Page 98 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Probably not.
“I don’t know,” Corbin answered. “We’ve never been to the Serafina Kingdom.”
“That means we’re once again reliant on you,bellana,” Lange drawled, and Eviana shrugged, pushing to a sitting position.
She climbed onto the bench, pushing onto her tiptoes. It allowed her to just see out of the small rectangular window. Nothing had changed since the last time she’d looked out, and she said as much when she answered, “Still just trees.”
“They’re not just trees,” Lange said, sitting up himself and reaching for a bag of food they’d been given. It hadn’t been much. Deli sandwiches. Fruit. Cheese. Water. He fished out a small bag of carrot sticks, opening it up.
“The trees aren’t the problem,” she replied, leaping lightly off the bench before beginning to move from one end of the space to the other.
“Stop doing that,” Lange muttered. “It makes me uneasy.”
“That’s unfortunate for you,” she said, not ceasing her movements.
She knew exactly where they were though. Just as she’d predicted, they’d traveled around the Dreamlock Woods. Actually, they’d given the woods a larger berth than she’d thought they would, adding more days to this trip than she’d anticipated. They’d stopped in cities along the way so the transporters could rest and eat. That was when they were allowed to use restrooms, under supervision of course. They had to put bands on whenever they left the truck, but the moment they were locked behind the warded doors again, they removed each other’s.
But the Serafina Estate was maybe a day’s travel away now, and they needed to get out of here and into the woods before they passed it.
“How many times have you been here?” Corbin asked, his hazel eyes tracking her progress back and forth.
“Why does that matter?” she replied.
“Just trying to gauge if we have any idea what to expect. I’m from the Anala Kingdom. Lange is from Falein. We were both at Celeste and then Arius. All the kingdoms are different, and this is the only one we’ve never stepped foot in.”
“The Serafina Kingdom is?—”
But she went still, sucking in a sharp breath. Frozen. She felt entirely frozen for several seconds, unable to breathe out. As though she was being attacked by a water and an air Fae at the same time, but this wasn’t that.
She moved with purpose then, leaping back onto the bench to peer out the window. The Source bond and all its facets were still blocked, but she didn’t need a bond to know the oppressive shadows drifting about like a fine mist were Valter. She’d know his magic anywhere.
“We need to get out of here,” she said tightly, stepping back down from the bench.
“If we could do that, we would have done so already,” Lange said dryly.
“It wasn’t time until now,” she replied, efficiently packing up the backpack. She slipped a couple sets of bands into the bag and pulled out the glove Lev had slipped to her. “You two need to create a diversion. Get them to stop the truck.”
They stared back at her as though she’d just spoken in an ancient language.
“Get them to stop the truck, and I’ll get us out,” she said, her power thrumming with excitement at the prospect of being unleashed after weeks and weeks of being trapped.
“You’ll get us out,” Corbin repeated, those intuitive eyes narrowing. “You’ve been able to get us out this entire time?”
“Not while the truck is moving.”
“But you can… Why did you wait?”
“Because she set this all up,” Lange said, venom in every word as he got to his feet. He prowled forward, and that darkness she’d been contemplating earlier spiked. He looked more like a predator as he towered over her, his teeth bared.
He looked like a primal Fae, the way they were always meant to be. Not submissive beings who answered to the Legacy of gods. Not tamed creatures, bowing and serving.
She started when he reached out and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, holding her stare as he said, “She set you up to be captured back in that town. I couldn’t figure out why until now. You’re trying to get somewhere.”
Eviana scowled, shoving his hand away from her face, but Corbin was there too. Both of them advanced until she was up against the wall of the truck. They hit another bump, and she stumbled, falling into Corbin’s chest, but Lange shoved her backhard enough that the back of her head slammed into the truck wall.
Lange gripped her chin fully now, his fingers squeezing in an all too familiar way. Each word was laced with a quiet fury as he said, “You’ve put our lives at risk. I know you don’t give a single fuck about anyone else, but you’re going to tell us what exactly we’re giving our lives for, Eviana. You’re going to tell us now, or we’re not doing shit.”
“Lange,” Corbin said, a low sternness to his tone.
