A Court of Death and Retribution

chapter 26

I scrambled to pack up my belongings.

I felt the air become thin as I threw on my boots and started to form a new plan. The witches found me. How—I'm not sure... but Nyx told me as much. I didn't know how much time I had. I didn't even know if they were watching me now.

I stomped on the fire I built to put out the flame and swung my pack over my shoulder.

Okay... okay... I breathed in deep, calming, breaths so I could focus. Okay step one, fly to the Mortal Lands. Step two—

A twig snapped to the right of me. Everything in my body tensed as I flung myself behind a tree. Shit, shit, shit. Fuck the plan, I need to fly, I need to—

Movement to my left made my stomach drop. I looked around, but I couldn't see anything. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe.

I looked up to see the tree cover was too thick to fly through. I'm trapped.

So, I took off running in hopes that the direction I'm going is clear. It wouldn't be safe, seeing as it's the Autumn Court, but I'd rather take my chances with Beron than have the witches catch me.

I could feel my blood pounding through my eardrums. My lungs threatened to collapse as my panic struck me hard. It didn't matter how much sound I made as I tore through the brush of the forest and stumbled over roots that jutted out from the earth.

As panicked and in danger as I was, I didn't dare call out for Nyx. I didn't let him feel my emotions down the damn mating bond because he would be in as much danger as I was in. And if the witches already found me, it was too late.

I dug in my heals and sprinted faster through the forest as I heard more footsteps running after me. I kept looking up, waiting for a clearing in the trees so I could take off, but that was a fatal mistake. My boot caught on a root, and suddenly I was falling.

My face collided with dirt and I scrambled to push myself up and continue, but something sharp struck my hand, pinning it to the ground. I screamed in pain and saw the arrow protruding through my gloved hand.

An idea popped into my head, and I cursed myself for not thinking of it sooner. Using my other hand, I snapped the arrow and muffled a scream as I pulled my injured hand off of it. I spun to face my assailants, but I couldn't find them. Using my teeth, I tore off the glove of my uninjured hand and let the wind inside me turn black.

Breathing hard, I forced that magic through me until it was leaking through my palm and extending to the forest around me. Tree after tree withered and died, but I still hadn't found a single Witch.

"Show yourselves cowards." I barred my teeth and yelled.

A devious low chuckle to the right of me had me focusing my magic towards that witch, but I quickly learned that it was just a distraction. Another arrow flew towards me and struck my ungloved hand. I yelled in agony, but didn't have time to counter the attack as my eyes started to flutter.

I felt so dizzy.

They must've laced the arrowhead with something, because I felt my grip on reality stutter, then fade completely as I fell to the ground.

—

My cheek felt so cold. The chill spread through me as I slowly regained consciousness. I couldn't open my eyes—my eyelids felt too damn heavy. My body was against something hard, I was laying on my stomach...on a stone floor.

I forced any part of me that would listen to move, and felt a rush of excitement when my right pointer finger twitched. My lips parted and let loose a ragged breath, but that was all I could manage.