn’t realized most of the blooms out here are now deep shades of blood red instead of black.
“Are you able to climb down to safety, or do you need help?”
My lips part as I struggle to find the right words. Why does he care—or better yet, why isn’t he trying to stop me? These men are endlessly puzzling.
“Yes?”
“Fuck, Mia,” he says, and I meet his gaze over the rose’s stems. His face hardens with an emotion I can’t place. “I have to go. If Naheli let you out, I hope she keeps you safe. You can’t outrun Ash. He isn’t human, and he’s powerful, even now. Stay inside the castle. It’s for your own good.”
I show him my middle finger and continue making my way down, using the massive thorns to climb. Everything is slick with rain, and my wounds are screaming with the effort.
It feels like I’ve been holding on to this plant for years. Arms shaking with strain, I continue to move. My hands slip. I fall a few feet before just barely catching myself, and I manage to keep my grip on a longer stem. By some miracle, I don’t even hurt myself on any of the thorns.
I spot a balcony to my left; I didn’t see it before with the thickness of the foliage. Leaping onto it, I rush to hide under the roof and away from the weather. My teeth chatter as I try to rub some warmth back into my bones. Behind me, there are two locked doors. I consider shattering the glass and letting myself in that way, but the noise will call unwelcome attention to me.
I’ll have to brave the climb.
Something shifts in the corner, and in the shadows cast by the massive columns that hold up the roof, mist forms the shape of the spirit, Naheli—is that what Finley called her?
The spirit sits unmoving, watching me. Just like before, she’s not trying to eat me but studying me with a strange curiosity that makes the hairs on my arms stand up. I move to climb onto the rosebush again, and the moment I touch the plant, magic sings through me, similar to what I feel when I wear my amulet.
I don’t have time to think about everything Finley said. If Ash can sense me, or if Finley went to get him, I can’t stay here gawking at the red roses around me, wondering why they’re turning.
