Savage Beauty(21)

Whatever it was, it bent its neck at a strange angle, the vertebrae popping as it rolled its shoulders. And then it was in front of me. I hadn’t even seen it move. It smiled and shook its head like a dog shakes water from its fur, Luna’s skin and hair fading away to reveal little more than an emaciated corpse. I could see through patches of its skin.

“What are you?” I asked, horrified.

“Not Luna,” it answered in a scratchy voice.

Ember jumped onto my shoulder, reaching out an arm to claw out at the thing.

The thing clawed back, finding the barrier spell Luna had made. It shrieked at the contact, grabbing its hand and backing away.

“Nice of you to stop by!” I yelled to it as it ran into the forest.

Some of the owls stayed on their branches, but I could hear the beating wings of others chasing the monster farther into the woods.

I grabbed Ember and slammed the door, sinking back onto the wood.



LUNA

I flew to the castle, hovering at Aura’s window. She lay on her plush canopy bed, eyes closed, hands folded demurely over her stomach. Pieces slept quietly on a perch in a cage beside her bed.

Some of the servants were still buzzing around the interior of the castle. I could hear pots and pans being scrubbed, firewood being thrown into hearths, footsteps on stone. Sounds I hadn’t heard in a very long time. My heart ached for all that Aura had forced me from and taken away.

Easing to the ground, I tugged on the twine that held the burlap sack closed and began to sprinkle the dust all around the castle’s exterior, careful not to break the circle. If she tried to exit through a door, it would stop her. If she tried to climb out a window, her feet would not touch the ground. If she burrowed beneath it... well, I wasn’t sure if that was possible, and while she may be able to get around the dust that way, it would take her a long time to dig far enough for it to matter.

If I gave Malex a few more kisses, I could be rid of her forever.

If only that were the case. Malex wanted a favor, and I had a feeling that when he called it in, I would regret agreeing to it. My lips and cheek still tingled. I wondered what his mark looked like.

Phillip is going to see it.

Pushing him and his possible reactions away, I finished sprinkling the dust and took up my broom again. I didn’t care what the Prince thought, anyway.

The search for Malex had taken too long. The sky was no longer dark and comforting, but lightening by the second, the deep blue fading quickly away. Sleep was tugging at me and soon it would be tearing at my mind. I would succumb when the sun rose, no matter where in the world I was. And I didn’t want to be here when it happened.

I also didn’t want to leave Phillip alone in my cottage. I told him I’d be back at dawn, and that he could go home this evening. He’d worry and probably leave the house, and my protection, when he did.

I sprinkled the last bit of dust, closing the circle and trapping Aura inside her own palace. She’d always wanted the palace to herself…now she’d really have the run of the place.

When the hoots of owls erupted through the forest, the smirk fell from my face. Something was near the cottage. I rushed toward Phillip, flying as fast as the wind could carry me. Raindrops stung my skin, carving paths off my skin and soaking my hair. One more night and day, and then I would see him home safely. He could take up his crown and marry a beautiful princess who would bear auburn-haired babies that bore his beauty mark and smiled like him.

Phillip would be happy. Safe and happy.

I needed to go faster, which meant I needed to get higher. But the higher I flew, the more the sky turned purple and the clouds turned to gold. The sprinkling rain stopped and the clouds scattered across the sky. My grip on the broom became weaker. I became weaker. But the small clearing in the wood was just ahead. I just had to hold on.

One more moment.

Crashing to the earth with a loud thump, I groaned and looked up at the sky. It was almost dawn. Even though I pushed hard, it still wasn’t fast enough to beat the sun. I heard the bang when the front door was thrown open, ricocheting against the house. Ember meowed loudly, running to my side.

“Luna?” Phillip rushed from the porch.

“NO!” I yelled, smelling the bird nearby, but it was too late. Pieces saw him and flew off in the direction of Aura’s castle. My heart thundered. She’ll know about him! She’ll come for him! I may have bound her, but she had other powers at her disposal; powers over dream and mind. I knew, because I wielded them, too.

She could enter Phillip’s consciousness and will him to come to her in Virosa. And then she would hurt him just to hurt me.

I couldn’t crawl or walk, so I reached for him. “Help me,” I rasped.

He was off the porch and at my side in an instant, lifting me into sure and strong arms. “What do you need?” he asked tenderly, his brown eyes begging to help.

“Sleep.”

“I’ll carry you to your room.”

“Stay inside today. Stay with me. Don’t leave me.” I was begging at this point because I knew he wasn’t safe outside. With Aura, he wasn’t safe in Grithim either. He wouldn’t be safe anywhere but with me. At least then I could watch him and enter his mind, if need be, to thwart her attempts to draw him to her. I muttered a curse. I failed Phillip and I failed William again by putting his brother in danger.

“I won’t leave you. I promise,” he vowed. I glanced at Ember, who knew to protect him, too.