Page 45 of Tempting the Fae Lord
“What?” he asks, but I know he heard me. “This may be my only chance.”
“Please.”
A feral growl vibrates low in his chest. The wind catches beneath us, rushing in as his wings beat, and we’re weightless, as though the ground simply snapped away.
“Hold on,” he barks. “I’m letting go.”
I’m already holding on, but I cling with all my might as the safety of his arms vanishes. I still can’t see what’s happening, though the inky blackness has become a sludge of gray.
We hurtle downward.
My stomach drops. I grip his neck so tight my arms hurt. As a solid weight smashes against my back, I’m forced sideways.
Another jolt of magic hits us, and pricks of pain jab my body. If it bothers Ezra, he doesn’t show it. We’re rising into the sky, faster and faster, until my insides churn and gurgle.
Please don’t throw up. Please don’t throw up. Please don’t throw up.
Sonja’s screams grow distant, and all I can think is thank the stars he didn’t kill her. If she’s mad, then she’s alive. Not that she’s on my good list right about now, but I don’t want her dead either. And I don’t want Ezra sullied with her murder.
My vision is returning. I blink, trying to focus. The weight against me sags, boneless. I twist my neck and gasp.
Ezra has snatched the bone caller, and the man is out cold.
Chapter Fourteen
TheGatekeeper
I haven’t knownsuch fear in an eternity of nightfalls. Gale in the sorceress’s clutches. Gale fighting the death mage. Gale collapsed to the ground in pain, dark magic consuming him.
My heart cannot bear to see him in peril.
I would give my right arm to put the wicked sorceress six feet under where she belongs, from whence her cursed army hails. But not if it means ignoring Gale’s desperate pleas for her life.
So if I can’t have her, then the death mage will have to do.
I rush them both to the underground stronghold of the Vartija, Gale in one arm and the mage in the other. Their combined weight drags heavily on my wings and taxes my strength, but lingering rage powers me through.
“Are you well?” I ask Gale at my earliest opportunity.
“Fine, yes. You?”
Relief courses through me. “Fine.”
Gale touches my face. “Thank the stars. I was so worried. We all were.”
“How did you get here?”
He blanches. In a small voice, he says, “The gate let me through.”
“What? Impossible.” The gate doesn’t open willy-nilly for anyone. Only those of my bloodline have the power.
Only me.
I’ll deal with that later.
Inside, I set Gale on his feet and look him over. Despite his brush with the sorceress, he does, indeed, seem fine. But the mage is out cold, so I jostle him into a better position and stalk farther into the musty building. “Come along.”
“Where are we going?” Gale shuffles after me.
