Page 24 of Immortal Sins
He shakes his head with a wince.
I pat my empty pockets. I left my cell phone in my room, and I don’t have a pen or paper to send a note. “I’ll get help. Don’t worry.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Daniel will scream my head off for this. I’m supposed to lie low, not run to the Academy for help, but I can’t leave Jeremy to die here. With shallow breaths, I bolt off to the dining hall.
10
RED THUNDER
The mirror spits us out inside a dark cellar. The icy kiss of inter-realm travel skitters along my back, quickly replaced by the stuffy, hot ambient air. Wooden planks screech under our weight, and Flynn presses his index finger to his mouth. With a grave nod, I hold my breath.
Wood barrels are stacked along the walls and marked with white chalk. Massive terracotta cooking pots clutter the counter space, but spiderwebs and dust seem to be the only things on the menu.
Faint voices and warm flickers of light echo into the cellar coming from the other side of the wall.
Flynn motions to the blackened window on the opposite wall. It’s high up, close to the ceiling, but wide enough for us to squeeze through. Without a sound, he removes the pin lock, opens the glass pane, and secures it with a braided cotton thread hanging from the exposed wood beams.
“Mind your head.” He laces his fingers to create a step.
I brace myself on his left shoulder as he boosts me up. A nasty splinter from the window frame buries into my thumb, but I tuck my arms and elbows in and crawl into the tall grass.
Faerie is so much…colors and movements and textures explode to life in a way that my mortal brain struggles to process. I hold out my hand to help Flynn. Once we’re both safe out of the cellar, I climb to my feet.
Clouds rumble above our heads and spark a storm of butterflies in my stomach. The silver-flecked grass caresses my calves like an old lover. Beauty beckons from all sides—so close I could reach for it—starting with the Fae on my right.
“Fuck, we’re in Thurst.” Flynn’s bright glamor glitches and fades. His honeyed skin melts down to a smooth, stony gray, and the lustrous golden accents of his hair vanish.
A wide dirt road separates us from a cozy, round hut. The sand-colored building clashes with the dark forest behind it. A narrow chimney splits the roof in two and embalms the air with the smoky, greasy promise of a fresh kill.
Flynn pulls the hood of his jacket over his head and molds his body to the brick wall at our backs. “We stick out like sore thumbs.”
Sweat drips along my back. “What are you doing?”
He pulls two loose ponchos out of his bag. “This village is less than a day’s walk from Unseelie territory. We can’t be seen.”
I slip on the gray, old-fashioned cotton poncho but leave the hood off. The grooves of the rough fabric scratch my skin. “Why would Oz come here?”
“Excellent question.” Flynn guides me toward an old barn flanked by thick, unfamiliar conifers. “No Fae lives here, except crooks and thieves.”
The purple needles of the trees shimmer with black and teal accents. I could spend a whole day marveling at the intricate, gnarly patterns created by their branches as they stretch to the sky, but I tear my gaze away and follow Flynn over the fence.
A majestic palomino percheron stomps at our approach. After a few seconds, he trots in our direction. While the scenery and plants are all Faerie, the beast looks as earthly as they come.
Flynn slowly raises his knuckles to its muzzle.
The magnificent horse sniffs the offered hand and shakes its head from side to side before it bows down, its blond mane dancing in the wind.
“It recognizes you,” I say on a hunch.
Flynn slides open the barn door. “Not exactly. Fae and horses understand each other.”
The hinges squeak in tune with a sharp crack of thunder. Crimson clouds roll in the sky, and thick, red-tinted water splashes on my arms. The heavy raindrops prickle my skin.
Lightning illuminates the bloody sky and echoes in every fiber of my soul. I could die here, watching the fury of the storm.
Flynn snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Shape up, mortal.”
I shake off the urge to dance in Faerie rain and follow him.
