Lucky Charm (Reverse Fairytales Book 2)(20)

“What?” I asked in alarm, unsure if I’d heard him right.

“You are in danger. This place isn’t safe for you anymore. We have to go now!”





The escape


“We have to go now.”

I looked into his eyes. I could see the fear in them, making me feel nervous. He’d been in such awful situations before, but I’d never seen him look so scared.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I whispered, “I thought I made it clear earlier. I’m with Luca now.”

“This isn’t about that. It’s about your safety,” he urged.

“What is it? I need to warn everyone.” Thoughts of the bomb at my own palace flittered through my head and I could feel the panic starting to rise.

“No time,” urged Cynder. I noticed that in the few moments we were dancing before he spoke to me, he’d been leading me quickly and quietly towards the exit. To me it had been a wonderful dance, for him, it was a way to get me away without being noticed. He pulled me through a door and into a corridor. There was another door open, and by the cold breeze coming through it, I guessed we were heading outside. A small woman in a chef’s outfit handed me a warm woolen shawl as I was pulled through the door. I stumbled as we ran down some stone steps. One of my shoes fell off as we ran. The cold stone against the heel of my foot jolted me back to reality. I turned. If I was in danger, so was everybody else. I couldn’t leave them.

“I have to warn the others,” I said steadfastly. “I’m not going anywhere until Luca knows what’s going on.

“They aren’t after the others. They are after you.”

Cynder pulled me onwards ignoring my protests. I could barely keep up with my one heeled foot and one bare.

A black stallion was waiting for us.

“I can’t go with you,” I cried. “Whatever the danger is, I need to tell Luca’s family.”

A noise rattled past my ear.

“Gunshots!” hissed Cynder, picking me up and practically throwing me on the horse. Knowing we were being shot at was enough to bring me to my senses. I moved back to give Cynder room to jump on. Within seconds we were riding at breakneck speed into the night. I heard another gunshot, but it missed. We were too far away.

“Turn around!” I shouted loudly after ten minutes had passed and we were well out of view of the gunman.

“No can do. You might have made a promise to marry the prince, but I made a promise to protect you. If I turned around now, I’d be breaking that promise.” His voice was whipped up into the howling wind, and I had to strain my ears to hear him. I had no choice but to cling to him and see where it was that we ended up.

We rode like the wind for what felt like hours. I clutched onto Cynder’s waist tightly, afraid that if I let go, I’d fall. Despite the shawl, I was freezing. The wind whipped my hair and rain that had begun to fall was drenching my face. My bare foot felt like ice, and even though my other shoe would probably be useless wherever we were going, it was still better than none. Losing my shoe on the palace steps took me back to last year when Cynder had done the exact same thing. Dropping my shoe at the ball when a bomb went off. It was that action that had made him the prime suspect. No one had ever traced the shoe back to me. They would this time though. I was gone, but my shoe would be still sitting on the steps of the palace, waiting for someone to discover it.

The horse slowed down slightly, so I took the opportunity to look around me. I’d spent most of the journey with my face buried in Cynder’s back and my eyes closed. The lights of Thalia’s capital city twinkled below us, Luca’s parents’ castle easily recognizable in the center. The moon shone out between the grey clouds bathing it in a dull light. I recognized where I was. I’d been here not long before. Cynder had brought me to the mountains between Silverwood and Thalia. This was where I’d been so fearful of my life just days before. How ironic I was back here for my safety. Cynder veered off the road onto a rocky track I’d not seen on the journey here. A sheer cliff fell to one side into a canyon so deep I could barely make out the bottom in the darkness. Eventually, we stopped at a rocky outcrop. Behind a couple of bushes, I could make out the mouth of a cave. Cynder waved his wand, and a fire appeared. The light from it illuminated the cave. It was shallow but had ample cover from the elements. There were two thick blankets and pillows near the front.

Helping me down from the horse, he led me to the cave. Once inside he waved his wand again. My dress transformed from the beautiful gown into a plain green tunic and pants and on my feet were the warmest pair of slippers I’d ever encountered. He picked up a large fur-lined coat from the floor of the cave and wrapped it around me. Immediately I felt warm and dry.

“People are going to wonder where I am,” I said. “I don’t even know myself. Why are we here?” Cynder sat beside the fire and waved his wand for a third time. A couple of sandwiches appeared out of thin air. He handed one to me as I sat beside him.

“I can’t make food, but I can transport it here. Someone close by must have made these. I’m sorry I don’t have anything better.”

“You shouldn’t have taken me. What if there was a bomb?” I asked, ignoring the sandwich.

On his face, he wore a look of resignation.

“I had to take you. They wouldn’t stop until they found you and then you’d be dead. There was no bomb. I already told you that they are after you, not the Thalian Royal Family.”