Smolder (Crown of Fae #3) - Sharon Ashwood Page 0,34

to catch it with her paws. Leena closed her eyes, spirit reeling under one more blow. Tears spilled down her numb cheeks, but they relieved nothing.

No. The one word was all the prayer she had. She couldn’t bear to lose another friend.

But she would lose and lose, just as she had lost her home and family and everything familiar on the long march to Eldaban. It was happening again—unless she did something to strike back.

Yes, she’d wrest something from this situation. Save an innocent. Hurt the enemy. She wasn’t strong, but she was smart. Picking her moment was the key.

Leena compressed her grief into fury, needing that hot energy. She shot Kifi a quelling look, but the cat merely flicked her tail.

Oblivious, the general turned to Fionn. “You have been given your instructions. Do not fail and do not suffer anyone to stand in your way.”

The Shimmer had grown to the height of a man. It was more or less round and filled with a silvery cloud, like a mirror coated with steam. From where Leena stood, she saw that the Shimmer had no real depth, measuring only an inch or two in thickness. She took another step toward the chairs so she could view the front of it, horrified and fascinated at once.

Morran rose as well, as if there was still a sliver of curiosity buried beneath the Shade’s controlling spell. He stood transfixed, a frown of concentration on his handsome face.

The mist in the Shimmer began to clear, showing a confusion of buildings and people. The strangely dressed figures hurried past, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. The buildings were taller than any Leena had ever seen, some stretching halfway to the clouds. She drifted another step toward Morran, which brought her close enough to see the entire image. It struck her that the passersby were all human—not a pointed ear in sight.

Her concentration sharpened, shaking off some of the shock. Exiled fae hid in the human realms. Morran had mentioned the Shades were searching for someone named Barleycorn. Was he there?

She cast a sideways glance toward Morran, checking his reaction to the scene. The prince stood a few steps away from her, close enough to read his expression, but the only sign of life was the slow rise and fall of his chest.

“Come,” Juradoc ordered, beckoning with his bare, clawed fingers. Fionn crossed to stand before the Shimmer, his movements more like a puppet than a living creature.

The portal hung in the air like a bizarre painting, disjointed from the backdrop of the desert sky. The Shade pointed at the scene. “Fulfill your mission. Find John Barleycorn and bring him to me. He will join the Phoenix Prince as my guest until he gives me what I need.”

So this was to be a kidnapping, with the victim ending up a prisoner. Would his mind be shipwrecked as well? Leena uttered a soft moan as Fionn took a step toward the Shimmer. This was the worst of it—that Fionn would be responsible for a dreadful crime. Was he even her brother anymore?

Fionn stepped into the portal.

Leena’s hands made fists at her side as her muscles gathered to…

Kifi leaped forward, scampering between Juradoc’s feet and swiping the mirror with her paw. It spun, rocking on the uneven dirt. The image in the Shimmer cycled as well, the buildings going by in a blur. Fionn was already halfway through, only his back and one leg still visible. The rest had disappeared into the whirling image.

The general’s outraged shriek split the night, promising murder.

There was no time to think. Leena scooped up Kifi, gasping a little as the cat dug in her claws. Then she bounded to her right, and, with her free hand, grabbed Morran’s wrist.

He didn’t move, standing like an oak rooted deep in the earth.

“Please,” she cried, tugging hard.

All around them, black cloaks swirled in an angry cloud. Desperate, Leena yanked on Morran’s arm, and he lurched into motion.

Before Juradoc’s shout was over, they’d stumbled through the Shimmer into an unknown world.

12

Stepping through the Shimmer was not like passing through a door. One moment, Leena was racing for freedom, and the next, she was suspended in frozen, airless dark. This was not the dark of midnight, with starlight to break the obsidian sky. It was utter, absolute nothing. Her only sense of physical being was the solid bones of Morran’s wrist and the prick of Kifi’s claws.

Then, after a weightless pause, she dropped. The fall