Tale of the Heart Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos #4)

Chapter 32

C HAPTER 32

NADIR

O nce Lor and I dress in our borrowed clothing, we head back downstairs. I still don’t have any way to pay the innkeeper, but I’m hoping I can convince her money is coming her way. I’ll make up for our imposition later.

We brush past the bar and head for the door.

“Where are you—” the innkeeper asks, but I raise a hand.

“As I said, you will be compensated for our presence.”

She plants her hands on her hips and gives me a dubious look.

“Just not today,” I say with a smile. “But you will.”

She looks towards a man in the corner who watches us both, his eyes shadowed by a hood. Some goon she hires to pummel anyone skipping out on their bill .

“Your friend there doesn’t stand a chance against me,” I say, and the innkeeper raises an eyebrow. “This would be much less messy if you’d just believe me.”

“Please,” Lor says. “We will send you something. I swear it. We’ve run into some trouble and lost our things, but I promise we’re good for it.”

Whatever she sees in Lor’s face causes the woman’s expression to soften.

“Fine, then,” the innkeeper says. “May you be cursed if you’re lying.”

Lor gives her a smile. “Absolutely. Get in line.”

The woman’s eyebrows scrunch together, and Lor’s face stretches into a grin. The woman waves us off, and if we had more time, I’m pretty sure Lor would convince her to pay us instead.

We stumble into the street and look around to find our bearings. The innkeeper revealed we aren’t far from Aphelion, but it will take us a few days to get there on foot.

We’ll need some provisions for our trip back. I don’t think I should fly us. I’m worried . . . I say to her through our bond.

My eyes cast upwards towards the heavens. As long as we don’t call for her, she shouldn’t be able to summon or see us, but hovering in the sky feels a little too close to her dominion. I don’t really know if that’s how it works, but caution is probably wise. However, I was relieved to find I could use my magic again and that she doesn’t have that kind of sway over me on the surface.

I have a feeling she’ll try to get me back up there somehow , I add with a shudder .

Lor comes up and places a hand on my chest. You understand that no one is taking you from me either . I’ll destroy her if she so much as touches another hair on your head.

I clasp my hand over hers and then wrap my arm around her waist.

You make my knees weak when you talk like that .

She snorts a laugh. I mean it.

I know you do, Lightning Bug. I mean it too.

She has no idea just how much I mean it. I thought I lost her when I was stuck up in that prison in the sky. I thought she hated me. I thought it was the end, and I never want to know that feeling again. I love her with every piece of my heart and will do anything to protect her.

“Lor!” comes a voice that has us both spinning around, instantly on edge. A familiar figure runs towards us, and the sight is so incongruent that it takes a moment for my brain to catch up.

“Willow!” Lor screams, and then she starts running too. They clash in the middle of the street, wrapping their arms around one another.

“Where have you been?” Willow cries as she hugs her sister.

“What are you doing here?” Lor asks at the same time.

Out of the crowd emerge three more figures—Mael, Amya, and Tristan—that make my heart squeeze. “Thank Zerra,” Amya says, throwing her arms around me. “I thought he was finally going to finish you.”

“I’m not that easy to kill, little sister,” I say, and she gives me a watery smile .

“I know that.”

Mael claps me on the back, and then we embrace. “I’m so fucking glad you aren’t dead,” he says.

“Don’t get mushy on me.”

He laughs, and then we join Lor and her siblings. Lor hugs both of them, too.

“What are you doing here?” she asks again, and then they fill us in on what’s been happening in Aphelion.

“What a disaster,” Lor says.

“You could say that again,” Mael agrees. “Gabriel looks like he wants to hurl himself off a cliff.”

“We need to go and see him,” Lor says. “Do you think they’ve tracked down Atlas?”

She looks around like he might suddenly appear in the middle of the street.

“The warders will find him,” Amya says, sensing her apprehension.

“Where have you two been?” Tristan asks. “What happened?”

Lor sighs. “That is a very long story.”

“Do you have any money?” I ask Mael. “We had to impose on the innkeeper’s good graces.”

“Of course,” Mael says, digging into his pocket and pulling out a sack of coins.

“Excuse me a moment,” I say before I return to the inn. The innkeeper stands at the bar, pursing her lips together.

“As promised,” I say with a shit-eating grin before I deposit the sack on the countertop.

She lifts an eyebrow as she sidles over and lifts it, weighing it in her hand. It’s more than enough to cover our room and food for the night, and she knows it .

“And there will be more,” I say. “For your kindness. I don’t know what we would have done otherwise.”

She eyes me up and down and must decide I’m sincere because she finally cracks a reluctant smile.

“Who are you, anyway? A royal, I know, but who?”

“I’m . . . the Aurora Prince,” I say, and her eyes widen. “If you ever need a favor, you know where to find me.”

“Safe travels,” she says, and then I’m about to turn away when an explosion bursts in my ears, shaking the entire building. Screams echo from outside before a ball of fire shatters through a window, crashing into the middle of the long communal table bisecting the room.

Everyone jumps up, screaming while they scramble to escape. Outside, I see more balls of fire raining down on the village.

“Lor.” I dash outside, scanning the street. She’s running towards me, and I see Mael and the others trying to help everyone else find safety.

“We need to take cover,” she says, grabbing my hand as the six of us weave through the chaos.

“What’s happening?” Mael asks. “What is this?”

I look up at the sky to watch the falling balls of fire, and I know what’s causing this. Who is causing this.

We find a barn on the outskirts of the village. It’s not the best place to hide, but it’s made of stone and less likely to catch fire. Inside, we find a dozen people already huddled against the far wall.

“Lor, I don’t think we should hide with the others,” I say, pulling her back .

This is Zerra , I add through our bond.

Lor nods as she stares at the roof. Why can she see us? We didn ’ t call for her.

“What’s going on?” Tristan asks.

“You four stay here,” I say. “Take cover and wait this out.”

“Where are you two going?” Willow asks.

“We’re going to draw this away,” Lor replies.

“I don’t understand,” Amya says.

“We’ll explain everything after,” I say. “Meet us at the town gate after this dies down.”

If any of us survive, of course.

The building shudders at the impact of another fireball, and everyone jumps.

“Nadir,” Mael says with a warning in his voice. “What are you doing?”

“Just . . . trust us,” I say. “We’ll see you soon.”

Then I look at Lor, and we turn and start running, heading for the forest. Maybe we can find somewhere to hide. We weave through the trees, attempting to escape as Zerra’s fire rains from the sky.