the window with all of his might, and crashed through the bars with ease. His head and shoulders hovered over and protected me as we broke through the wall while chunks of stone exploded all around us. We hurled into flight, rocketed forward at lightning speed, gave gravity no chance to pull us downward. Spiraling through the air, we launched away from the castle and sailed over the beautiful sea of green.
The wind blowing my hair in every direction at once, I turned to peek over his shoulder, caught a last glimpse of the guard’s enraged face through the broken castle wall where we left him.
“They’re coming,” Gavin shouted as we made our way closer to the portal door. “Be ready to run when I tell you.”
I watched the same gardens and lush landscape fly past us, the castle no longer in sight, and I knew we were getting close. Dizzy, I fought to keep my eyes open. He suddenly dropped to the ground and landed us in a wide-open area of land, in front of a cozy, familiar garden.
“This maze leads you to the door. I took your energy, but I’m already getting weak, I need you to start running. I can keep you in sight and see what’s coming from behind us. Go!”
“I … don’t remember going through this. How will I know the way?”
“It’s for intruders, so they get lost. There’ll be more guards ahead, looking for us, and I need to keep what strength I have left. I’ll tell you the way, just go!”
I turned and darted through the maze’s entrance, hurried around the corners as Gavin shouted directions from behind me. The darkness added to the disorientation, and I fought against the dizziness. “Gavin?” I stumbled and slowed my pace, prayed it wouldn’t be much longer.
“Right here love,” he swooped in behind me, wrapped his arm around my waist to guide me. “Almost, hang in there.”
“Where are they? I thought you said they’d be here—”
“Camille! Right, then left! Hurry!” He flung me forward, turned to face the angry guard we’d escaped from. He appeared from overhead and collided with Gavin in midair. Hearing the impact, my adrenaline kicked in and I knew I had to run faster than I ever had before. I stopped cold when I saw the guard grab the silver knife from his cloak, watched helplessly as Gavin struggled to gain control of the weapon.
He dodged it as the guard stabbed at his chest, skillfully missing the attempted strike. He gave his attacker’s arm a hard blow and sent him flying backward into the trees, knocking the knife from his hand. Kneeling down to grab it, he froze.
“Camille! Wait.” His face lit up and he looked off into the distance, concentrated on something I couldn’t see.
“When you make the left, run to the center of the fountain and don’t move. Stay right there, do you understand? Go! There are more coming!”
“What about you?” I screamed, ready to flee.
“I’ll be fine, now leave!”
Though every instinct told me to stay, to help him, I had to trust him, I had to!
I bolted and banked a hard right, heard another dreadful crash from his direction. Peeling left toward the picturesque fountain, I yearned for the day vampires were only a figment of the imagination. What would we do when—or if—we escaped? The thought of life after an escape made me tremble, but I was certain the fate Samira had planned for us, if we stayed, was far worse.
When I reached the edge of the fountain, I spun around, looked for any signs of enemies. I could still hear Gavin scuffling with the guards in the near distance, and wondered how long I was supposed to wait for him. If Samira caught us now, the deal would be off. And I didn’t want to be around to suffer the repercussions.
“Well I knew you could be feisty, but I never saw this one coming.”
I looked around, and like a gallant soldier riding in on a white horse, there was Joel sailing toward me, ready to rescue me from yet another mess I managed to conjure up.
CHAPTER 17
Noble
“Joel?” I gasped, watched him fly over me and land on the edge of the fountain. He hopped down onto the grass and grabbed my arm, annoyed.
“Nice job, hon. What are ya tryin’ to do, get us all killed? Since when did you have a death wish?”
“What? I don’t, I—”
“Forget it, let’s go.”
“What about Gavin? And Gabe and Audrey—”
“You should’ve thought