Folkloric Fae by Karenza Grant

Author:Karenza Grant [Grant, Karenza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: L’Ours Books

Chapter 8

Fur filled my mouth and weight pressed down on my chest.

“Get off me,” I growled.

There were mutters of “Sorry there, miss” and “Excuse the, umm… paws.” The sarra-maucas jumped off and I sprang up.

I was back in the tower again, as expected. My eyes lingered on the fine figure of the man as he quirked his lips, about to say something. Then I darted to the window, grabbed the telescope and checked Inès. The maloumbro covered her almost entirely. Only a small gap in the billowing darkness remained, Inès’s arm and the edge of her body just visible. I could feel the shadow’s chill, its lifelessness, and I knew, without a doubt, I had to get her away from it.

I scrambled out of the window and down the tower, moving too quickly for the moths to bite. With a burst of speed, I ran along the parapet, descended the stairs to the side passage and paused before the black roses, the sword glinting on the far wall. The sylph could have been a ruse to delay me, to give the roses an opportunity to barricade the passage. Or had she truly been trying to help? If she was there again, I couldn’t risk not taking the key if it might be of use. And if I didn’t get to Inès… well, I wasn’t sure there would be another chance.

My body trembling with the prospect of another awful demise, I hauled in deep breaths and held the last, then bolted along the passage, passing the sylph, who dangled the key from an outstretched hand. “So sorry about last time,” she called. “I had no idea what that scoundrel had planned.”

I grabbed the sword and sped back up the passage. The roses had already closed in, almost completely covering the exit. I snatched the key from the sylph’s hand without slowing and ran for the thorns. The stems had interlocked, although the barrier wasn’t yet thick and layered like yesterday. My chest tightened as I hacked at it, slicing through stem after stem, my lungs on fire. A few more slashes and I’d made a gap, then a hole big enough to squeeze through, but the tendrils continued unfurling. I chopped at them, then forced myself through the hole. Thorns ripped my clothes and tore my skin, but I was through.

I pelted along the corridor, my head spinning with lack of oxygen, my chest screaming that I had to breathe, yet I hung on. It wasn’t until I’d passed the roses that, still running, I gasped a massive breath. I sped to the closest window and flung myself over the side, hauling breath after breath, desperate for fresh air.

I’d done it. As my breath slowed, I turned and slid to the floor, my back against the wall, my body slackening with relief. The sword fell from my grip but the ribbon with the ornate silver key was caught around my fingers. I untangled the ribbon, looped it over my head and tucked the key inside my top.

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