Mated (The Queen's War #1)

Chapter 34

Perci cursed as she slid down the smooth blueish tiles of the roof she ran over. In the darkness it was difficult to tell where moss or flatter parts of it were, even though the moonlight was bright. The shadows cast by the buildings were a stark black, which helped her hide from prying seraph eyes as much as it hampered her fleeing. Cerberus was quick to follow her as instead of trying to stop the momentum of falling to the pavement, Perci moved her body to land in a crouch that jarred her knees.

They had been running over the rooftops of the closely packed buildings of Elysia for close to an hour now and the sounds of the knights had faded completely. She hoped that Daphne was right and that she was too valuable to punish for harbouring a killer, but there was little Perci could do to help. Her demonic presence still hadn't become known, and she desperately needed that to stay for as long as possible.

Cerberus jumped up onto the low wall as she straightened and leant back to catch her breath. Her body was lined with a slight sheen of sweat and her heart continued to race though it was more to do with fear than exertion.

Elysia's castle in a wreath of smoke, its doors open wide. Cerberus and Perci running through them.

With a tired smile, Perci ran her hands over Cerberus' back after he sent the image into her mind.

"Yeah, we're going to the castle." She sighed and eyed the central point of the city that if she had to hazard a guess, they were probably still about an hour's walk off. "But we won't be going through the front doors, so we'll have to magic up a plan somehow."

Cerberus snarling at faceless knights whilst Perci sneaking through the front doors behind.

"Unfortunately, that might be the only option we have." Perci worried her lip between her teeth.

She was torn between not wanting Cerberus to come to any harm and her need to get this awful expedition over with. Daphne had pointed her in the direction of the castle for a reason and she'd been putting faith in Seers thus far, so why not a bit further?

"C'mon, let's go. We shouldn't stay in one place too long."

Perci led the way through the maze of empty, dark streets until finally they stood on a corner that opened up to a main road of shops. A few bars and restaurants were still open though only a few stragglers and last call patrons remained.

"Stay out of sight, if someone recognises you, we're done for." She said to Cerberus quietly.

Without argument the familiar backtracked down the road and used various walls to jump higher and higher until he disappeared onto the roof. Perci waited until she saw his head peek over the edge to walk out onto the street.

No one paid her any mind as she walked beneath the awnings of the establishments and the covered bridges that connected the buildings either side of the road. However, it was as she spied one of the stone staircases that would take her to the raised walkway at the edge of Gessan Quarter, that something began to itch in her senses. It was nearly impossible to strangle the urge to look over her shoulder, but she succeeded. At least she did until she heard the unmistakable sounds of boots thudding against the ground.

Charging down the street in full knight's armour was a beefy seraph who eyed her like prey. Her eyes widened in horror as she whipped around to run as fast as she could and she bee-lined for a side street instead of going for the staircase. Somehow the knights who found Eberhert had found her and she didn't know how, but if she was caught she was dead. Especially since she couldn't get her eyes to stop glowing orange. In the darkness, they were pinpricks of light. To avoid any seraph seeing her lapse of control, she ducked into a side-street and took turns at random.