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

Chapter 67

C HAPTER 67

LOR

N either one of us really sleeps. As the light fades, the temperature drops, and Nadir and I cling to one another for warmth, making use of the threadbare blanket Herric provided. The wounds in my stomach start to heal, and the gash on Nadir’s shoulder looks better after a few hours of rest. At least Herric can’t stop our Fae healing.

Still, my stomach is empty and I’m exhausted from lack of sleep. In the hazy place between awake and asleep, I literally dream of sleep. Of a quiet room in a quiet cabin somewhere on top of a mountain, surrounded by miles of softly falling snow, where I can rest for days and wake up only to feed myself. I imagine Nadir next to me, his long dark hair spread over the pillow and the sheet tugged down to reveal his bare, chiseled torso .

I imagine curling up to him and basking in the warmth of his skin as sunlight falls over our bodies. I smell coffee and freshly baked bread that we share together under the covers before we make love until we fall asleep and then do it all over again.

I want it so much I can taste it.

“Lor,” he whispers as his mouth presses to the curve of my throat and to the dip of my collarbone. To the soft place below my navel. I snuggle deeper into soft white sheets, sighing in contentment.

“Lor, wake up.”

My eyes peel open, and reality crashes back in when my surroundings come back into focus.

“It’s starting to grow light out,” he says. I push myself up and rub my eyes as I roll my neck.

“Did you sleep at all?” I ask, noting the dark circles under his eyes and his pale cheeks.

“Not really. But I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” I reply. Neither of us is fine.

“No, but what are we going to do about it?”

I press my mouth together and shake my head, trying to hold in my tears.

“Let’s go. The sooner we get that rose, the sooner we can get the fuck out of here.” I’m about to protest that we have no chance of finishing this when he silences me with a look and clasps my chin between his finger and thumb. “We are getting out of here. There is no other alternative.”

“Okay,” I reply, wishing I could believe it.

He stands and then draws me up, and we wrap our arms around each other, holding one another for several long seconds.

“Come on.”

We pack up our meager possessions. I tuck my dagger into the sheath around my leg, and we emerge into the sunny morning. Or whatever this is.

Instead of the crowded stands, a mirrored dome now spreads over our heads, reflecting everything trapped beneath. Are the crowds still there, sitting beyond it? I close my eyes and embrace the freedom from their screams and cheers, basking in the comfort of the forest’s normal sounds: the rush of wind, the distant tumble of water, and the buzzing of insects.

“Where is everyone?” I whisper, and Nadir shakes his head.

“I suspect this is part of the game and intended to throw us off.”

Sticking close to the trees, we weave our way towards the mountain, and I can’t help the shiver that travels up the back of my neck. It feels like we’re being watched by a thousand invisible eyes rooting for our downfall.

We continue our journey to the center, keeping our sights trained on the distance and awaiting potential threats. The forest is dense and lush, filled with flowers and mushrooms. Trees hang with shiny red berries, and my mouth waters at the sight.

“What are the odds that any of these are edible?” I pluck one from a branch and hold it up to the light as if a warning might be etched into the tender skin.

“Oh, I bet some are. That’s the point. To taunt us.”

“What if I try it?” I suggest. “I can’t die. ”

“But you could get very sick. You were severely injured yesterday.”

As if in a reminder, the wounds in my stomach pull with a twinge.

“But what’s a little vomit?” I ask, only half joking.

“Lor, no,” Nadir says. “You’ll only weaken yourself further.”

“But we need to eat something.”

“I’m not letting you make yourself sick for me.”

“I’m doing it for me,” I say. That’s not strictly true, but he can’t really argue with that.

“Lor—” Well, he can try.

I pop the berry into my mouth before he can stop me. It bursts on my tongue, and I moan at the fresh, sweet, and slightly sour taste. The juice drips down my throat and I feel like I’ve been reborn.

“See?” I say. “Perfectly fi—”

Bile climbs up my throat and I bend in half, clutching my middle as I expel a stream of vomit. My stomach cramps and I drop to my knees before its entire contents find their way to the forest floor. Nadir crouches next to me, holding back my hair as I continue to retch.

When I think I’m done, I sob out a laugh.

“What is funny right now?” he asks.

“Remember when you held my hair back in The Aurora?” I ask, thinking of the night I got so drunk, I passed out on his bathroom floor.

“Of course I remember,” he says fondly. “It felt like the first time you ever really needed me.”

I look up at his serious expression. “I did need you. ”

“I needed you too. You have no idea how much.” He tugs away a piece of hair pasted to my cheek.

“You told me I smelled.”

He laughs. “You did a little, but I didn’t mind.”

I wipe my chin with the back of my trembling hand, tears forming in my eyes. He sweeps one away with the tip of his thumb, the corner of his mouth curling up softly. “I remember everything, Lor.”

“Thank you for not saying I told you so,” I answer. “About the berries.”

Nadir wraps an arm around my neck and draws me in close, pressing his lips to my temple.

“Thank you for trying, Lightning Bug.”

“You aren’t going to tell me I’m an idiot?” I grumble as he helps me stand. I sway on my feet, lightheaded. That was so stupid. Now I’ve coughed up the little sustenance I had in my stomach.

“I’d never tell you that,” he says with a wink. “I love your . . . impulsiveness.”

I laugh in spite of myself.

“But how about no more experiments with the weird berries and mushrooms?”

I look mournfully around us—everything looks so bright and luscious, and surely something here is edible? But Nadir is right, and Herric has done this on purpose.

“Fine,” I concede, and we continue picking our way through the quiet forest as the sun climbs before clouds start to roll in. I pray that doesn’t mean rain. The only thing worse than being tired, hungry, and stuck inside this fucking bubble would be to be tired, hungry, stuck inside this fucking bubble, and wet.

I shake my head, admonishing myself for wallowing in worst-case scenarios, even in my imagination, because fate will find a way to prove me right.

As we keep walking, mist crawls along the ground while the grass gives way to rocky terrain. “I don’t like this,” I say. “It’s too quiet.”

“I agree,” Nadir says. “Just go slowly.”

I nod as my hand tightens around his while the fog thickens around us. We continue tripping blindly over scrub and wildflowers, and I’ve lost every sense of the direction we were going.

Where is the mountain? I ask.

He stops and looks around as if trying to orient himself. I think we should keep going that way.

With no other options, we keep walking, our eyes on our feet, lest anything materialize out of the fog. Nadir pulls out the canteen, and we share the water as the humidity climbs and sweat trickles down our backs.

As I’m swallowing the last drops, Nadir jerks to a stop. I crash into him, almost knocking him over, too focused on our surroundings to notice. He grabs me, yanking me around the waist against his front, and then I see what’s caught his attention.

My foot rests on the edge of a steep drop. Another step and I would have fallen. It stretches before us, and whatever is across and below is lost to the mist. Sharp spears of rock jut up from the fog, all at various heights. I squint down at the swirling clouds.

“I suppose we have to figure out a way over this,” I say wryly, and Nadir nods.

“I suppose.” Dropping to my knees, I stretch flat onto the ground, hoping to discern something useful through the fog, but everything is by design and thus hopeless.

“I’m guessing those spikes are anchored to the bottom of this drop,” I say, pushing myself back onto my knees, and Nadir nods. “But we have no idea how far down they go.”

“Or if more are hiding,” he adds.

Unless the drop is miles and miles, we should be able to survive it. But if one of those spires is disguised by the mist, not even Fae strength will help us.

“I’ll go first,” I say, staring into the swirling void, grinding my back teeth.

“Lor,” Nadir says, dropping down next to me. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I was wrong about the berries, but this has to work.”

I look at him and lay a hand against his cheek. “We have to get out of here. It’s the only way.”

His eyes darken, and he looks like he wants to argue. Like he wants to tear apart the sky.

I look down again, swallowing thickly. “Once I’m at the bottom, I’ll find you a safe place to jump.”

“I don’t like this,” he says.

“I know.”

Pressing up to my feet, I inhale a deep breath that does nothing to settle my nerves. Herric won’t kill me, I remind myself. But that thought offers little comfort. He obviously isn’t above hurting me, but I can handle a little pain. Nadir watches me, and I offer him a watery smile. For him, a little pain is nothing.

I throw my arms around his neck and whisper, “I love you.”

Trying to clear my mind of every negative thought holding me back, I hurl myself over the edge, bracing myself for impact. As I plummet, I graze the edge of something sharp, but I continue to fall and then land, rolling over stinging bits of gravel strewn across the ground.

As I come to a stop, I inhale several ragged breaths before I scramble to my feet, examining the long slice up my arm. Sure enough, I caught on something, but the wound only scratched the surface. Nothing I can’t handle.

“Nadir!” I shout up through the mist. I can’t see him or anything beyond a few feet around me. The feeling is claustrophobic and disorienting.

“Lor,” he calls from somewhere above, a little bit to my right.

“Drop a stone,” I say. “And I’ll tell you if it’s safe.”

“Coming!” he calls. A second later, a small stone plunks through the mist. I stare at it, trusting nothing as I scan left to right, wishing I could see something.

“Okay, just drop down straight from there,” I say. “The way is open.”

I hope.

“Okay, on the count of five,” he shouts. The fog muffles his voice, making him sound further away than the fall would suggest. I hate it. I hate how alone I feel down here, blanketed by this suffocating mist .

On the count of one , he says in my head, thinking one step ahead.

“One!” he shouts, and then suddenly, a dark shape appears above me. He plummets and lands, rolling to the side just as a spike spears up from the earth exactly where he just fell.

Herric, that fucking bastard.

“You said five,” I say to cover our tracks, trying to keep the wobble out of my voice.

“I changed my mind,” he answers, and our gazes lock. The only way to survive this is to think three steps ahead. But how much longer can we rely on that? This is Herric’s playground, and we are less than the ants scrambling through the dirt.

We explore our space, determining we’re at the bottom of a canyon. Everything looks the same: high stone walls on both sides interspersed with those deadly spires of rock. Gauging the slope of the far wall, we surmise we walked further than we realized, and it’s actually the side of the mountain where that rose hovers at the peak. At least we traveled in the right direction. I examine the rock face. Smooth and almost featureless, it would be tough to climb even with equipment and impossible without it.

Hand in hand, we pick our way across the rocky surface. The mist slowly dissipates the longer we continue, but that offers no further clarity. The wall stretches on forever, curving ever so slightly, revealing an endless forest of stone spires. We keep circling, hoping something will present itself.

After we’ve been walking for a long time, I start to wonder if we’ve already made this loop more than once.

“Does this look familiar?” I ask Nadir, and his gaze meets mine with an expression that suggests he was wondering the same. We continue walking, keeping our senses open for any signs of what’s coming next.

It’s then I notice a rumble at our feet. It’s faint at first, but after another few seconds, I’m sure I’m not imagining it.

“Do you feel that?” I ask, and Nadir nods.

“Unfortunately.”

We peer behind us, noting a cloud of dust gathering in the distance. Something is coming. Something big and heavy. Nadir’s hand squeezes tighter against mine as we stand paralyzed in the face of uncertainty. We should run. We should do something, but I can’t make my feet move.

A moment later, a horde of massive shapes appears through the dust. Hundreds of antlered creatures stampede towards us, closing the distance at an alarming rate.

“Run!” Nadir shouts. Finally, I stir myself into action and we both take off.

“What are they?” I scream as we dodge through the maze of stone spikes. They don’t seem to slow the animals, which are simply trampling over them, rocks smashing into pieces under their enormous hooves.

“I don’t know!”

Fuck. What does it matter? We keep running, weaving through obstacles, but it’s clear we won’t last long before they catch up. Desperately, I scan the mountainside, searching for some way we can climb up that I somehow missed the other fifty-three times I checked. One of the spikes? But these, too, are all smooth stone with nothing to hold.

Nadir’s toe catches on a rock and he stumbles. I slow my pace to ensure he’s okay and then we’re off running again. Checking behind me, my eyes widen at the beasts right on our heels. They kick up a cloud of dust that once again blinds me to everything.

Suddenly, Nadir grabs me, and we swerve to the right. He shields my body as we both fall, rolling over the ground, thudding against the back of a shallow cave cut into the side of the mountain.

Lying together, we both pant heavily as we watch the stream of animals thunder past our hiding place. They don’t seem to see or care about us as they run.

After a minute, they finally pass, and Nadir’s head collapses against me as we hug each other in relief.

“Are you okay?” Nadir asks.

“Yeah. Gods, you’re fucking amazing, you know that, right?” I ask, framing his face with my hands and kissing him. He tips up an uncertain smile.

“Now what?” I ask. We sit up and I lean against the back of the cavern to catch my breath. “Was this cave here before? I swear I would have noticed it.”

“I don’t know,” he says, peering out. “We need to find some way to scale this mountain.”

“Any bright ideas, Aurora Prince? Can we go back out there? Do you think this is a circle and those animals are just looping back around?”

“Let’s wait and see if they return. Then we’ll find a way to scale the other side.”

I pull my knees up and wrap my arms around them as Nadir scoots in next to me .

Our surroundings are deathly quiet. There’s no evidence of the stampede at all, and I have a sick sense something even more awful is about to happen.

I look up at Nadir, and I see the same thing reflected in his eyes. I take his hand and squeeze it, understanding this has become a moment of reckoning for us both. Since the day I was taken from The Woodlands, I’ve been tested over and over, often without even realizing it. This moment is testing everything we are and everything we are yet to become. If we survive this, neither of us will ever be the same.

We huddle together and I think of Tristan and Willow. Of Amya and Mael. Of Gabriel and the others, hoping we’ll see them again. I look at Nadir, aching for the chance to just be with him. To escape the sword that’s been dangling over our heads since the day we met.

We both peer out into the canyon, listening to the stillness, inhaling the scent of a bitter, ominous wind.

That’s when the back of the cavern drops away and we tumble back.

And then we’re falling.