House of Gilded Nightmares: An Enemies-to-Lovers Fantasy Romance (Dark Fae Guardian Book 1) by Aurora Grey

Author:Aurora Grey [Grey, Aurora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The next day finds Zyren once again quiet and seemingly lost in his own thoughts. My dreams had been uneventful, and I’m beyond grateful to see the first rays of dawn.

By midday, we reach a snowy ridgeline that requires Zyren to dismount and lead Arrow slowly across. The edges of the mountain drop dizzyingly to each side, making my head spin if I look too closely. I manage my balance by fixing my eyes on a spot on the horizon, the silver lake that marks Selaye. With each day that passes it grows larger, our destination ever imminent.

We’re about halfway across the ridge when Zyren stops and looks behind us, his eyes narrowing.

“What is it?”

“There’s a group of riders behind us.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It depends,” he replies, voice gruff.

It takes another hour to traverse the steep ridgeline, after which we descend into a valley of evergreen trees, patches of which are blackened by lightning. The slopes are dotted with red flowers that remind me of blood. We’re about to stop for a quick bite of bread and to let Arrow rest when Zyren places a gloved hand over his brow and squints into the distance again. This time, he lets out a low growl.

I turn and follow his gaze to see that the riders are still visible, though now they’ve drawn closer. I can make out a few details, namely that they all wear black tunics with some sort of red emblem on the front I can’t decipher at this distance.

“We need to keep moving,” Zyren says, swinging into the saddle behind me again.

I’m prevented from asking questions when he urges Arrow into a canter, the wind pulling any words from my mouth. Zyren guides us into the trees rather than continuing down the straighter path along the valley floor. We continue for a quarter hour, crossing out of the valley and into the next, where we climb a steep path up the neighboring mountain.

At the apex of the path, where we can see down into the valley we’d just traveled from, as well as down into valley ahead, Zyren steers Arrow around a large boulder and then dismounts. “Stay here.”

He jogs the way we’d just come, peering back down the path. After several moments, he comes running back around the corner and leaps up behind me. He kicks Arrow into a gallop, flying down the path ahead at breakneck speed.

When we reach the floor of the next valley, he opens her up even more, aiming for the cliffs on the opposite side. The wind rips at my eyes and forces its way into my lungs, and my heart pounds in my chest as loudly as Arrow’s hoofbeats on the stone. I can’t imagine what has Zyren so shaken, and that makes me very frightened indeed.

Zyren guides us straight for the cliffs. It looks as if we’re going to gallop right into the side of them. But at the last moment, I see a small cave opening and Zyren urges Arrow into it, barely slowing.

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