float away on the river, and I’ll never have to marry Nigel.
My foot hits a rock. I stumble and try to stop myself, but there’s nothing to grab on to. Charles turns, but it’s too late. I fall, fall, fall to the ground. My right hand smacks against the ground first, gashing in my wrist with a snap. At the pain, shock screams from me, bounding out into the world. Charles kneels beside me, putting an arm around me. Control returns after only a brief yet agonizing moment. I clamp my mouth shut, but the damage is already done. My ears still ring from my scream.
I look at my wrist through blurry tears. It’s already a little swollen.
“Sorry,” I mouth to Charles. He doesn’t respond, staring back into the forest from where we came, listening. Following his example, I strain to hear sign of pursuit. Nothing. No one heard my lapse of control. Some of the tension eases from me as he helps me from the ground.
“ We’ll take care of your wrist in—” His eyes widen on something behind me.
I turn. A bright gold spell zips from the forest, shooting straight for me.
Chapter Nine
“ G o!” Charles yells, pushing me toward the river.
I stumble but don’t fall again, managing to run as soon as I catch myself. My feet twist in the rocks and the ground rushes toward me again. Charles grabs my uninjured hand and pulls me up. He keeps a hold of me as we charge toward the riverside. But it’s too late. The gold spell slams into my back. A shock slices through my entire body.
After the initial jolt, there’s no other sensation. Something should be happening. The fact it’s not is more frightening than if the usual pain from hexes accompanied it.
“ What’s it doing?” I ask, voice shaky. “Is it on me?”
“ It’s there,” Charles says between breaths. “Think it's from your ribbon. It’s leaving a trail to find you.”
“ Cripes.” I turn back and see a faint glow of orange light hovering in the air, leading straight to me.
“ Just run.”
My legs no longer feel as if they can carry me. The spell darts faster than before. Between gasps of breath I say, “Go without me. They’ll catch me. Save yourself.”
He doesn’t say anything, but his grip around my arm tightens. I don’t have breath left to argue with him.
The river is a rush of sound. I’m no longer grateful for its ability to cover noise. How far away are they? How much farther will we be able to make it before they catch us? I won’t go back without a fight.
We reach the riverside, bushes everywhere. Charles picks up several of them and throws them. Boat? This is no boat. The thing looks more like it’s only useful for housing bugs, not a vessel to safely carry two people down a river. There is a hole in the side and the boards look worn, ready to break under my weight. Lovely.
The worst part is the current. It’s moving fast—fast enough that when this thing falls apart, I won’t survive. I doubt I could survive it anyway without knowing how to swim. That’s if we even get away before the warlocks unleash more hexes on us.
Charles unties the rowboat from a tree and pushes it halfway into the water.
“ Get in and hold on,” he calls back.
Despite the strong urge to do otherwise, I promptly get in the boat and tightly grip the side with my good hand. The hole is bigger than I first expected, but at least it is high enough that nothing is coming in. Yet. This is their escape plan? Or at least their escape plan for people like me who are unlikely to survive.
Charles throws a coil of rope into the bottom of the rowboat, shoves it fully into the water, and swings over the side. The current takes control, pulling us downstream. The tracking spell follows us over the churning white river. It may be tracking me, but they can’t follow without another boat. For a tiny moment I think we might make it.
As I watch the tracking spell follow us on to the river, there’s another flash of vivid blue off in the
My foot hits a rock. I stumble and try to stop myself, but there’s nothing to grab on to. Charles turns, but it’s too late. I fall, fall, fall to the ground. My right hand smacks against the ground first, gashing in my wrist with a snap. At the pain, shock screams from me, bounding out into the world. Charles kneels beside me, putting an arm around me. Control returns after only a brief yet agonizing moment. I clamp my mouth shut, but the damage is already done. My ears still ring from my scream.
I look at my wrist through blurry tears. It’s already a little swollen.
“Sorry,” I mouth to Charles. He doesn’t respond, staring back into the forest from where we came, listening. Following his example, I strain to hear sign of pursuit. Nothing. No one heard my lapse of control. Some of the tension eases from me as he helps me from the ground.
“ We’ll take care of your wrist in—” His eyes widen on something behind me.
I turn. A bright gold spell zips from the forest, shooting straight for me.
Chapter Nine
“ G o!” Charles yells, pushing me toward the river.
I stumble but don’t fall again, managing to run as soon as I catch myself. My feet twist in the rocks and the ground rushes toward me again. Charles grabs my uninjured hand and pulls me up. He keeps a hold of me as we charge toward the riverside. But it’s too late. The gold spell slams into my back. A shock slices through my entire body.
After the initial jolt, there’s no other sensation. Something should be happening. The fact it’s not is more frightening than if the usual pain from hexes accompanied it.
“ What’s it doing?” I ask, voice shaky. “Is it on me?”
“ It’s there,” Charles says between breaths. “Think it's from your ribbon. It’s leaving a trail to find you.”
“ Cripes.” I turn back and see a faint glow of orange light hovering in the air, leading straight to me.
“ Just run.”
My legs no longer feel as if they can carry me. The spell darts faster than before. Between gasps of breath I say, “Go without me. They’ll catch me. Save yourself.”
He doesn’t say anything, but his grip around my arm tightens. I don’t have breath left to argue with him.
The river is a rush of sound. I’m no longer grateful for its ability to cover noise. How far away are they? How much farther will we be able to make it before they catch us? I won’t go back without a fight.
We reach the riverside, bushes everywhere. Charles picks up several of them and throws them. Boat? This is no boat. The thing looks more like it’s only useful for housing bugs, not a vessel to safely carry two people down a river. There is a hole in the side and the boards look worn, ready to break under my weight. Lovely.
The worst part is the current. It’s moving fast—fast enough that when this thing falls apart, I won’t survive. I doubt I could survive it anyway without knowing how to swim. That’s if we even get away before the warlocks unleash more hexes on us.
Charles unties the rowboat from a tree and pushes it halfway into the water.
“ Get in and hold on,” he calls back.
Despite the strong urge to do otherwise, I promptly get in the boat and tightly grip the side with my good hand. The hole is bigger than I first expected, but at least it is high enough that nothing is coming in. Yet. This is their escape plan? Or at least their escape plan for people like me who are unlikely to survive.
Charles throws a coil of rope into the bottom of the rowboat, shoves it fully into the water, and swings over the side. The current takes control, pulling us downstream. The tracking spell follows us over the churning white river. It may be tracking me, but they can’t follow without another boat. For a tiny moment I think we might make it.
As I watch the tracking spell follow us on to the river, there’s another flash of vivid blue off in the
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