The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2)(58)
Ari tried desperately to keep her voice firm. “I wish to take my brother’s place.”
Sebastian moved toward Ari as Teague leaned down, snatched her hand, dragged it through the bloody cuts on her other arm, and pressed a crimson fingerprint to the contract.
“I’ll find you,” Sebastian mouthed as Ari met his gaze and held it while Teague chanted.
“Ghlacadh anam de Arianna Glavan agus mianach a . . .” His smile was cold and cruel. “Shall I continue? One word left in the incantation. One word, and your soul belongs to me.”
Ari’s stomach pitched, and she shook her head. Teague stepped closer, and she smelled pipe smoke and something vibrant and wild. Something that reminded her of misty meadows and overgrown forests and the stories whispered about fae creatures who would snatch you in the middle of the night if you were foolish enough to fall into one of their traps.
“Be very, very sure that you do not cross me,” Teague said in his cold, polished voice. “If I ever suspect treachery on your part, or on the part of your brother, I will finish the incantation, and you will cease to exist.”
Her voice shook, and it felt impossible to draw a full breath. “I understand.”
“Excellent.” He put the stopper back in the vial. “We’re leaving.”
“Ari!” Thad’s voice broke, and Sebastian reached a hand toward her as Teague grabbed her arm and pulled her from the palace.
TWENTY-FOUR
SEBASTIAN HELD HIMSELF in check until Teague and the princess had disappeared, and then he crossed the distance between himself and the king in five long strides.
“Call the guards,” the king said as he gripped the edge of a table and pulled himself to his feet. Blood still seeped from the wound in his head, and his skin looked ashen. “Send them after her. We have to find out where Teague lives and keep an eye on her so that we know she’s safe.”
“Guards would be too obvious. We can’t risk Teague deciding to take Ari’s soul. I’ll handle this.”
The king met Sebastian’s eyes. “Don’t lose her.”
“I won’t.”
Leaving the king standing in the midst of the ballroom’s wreckage, Sebastian raced for the garden. He knew Teague’s carriage. He’d seen the glossy black vehicle with the golden spinning wheel painted on the door several times. He couldn’t keep up with the carriage on foot. Stars help him, he was going to have to figure out how to ride a horse.
Ducking under low-hanging branches and hurtling over bushes, Sebastian ignored the gleaming rock path that wound through the garden and cut a path straight for the stables. When he ran out of the garden’s south entrance, he found the road leading from the palace choked with carriages as the nobility who hadn’t heard to lock themselves in the cellar scrambled to get away from the danger.
Praying that Teague was stuck in the line of carriages, Sebastian sprinted for the stables. He burst through the door, nearly running into a groom who was holding the bridle of a brown horse wearing a carriage harness.
“I need a horse,” he said, his breath coming in hard pants. “Quickly.”
“Listen, we’ve got a line of people who want their carriage horses harnessed, even though those beasts are out there—”
“The beasts are dead, and the princess has been taken by a very dangerous man. I have to follow her.” Sebastian leaned closer to the groom, his temper fraying. “I need a horse. Now.”
“The princess is in danger?” The groom dropped the bridle of the brown horse. “Follow me.”
Moments later, Sebastian was perched on top of a huge black horse—one he’d been assured was the fastest stallion from the latest shipment of Akram’s finest.
“Don’t let me fall,” he breathed as he nudged his heels into the horse’s flanks and gripped the reins with white-knuckled fists. The horse moved briskly away from the stable, and Sebastian held its sides tightly with his knees. When he still swayed precariously to one side, he let go of the reins with his left hand and grabbed the front of the saddle instead.
The horse jogged toward the packed palace drive, and Sebastian leaned forward to study the carriages.
There. Five carriages back from the turn onto the road that led down the hill to Kosim Thalas. Curtains were drawn over the carriage windows, and the driver was focused on edging the carriage closer to the one in front of it.
Sebastian had no intention of being the lone horseback rider on a road full of fancy carriages. If Teague decided to open the curtains and check his surroundings, he’d know at once what Sebastian was doing.
Instead, Sebastian decided to cut down the side of the hill, enter the city itself, and wait in an inconspicuous place for Teague’s carriage to pass. Sebastian urged the horse away from the road and aimed its head down the hill. One good nudge with his heels, and the horse started running.
Sebastian bounced wildly in the saddle, and cursed as his flailing feet hit the horse’s sides and made it move faster.
How did one ride a horse down a hill in the dark without dying? Was he supposed to lean forward? Lean back?
He leaned forward and hung on with everything he had while the horse thundered down the hill. When they reached the bottom, Sebastian’s fingers were numb from gripping the reins, and his body felt like he’d fallen down the hill instead of riding.