by T. F. Walsh
“Are you insane?” Saber questioned as he reached her side, his tone full of panic. “We’re open targets.”
“Shut up.” Why wasn’t he at least sweating because she was swimming in her clothes?
By the time they reached the road, her chest stung. Potholes gutted the asphalt. The edges of the freeway had crumbled long ago from weather, and no one used the equivalent road in Tapestry. Most beings remained in the woods where their magic was stronger. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, making it seem she was merely glancing over her shoulder. No sign of the troll yet.
Saber’s rich chocolate-colored hair reached his jawline. The sharpness of his cheekbone seemed familiar. She’d seen him before, which was ridiculous. In his jeans with a thick black belt, T-shirt, and leather combat boots, there was just a bucket load of ruggedness. Fallen would have remembered that.
The crunch of debris behind them startled her. Her attention jerked to the troll emerging from the woods.
“Persistent fuck.” Each syllable labored.
“He’ll be tortured when Noah discovers we escaped.”
Blood drained from her face, and every inhale became robotic. For those few seconds, her shock was suspended. But the thudding of the encroaching troll shattered it like glass. “Noah. The collector? We were in his ark, and you withheld this information from me until now?” She’d been hunting the dickhead for years to stop him from pimping creatures on the underground market and siphoning their powers. Plus, the dead-man-walking had murdered her mother, and she owed the jerk a scorching.
“That wasn’t his ark, only another of his holding cells.” Saber reached behind her and grabbed her arm, pulling her into a run. “Move.”
Fallen broke into a sprint, her chest on fire. So Noah’s guards had kidnapped her in the forest. Fallen briefly considered she ought to let herself get captured again, to confront Noah. Or did he know she was a dazmeu? No, if he knew for sure, he would have attempted to suck every last drop of her energy for himself, not simply lock her in a cell overnight.
If Saber was familiar with Noah and his prisons, he could help her track the ark and finish what she’d started fifteen years ago. She sprinted forward as fast as her burning muscles would carry her.
They neared buildings that resembled a war zone. Burnt out apartments. A gutted warehouse. Abandoned cars lining the sidewalks. Streetlight poles leaning in every direction but up. Nothing green would ever grow around the remains that leeched into Tapestry from the human world. The dead zones were drained of energy and life, the ground infertile. Shades of blackness had consumed this place, along with a rotting garbage stink.
Storefronts lay barren. A door from a florist swung on one hinge in the wind, the bang echoing in rhythm as if it were military drumbeats.
Over her shoulder, she noticed the troll had reached the road. If she were a Spell Forger, she’d cast a protection spell on one of the buildings and hide out there with Saber until their pursuer vanished. Her magic abilities were limited to crossing the veil between the two worlds and using herbs and incantations, which were at her apartment.
Fallen’s body wavered with exhaustion, calves and thighs quivering.
Saber sprinted ahead where several stores lay crumbled, rubble dotting the road. Skyscrapers flanked the next block and blotted out the sun. The jagged tops reminded Fallen of a castle’s crenelations, except these belonged in an apocalypse. Ceilings ripped away. Gaping holes.
Behind her, she eyed the troll emerging from around a corner of a building.
“This way.” She darted into a side street where one car was parked on the sidewalk and another on its roof up against the building. Saber was on her heels.
One-tusk snorted in the distance.
While her mind played with ways of barbecuing him, she couldn’t reveal details about her dragon side to Saber. He had to believe she’d used a spell to create the fire back at the jail. No way in the two kingdoms would she reveal her true self to a Queen’s Guardian and become a lab rat. While bound together and saving his ass, maybe she could convince him not to drag her into the kingdom.
The wind howled. Fallen stepped over bricks and motioned for Saber to follow. Except, he remained back at the corner of the side street.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
He swiped a hand across his mouth. His eyes were downcast, posture tensed. Under normal circumstances, Fallen would have guessed he was a Guardian the moment she had opened his prison door, but her mind was screaming escape, not checking out the prisoner with bewitching, dark eyes.
Saber’s gaze swung between the road where the troll had now approached and back at her. His mouth lifted into a smirk. The expression written across his face gave away his intention to fight the troll.
Silence hung in the air.
“We have to go.” If he got himself killed fighting, she’d be forever linked to a dead body. She’d be discovered and hauled into the kingdom. Then how would she fulfill her task for the Creators? Besides, Fallen hadn’t run to the point of passing out only to return to prison.
The sound of boots scraping stone caught her attention in the close distance. She bolted to Saber’s side, lowering her voice. “I have a hiding spot. Please. We’re almost there.” Revealing her apartment to a Queen’s Guardian was not on her to-do list. Not even the few friends she’d made in Tapestry knew where she lived. But trolls never gave up, and considering Saber hadn’t been able to take one down, she needed a location protected by a spell. The only place coming to mind was her apartment. Fuck!
Saber’s eyes studied her as if he knew she concealed something. Yeah, she wished she could hide from him as well. Too late for that.
Fallen slid her hand down his arm, past muscles that shouldn’t exist on a forearm, and intertwined her fingers with his. A faint charge flickered through her and down to her toes, his warmth blanketing her. She crept away, and to her surprise, he followed.
A beastly growl erupted behind them.
When she whirled around, the troll stood at the mouth of the street, his shoulders heaving with each inhale. Then he charged.
Saber’s hand ripped free, and he darted toward the oncoming foe. He scrambled onto an empty shell of a car and launched himself at One-tusk. Fists slammed into the enemy’s face. The creature teetered backward from the impact but didn’t fall. He shook his head and snarled, his sharp teeth on full display.
Saber punched the troll’s gut with unbelievable strength. The guard bent over, clutching his stomach. Sure, the queen’s army trained their entire life, yet this was something else.
Troll arms swung wildly, a hand whacking Saber’s head, sending him reeling into a pile of broken bricks.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Saber crowed.
Like a tank, the monster charged forward, punches colliding into Saber and yanking his body by a foot and hurling him toward Fallen.
She ran to close the distance between them and seized Saber’s hand. “Get up.”
“Burn him,” he growled. Ribbons of blood dribbled out from under his T-shirt and ran across his collarbone.
The words froze her core. Of course, he’d seen her use fire, but not how. “It was a spell,” she lied too easily. Better that than lose her head.
The troll lumbered closer, his eyes filled with vengeance.
Fallen aided a limping Saber to his feet. She pushed him into a staggering run. At the next block, they careened left, then right into another alley. This was her hometown, and she knew every street. She’d mapped it out in her mind in case she ever encountered trouble. Like now.
With no sign of the enemy behind them, she pushed her hands along Saber’s side, urging him through an open doorway into a building. The darkness stole her vision. Pressing their backs against a freezing wall, the pair stood still, barely breathing.
Outside, feet hitting concrete drew closer.
Air struggled to enter her lungs. Waiting, her ears strained for any sound.
With h
ands tight to her chest, Fallen’s fingertips brushed the dragon indent on her inner wrist. The dream from the Creators flooded her thoughts, reminding her she had four weeks to find her soul mate. If the Creators had really selected her, marked her for a mission, surely they wouldn’t allow her to die today?
When the footfalls faded, she nudged Saber toward a stairwell. She charged up three flights to the top floor, feeling as if every ounce of her energy had leaked from her body.
Light streamed in from the holes in the ceiling. Dust sprinkled down on them from overhead. Spent, she eyed the farthest door in the corridor.
Shoving the door open, they burst inside her apartment. At once, the ward she’d set in place protected the pair against trolls and goblins. The thought sent a ripple of energy crackling along her skin. She shut the door and released a long sigh. For now, the emergency had passed. No Tapestry beings could sense their energies with the protection spell in place.
She spun to look at Saber. He stood in the middle of her living room near the sagging ceiling, scratching his head.
“Welcome to my home.”
4
Saber jumped over a gaping fissure in the floor and stormed to the window. A hot breeze whistled through the glassless frame as he surveyed the cracked asphalt below for signs of the troll. Dust and debris spun in a vortex along a barren street in Cluj-Napoca. The city in Tapestry resembled a demolition site. Wrecked buildings, blackness yawning from their cavities.
“We’re not safe here.” Saber’s shoulders slumped, and he shook his head in disbelief. Human cities sucked the energy from Tapestry draes, weakened their magic, left them lethargic. Stay too long, and draes turned into husks of themselves.
Plus, the troll could have seen them enter the building and then break into every apartment until he discovered the pair. Saber scanned the room for a weapon. Rubble. Part of a wall was a possibility, though being thrown out a window seemed a fitting end for a troll.
A sudden prickle of magic gripped Saber’s spine, pinching his flesh. He jerked around, hands curled into fists.
Across the room, Fire Girl whispered the enchantment, “Lumi cruce.” She was crossing the veil now!
Blue energy billowed around her legs in great hoops. It cascaded from around her feet, swallowing everything in its path, then thrust outward at warp speed.
Heat radiated up Saber’s legs. He stumbled backward, the window frame catching him as the sizzle of power danced beneath his skin.
At once, the shabby apartment blossomed to life. Furniture materialized, walls become rich with color, and even the hole in the floor mended. Framed photos of birds lined the blue walls, and an L-shaped sofa claimed the center of the room. Outside, the bustle of car engines and hoots thrummed, along with the chatter of voices. Humans.
A brick might as well have landed in his gut. Fire Girl had yanked him into the human world without him needing to say the words that gave Tapestry citizens the enchantment to cross worlds. Their bond had forced Saber into a crossing. Apparently, he didn’t get a say in the matter. Then again, for the past three months in captivity, not getting his way had been his life.
One quick glance over his shoulder and he stared at the enormous Gothic cathedral between two skyscrapers. The pointed arch and stained glass windows of the church stood in contrast to the uncluttered appearance of the surrounding neoclassical buildings with sharp, clean lines. Beyond them, a flowing canopy of trees spread over the sloping hills. Exactly where he’d prefer to be.
Images of the castle from the kingdom of Vaie swirled in his mind. Golden towers so high they vanished into clouds, massive oak doors, stone walls covered in ivy. The forest spread in every direction without a speck of pollution.
Fire Girl cleared her throat, and he twisted around to find her stepping out of her boots near the front door.
With her chin upraised, she marched past him. His gaze followed her to a hallway at the rear of the room, and he noted the four metal cages stacked in the corner. Each had only the capacity to hold a cat. What was she capturing?
Fire Girl vanished around the corner.
The plush carpet compressed beneath his steps. “It’s bad enough we’re in a human city, and we have a troll on our heels. But crossing over is forbidden. And are you catching cats in those cages? Why?”
She halted in front of a doorway at the end of a dim corridor and turned around, her eyes hooded. “You going to report me to the queen, Guardian? Not that it’s any of your business, but I use the cages to stop feasters from snacking on humans.”
Saber ran a thumb down the side of his neck where he’d received royal ink for his indoctrination into Queen Kesra’s army. Twenty-five years of service and he got treated like vermin in the end. The worst part was his stepfather had followed him out of the realm, then got caught by Noah. Saber had to be in Tapestry, hunting Noah and rescuing his stepfather, not hiding amongst humans in their world.
“Anyway.” Her voice ripped him from his thoughts. “My apartment is protected by a spell. The troll shouldn’t find us.”
“Shouldn’t?” So, she wasn’t a Spell Forger, yet dabbled in magic, meaning she used primitive casting and witchery.
“Jeez, you’re so tense, it hurts my back just looking at you.”
With hands pressed into the front pockets of his jeans, he cocked his head to the side because all the troll had to do was have followed them and they were caught. Like all Tapestry draes and creatures, trolls had the innate magical ability to cross the veil from Tapestry into Earth. So, Saber guessed he should be packing weapons and getting ready to fight. “Listen, Fire Girl—”
“Fallen.”
“What?” Saber prided himself on controlling his emotions. Still, this girl was pushing his limits.
“My name’s Fallen. There’s soda in the fridge. I’m having a shower.” She entered the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
Gritting his teeth wasn’t helping. It was official. He’d gotten himself attached to a psychotic, but cute, drae. Saber retreated into the main room facing the kitchen as his stomach growled for food. It had been a full day since he’d last eaten slop in the prison. Since they were in the human world, pizza would do nicely. Near the door to his right was a line of shoes and a bookshelf filled with ceramic bird figurines. Yep, this gal had made herself a nest.
None of the details involving Fire Girl or her apartment was his business, but his focus was to break their bond, then return to Noah’s ark to rescue his stepfather. And just maybe the man would know how to help Saber prove his innocence to Queen Kesra. He chuckled to himself. Time to stop fooling myself that it’s even possible.
Saber glanced at his palm. The cracked skin had spread across his inner wrist. Once they left the apartment, he’d need soil from the Tapestry forest to heal before it got worse. He would survive a few more hours to ensure the troll had gone. On his other wrist, he stared at the dragon mark, curious if it would vanish when he broke his bond with Fallen.
Then his mind sailed across to her, alone in the shower, naked. He drove those thoughts away because he didn’t need to complicate the situation. Her attachment to him was more than a lifetime’s worth of headaches.
After half an hour of pacing, Saber returned to the window for any sign of the troll.
“Couldn’t find the soda?” Fallen’s voice drifted into the room.
Saber twisted around, his gaze settling on the slice of bare skin between her halter top and leather pants. Something inside him jutted awake as if he saw Fallen for the first time. Bare feet with pink toenails, leather pants clinging to toned thighs, and soft shoulders well accustomed to the sun. Her wet hair was combed off a clean face, emphasizing rosy cheeks. An effortless innocence radiated from her eyes.
He took his hands out of his pockets, folded his arms across his chest, then dropped them, unsure where they belonged. Uncertainty wasn’t Saber’s thing, especially with women. What was happening to him?
Fallen strolled closer, her five-foot-seven f
rame graceful.
“Here.” She handed him bandages and a tube of antiseptic.
“If the queen discovers you living here, she’ll have you imprisoned.”
Fallen turned and grabbed an orange soda from the fridge before spinning to face him while popping the cap open. “And you’ll report me?” Tilting the bottle back against her lips, she guzzled half the fizz like a blood-starved feaster on a bender.
“That stuff will give you cancer.”
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and slammed the bottle on the kitchen counter. “Is it the queen or the soda that’s going to finish me? Make up your mind.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. Count to ten. He stood at one end of the couch, ready to force this blonde to tell him who she was and what the fuck was going on.
Her hips swung as she crossed the room, lulling his imagination into another place involving her with no clothes.
“You’re a Guardian. You protect the queen, uphold her rules. And here I am breaking one. So, we have a dilemma.”
Saber hadn’t meant to laugh, but it gushed past his throat. If this drae uncovered his real identity, Fallen would be the one lugging him to the queen. Not a problem he planned on revealing now or ever.
“I don’t care if you live on the moon. Whatever beef you have with Queen Kesra is your deal. My focus is breaking our bond.”
Crimson stained her cheeks. “Yeah, right. Liar.”
“You’re a terrible judge.”
She squared her shoulders and pushed away from the window. Platinum blonde hair framed her angular face, cheekbones pointing to amazing eyes. Color washed through them, expressing darkness. A threat. And he accepted the challenge.
Her voice was low, dominating the space between them. “I figured you out in two seconds flat. The queen sent you to do her dirty work, then you got captured. But you’ll go running back to her. And to get an extra golden star jabbed into your neck, you’ll declare that you discovered a drae living outside the kingdom in sin.”
