Page 108 of Kiss of Fire

With a groan he shut that train of thought down. It couldn’t be true. And it didn’t explain Tor’s disappearance.

Unless they’d come up here together and he had tried to catch her when she fell, and they had both…

“Enough!”

He roared at himself, sickened by the way his mind kept turning to the worst case scenario. He couldn’t afford to think like that. The idea of her being in pain, the chance that she might be dead - these notions were not tolerable.

With a howl of frustration he leapt from the window, forcing himself to confront one possibility of what had happened to Raya.

He let himself fall until he neared the bottom of the gorge, thinking that if he saw a body lying there, if he saw the unthinkable, he would simply let himself keep falling. He wouldn’t unfurl his wings.

He saw a body.

Frozen in shock, he hurtled towards it. He didn’t believe it at first. The enormity of it was too much. But it was there. A tiny figure lying motionless on the riverbank.

His thoughts turned bleak.I will join her. And we will be together.

But then he saw it wasn’t Raya. It was the Sylvan. He lay face-down, the cloth of his tunic a mess of scarlet. Something was sticking out of his back and there was a trail of black-red blood behind him, as if he’d dragged himself along the bank.

Shade back-beat the air furiously to keep from crashing into the ground. He landed clumsily, too fast and too hard, and it knocked the breath from him. He dissolved his wings and raced to the Sylvan’s side.

“Torven,” he said. “Torven, what happened? Where’s Raya?”

Incredibly, Tor’s eyes fluttered open. He was pale, his breath shallow. He tried to focus but his eyes were bloodshot, the pupils dilated. He muttered something and Shade bent to hear.

“Aelfric. Aelfric’s got her.”

And a vice closed over his heart.

Forty One

Silas was relieved when they reached the outskirts of Feyir. They were safe here. The Fae Court was deep within the forest and even if the jinn tracked them here, he wouldn’t enter. Not without an army. And only a fool would bring an army to face Aelfric on his home turf.

It was another hour before they reached the court. The sun had long since set and the trees loomed over them, dark with shadows. The forest was filled with strange creatures but none dared to approach the centaur and his passengers. They were under Aelfric’s protection.

Raya came to as Bellemar hauled her off the centaur’s back. He slung her over his shoulder and carried her into the court. From her position Raya could only see the floor. White marble, so white it hurt her eyes. She could hear the goatish hooves clopping on the stone.

They went up some stairs, her head bouncing at every step. At last she was lowered none too gently onto the floor. Now she could see only see the ceiling. More white marble. The place looked like the inside of a fridge.

“At last we meet. It’s been too long.”

The voice was pleasant, almost musical, but it set Raya’s teeth on edge. As if there was an underlying note of discord which she couldn’t quite hear.

“Get the imobilis thorns out of her hand. Let her stand up.”

Bellemar squatted next to her and forced her hand open. It had been clutched so tightly for so long that she could feel her finger bones protesting. He grasped the stem and yanked it out, the thorn wounds reopening on her palm. But the flow of blood eased the effects of the toxin and sensation flooded back into her limbs.

She gasped and rolled onto her side, her whole body aching from being in one position for so many hours. She had the impression of a crowd of people watching her, then she curled up into a ball, desperately trying to relieve the tension in her muscles.

“What’s wrong with her?” The musical voice sounded querulous.

“She has been frozen in place for hours, sire,” Silas said, bowing its head respectfully. “And it was a difficult journey to get here.”

“My child, get up. Let me take a look at you.”

She didn’t know if she could stand, but the voice was difficult to resist. The note of discord had gone - or maybe she’d just imagined it. All she heard now was a lyrical tone of purest silver which tugged at her soul. Painfully, she staggered to her feet and turned to face its owner.

She caught her breath. The room was filled with the most glorious people she’d ever seen in her life.

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