“Can I convince you to let us go?” I try not to sniffle.
She turns her head sharply like an owl. No one’s head should be able to turn that far. “What can you give me?”
“I … What do you want?”
“Making a deal in the realms isn’t a good idea, young one. Promises here mean more, cost more, last longer. Forever.” She turns back to her cauldron.
Her words raise something in my memory, something I can’t quite see or recall.
“I asked you what you want.”
A shudder wracks my body as I struggle to find something, anything to bargain with. “What do you mean I was foretold?”
“Doesn’t matter. Kill the king, kill the king,” she says in a sing-song. “Kill the—” Her head turns almost completely around as she stares at some spot in the woods behind me, and a vicious smile spreads across her face. “And here he is at my doorstep.” Her sharp teeth snap.
“Taylor!” Leander yells for me, concern vibrating through the notes.
“Leander, run!” I scream until that cold hand slaps over my mouth once more.
The witch disappears in a plume of black, and seconds later I hear Leander’s agonizing yell. It rakes down the sides of my soul, drawing blood from a place inside me I didn’t know existed. I have to get to him, to help him somehow.
Another roar rips through the silent woods, and I know—somehow I know—that he is badly injured. Tears roll down my cheeks as I try to free myself, but all I can feel is the witch’s cold hands holding me still as she cackles in the dark.
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About the Author
Lily Archer believes in fairies, mermaids, and fierce fae warriors. Armed with nothing more than her imagination and a well-worn MacBook, she intends to slay the darkest beasts of the fantasy worlds and create true love where none seemed possible.