Keeper of Storms (The Fallen Fae #3) - Jenna Wolfhart Page 0,57
her face and braided hair, but she did not seem to notice it. “As soon as the gates opened, he was off like a dog in heat. Seemed pretty intent on getting inside that city.”
“And to that throne.” An iron fist gripped her soul, threatening to pound her into the ground. “Has anyone seen my dagger?”
“Aye. Here.” The air fae pulled it from his waistband and tossed it her way. She caught it with her right hand, relaxing when her fingers seemed to work without issue, even though she swore she’d heard her bones break. “But, princess, if I were you, I wouldn’t—”
“Find all your captains and warn them that the wood fae have been feasting on blood. They’ll be a lot harder to defeat than we thought.” The battle still raged on behind them, screams and clashing steel ringing through the night. “You need a strategy to beat them. Not an all-out battle like this. Or you need to pull back and wait for the blood magic to wear off.”
She turned to go, her eyes locking on that black stone wall. Lorcan was inside. And the wood king was going to kill him.
“Wait, princess.” The warrior reached out toward her.
But she was off, her feet pounding hard against the soot. The air fae would be fine, she told herself. There was little she could do to help them. One more fighter would make little difference, not without her Seelie powers. She had to get to Lorcan. The king was on his way to the castle. If she didn’t reach him in time…
She pumped her arms faster. Her lungs burned as she sucked in great gasping breaths of air. In the distance, the gates of Findius loomed wide, a sight that shook her bones.
Why had he done it? Why had Lorcan given up?
Didn’t he get her letter? He would have known that hope was on the way.
An alarming thought sprang up in her mind. Maybe Lorcan never got her letter. It would explain so much. If he never received it, he wouldn’t have known that help was on its way.
It explained Wingallock’s long absence. He’d never even made it to Lorcan’s side. Had her familiar gotten lost? Her heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t be dead. No matter how broken and tired she was, Reyna could still feel her familiar as if his very soul was threaded together with hers. He was alive. And he had not been harmed.
But he had never made it to Lorcan’s side.
“Fuck.” Reyna’s heavy boots churned through the soot. With ragged breaths, she raced beneath the shadow of the looming wall and did not slow even as she reached the entrance to Findius. Set amidst the black stone, two small iron gates hung wide on their hinges, tunnelling into darkness. A single fae, clad in shadowsteel armor, was sprawled across the ground just beyond it. His head had been cleaved right off his body. She didn’t spot it anywhere nearby.
The wood king had let his intentions be known. He had gone into this city as an enemy. As a conquerer. He did not intend to rule with peace.
Tears burned her eyes as she rushed through the tunnel. Her heart was in her throat, struggling to beat. How long had it been since the king had come through here? Was she too late? Had he already reached the castle?
When she ran out the other end of the tunnel, she found herself in a courtyard, empty save for two gaunt shadow fae huddling together beneath a stone statue. They shivered, despite the cloying heat, as if their frail forms were breaking down. Cold had seeped into their very bones.
Heart pounding, she rushed past them. She wished she could offer them hope, but she did not think she had any left to pass around. Dread coiled around her heart, its venomous fangs ready to strike. She rushed up the winding stairs, flew through the castle past a startled druid, and flung herself past the guards outside the throne room doors. They did not make a move to stop her.
Her pounding feet was the only sound in the lofted throne room. Everyone else was silent and still, including the crowned king who knelt on the stone dais. His midnight hair curled around a face that was bowed before Ulaid Molt, who stood in the center of the room. Shadows writhed around his body, obscuring most of him from view. Reyna’s heart nearly bolted out of her chest.