Page 20 of Black Hearted
“Grab your stuff. We’re leaving,” I told her, then started packing my own belongings.
Lorelei. Lorelei. Lorelei. Her name was a frantic call in my mind. From the moment I’d laid eyes on her in the vision with Isolde, all I’d wanted to do was protect her. And now, after seeing her in my dreams twice and knowing she was in danger … it caused my protective instincts to flare to unimaginable levels.
I’d kill Queen Liliana for this. And burn down whoever got in my way.
“You’re scaring me.” Nellie’s voice was small, and I froze.
I hadn’t realized I’d been aggressively shoving things into my bag and growling to myself in anger.
I took a second to breathe deeply and looked over at her.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that someone I care about has been taken. Princess Lorelei. I have to rescue her.”
Nellie sat up, looking concerned. “Okay … where is she?” she asked, her red hair mussed from sleep.
Now that I’d calmed down enough to think, I realized I didn’t have an answer to her question. “I don’t know, but I can get help from someone at the Spring Palace. And then I can return you to your aunt.”
She made a face. “Right. My aunt. Well, you can’t leave without that pretty dagger, right?”
I ground my teeth in frustration. Moving to her side of the room, I started stuffing her things into her small pack. She was right. I did need that dagger. It was far too valuable to leave behind.
“I’ll steal it back,” I told her. I wasn’t above breaking the law if it meant getting to Lorelei sooner.
Nellie frowned. “Then we go on foot to the Spring Palace with Mr. Donahue looking for us with his goons?”
Why was a twelve-year-old making more sense than my own thoughts right now?
Lorelei, Lorelei, Lorelei.
Her soft brown hair and those sharp purple eyes pierced into my very soul. I had to get to her. But was I being too hasty?
I stopped what I was doing, clutching Nellie’s small boot in my hand. If I stayed another day and participated in that fight, I could win enough money to buy a horse. That would cut our travel time to the palace at least in half, making up for the day I’d lose here.
I let out a shaky breath, and Nellie laid her small hand on my arm, startling me. I hadn’t even noticed she’d padded over to me. She stared up at me with understanding in her eyes.
“I get scared a lot, too. I was really scared when my nana left,” she said, voicing what I hadn’t yet admitted. That I was terrified of losing Lorelei before I’d even had a chance to get to know her. “How about you just leave the dagger with Mr. Donahue? Then we can set out on foot right now and save the princess. I can even help.”
My gaze dropped to the hole in the bottom of her boot I was still holding, and a weight settled on my chest. She couldn’t last another day on foot.
“You need new shoes, kiddo,” I told her, inspecting the boot closer.
“It’s fine,” she snapped, her sassy personality coming back out to play.
“Hey, don’t worry. It’s not just about your shoes. I need that dagger. It might be important.”
“So you gotta compete in the fights?” she asked, and I could see the fear in her eyes.
I didn’t want to fight for this money. I wanted to forget about the dagger and leave town right now. But I didn’t even know where Lorelei was, and even though I had no idea how, these daggers might be important to ending the curse. I couldn’t just leave one here.
Nellie needed new shoes, the sweets I’d promised her, and we had to get a horse to make the best time. According to what Evander had told me, we could reach the Spring Palace in twenty-four hours if we rode all day and night. That was more than twice as fast as it would take us on foot.
It was obvious what needed to be done.
“You ever ridden a horse?” I asked her, and her eyes lit up.
“It’s only my favorite thing in the world.”
“Good. Tonight, after I win the fights, we’ll ride all night and day to make up for lost time. Okay?”
