The Shadows of Royalty

Time is Running Out

-Unedited-

"Kitten."

I didn't want to snap out of the blissful state I was in...For once darkness seemed to bring me the relief I have been searching for all this time.

"Kitten!"

This time the voice frantically dug into the back of my mind, clawing at my eardrums. But it has been a long time since I was in peace, alone, not bothered or with any lingering burdens. Why now?

"Kitten!"

This time the shrill seemed too real to not notice. A sharp exhale plunged from my mouth, my eyes widening, my lips parting, seeping air.

"What?" I gasped the warmth from the blanket running cold out from my grasp. I was still in the Leopard's Liar, not in my chambers.

Alec, had been roughly shaking my shoulders by now. He pushed a small vial into my hand. "You have to leave, they are coming!" He whispered, his voice stuttering in fear. Fear?

I knew better than to believe he was mortified. He was rather afraid for my life. How sweet.

"What why?"

He shook his head pulling me up to my feet. "They are coming for you! They know I'm helping you, if you want to make it you have to escape this very second. You have 15 seconds to make it out of this building before you are surrounded. Now go!" This time his voice wasn't soft or calming, but rather strident and gruff, commanding me.

I take no chance and hop up, collecting my stuff in milliseconds. I tuck the vial into my bag, securing it.

Without this, there would be no point in living anyways...the guilt.

Alec swipes the duvet from my neck, tossing it aside and leading me to outside his door. His fiery lavender orbs silently bid me goodbye. "Hurry, go down the stairs and take a sharp left, keep going and open the last door on your right. There will be an exit from the back. I had already summoned your shadow horse to wait for you at the door. Leave, 8 more seconds to go before they arrive. They've caught your scent."

What scent?

His fingers push me forward, and I stumble downright. Right before he closes the door, I catch it with the tip of my foot. "Thank you," I murmur. His eyes soften before furiously narrowing. "Idiot."

I was a true idiot by words. An idiot. They have arrived. I push my feet to accelerate, each stride pushing my hamstrings until I felt the sizzling burns engulfing through the muscles of my thighs. I slam into a sharp left after jumping a whole set of stair.

"Over there!"

Crap. My fingers curl onto the last door onto the right, wasting no time to jam it open, just to stumble right through it.

I shriek uncurls from my lips, when something aimlessly muzzled my back. The silent night was already a dark chop shop of eerie terror.

A sign of relief escapes my lips when I attentively realize that it was CakePop.

"Come on," I whispered, swinging my legs over the saddle, holding on to the shadowy reigns.

Without protest, CakePop launches onto the night, its legs accelerating faster, preparing to ascend into the air. The moment my head swings up I realize that we were not in the sector anymore, but rather thrown into a dark ominous forest. Where were the streets that we lurked in or the Leopard's liar? It had diminished into thin air, wrapped around the shadows lingering between us. Wasting no time, CakePop dashes into the forest, it being our only pathway.