Page 50 of Heartless Enemy

It wasn’t particularly useful in battle since raising that much metal and also forming the steps properly took too much time. Holding that amount of summoned metal also required a lot of energy. It would have been easier to just shape a pile of metal that was already here, but since people didn’t usually have mounds of steel lying around outside their defensive walls, I had to spend time summoning it myself instead.

Once I was done, Eve tore her gaze from the now fully formed stairs and blinked at me. “Wow. That’s useful.”

Still keeping a grip on my magic, I chuckled and then jerked my chin. “Let’s get going.”

She nodded and then hurried up the steps. I followed.

When we reached the top half, we crouched down while closing the final distance so that we wouldn’t stand out against the sky behind. Staying on the steps, we peeked over the edge.

A deserted garden stared back at us. Fallen leaves covered the grass like a blanket, and the bushes that formed what I assumed was some kind of artful pattern now rattled their barren branches in the cold winds.

I quickly scanned the area again.

No guards.

“Climb onto the top of the wall,” I said while still sweeping my gaze back and forth in case this was just a temporary hole in the guards’ perimeter.

Eve did as I said immediately. Drawing myself up, I settled my weight on the wall as well. Then I let the massive metal steps fade into nothingness.

While keeping one eye on our surroundings, I summoned a round metal pole from the ground below. Eve just smiled knowingly. Then she grabbed it and pushed off from the wall, using the metal pole to slide to the ground. I followed as soon as her feet were on the ground.

My heart leaped into my throat as a man started rounding the corner to my left when I was only halfway down the pole.

Eve snapped her gaze to the man too.

I released my magic, free falling the final distance, while Eve slapped her hands together. I was just about to tell her not to kill him, because it would be too difficult to hide, when she summoned wind magic instead.

A jolt shot through my bones as I landed hard on the ground.

The guard was almost around the corner now.

Leaves whirled through the air.

Before I could even recover my balance, Eve grabbed my arm and yanked me down on the ground. Our stomachs hit the cold grass a second before the guard cleared the corner. But his gaze was not aimed in our direction. Instead, he was looking towards the wall on his left.

Then my view of him disappeared as a mass of leaves settled over us.

I almost laughed. Out of all the things we could have done to hide, we went with lying on the ground inside a pile of fallen leaves. Though, if it worked, it didn’t matter how stupid it was.

Eve’s body was lying flush against mine.

Shifting my gaze from the yellow and brown leaves around us, I turned it back to Eve. Her face was so close to mine that I could feel her warm breath against my skin. And despite the absolutely ridiculous situation we were in, I couldn’t help the warmth that spread through my chest when she grinned victoriously at me. All I wanted to do was to kiss that wicked mouth of hers.

But that would cause the leaves covering us to shift, and the footsteps from the guard were still audible, so I forced myself to remain still.

Eve’s eyes sparkled as she watched me.

“Well, isn’t this cozy,” she mouthed at me.

I suppressed a laugh.

Chapter20

Staying close to the wall, we peeked into a window on the ground floor of the castle. It had taken some time to find a spot where no guards patrolled. But here, along the back of the structure, seemed to be a blind spot. At least for now.

I studied the room on the other side of the glass.

Warm firelight bathed the whole room in a cozy glow and reflected against a mass of pots and pans. There were two ovens on the wall to the left, and some sinks on the other. The middle part of the room was mostly made up of wooden counters with white marble tops.

---