Page 37 of Black Hearted
I turned and saw at least two dozen men riding hard on our tail. I recognized one of them—Malek from Buttercup Village. Even from this distance, his icy blue gaze was filled with loathing as he gained on us.
“Don’t look behind us,” I told Nellie.
Of course, she did exactly that.
A shriek tore from her lungs when she saw the advancing horde.
“We’re gonna die!” she screamed.
“No, we’re not,” I said, urging Biscuit to go even faster. I felt bad for the loyal mare—she’d been riding nonstop for almost a full day—but I needed her to go a bit farther.
“Come on, girl,” I muttered, stroking her neck as Nellie and I jostled up and down with the speed of her gait.
The entrance to the city and the Spring Palace beyond was in sight, along with half a dozen guards. If we could make it there, we’d have a chance.
If I was honest with myself, though, I wasn’t sure I had enough magic left to fend off the advancing fae. I was running on a fraction of my usual power, and I feared that the longer I stayed in Faerie, the more it drained from me. I only wish I knew why. The princesses’ magic hadn’t waned when they traveled to Ethereum, so why was my power failing me here?
In the distance, I saw the guards at the gate suddenly scramble. At first, I thought they were coming to our aid, but that hope was dashed when they began to close the gate.
“No!” Nellie wailed. “What are we gonna do?”
I thought fast, my gaze taking in the closed gate and the guards now moving into position in front of it.
“When we near the gate, we’re going to stop and dismount. Then you’re going to run behind those guards,” I yelled over the pounding of Biscuit’s hooves. “I’m going to fight with whatever strength I have left.”
“I’ll fight, too,” she yelled back. At that moment, I wanted to meet her grandmother, to see what kind of woman had raised such a ferocious young lady.
“No. You run behind the guards and try to convince them to help. Tell them I’m a friend of the queen.”
That was stretching the truth, but my hope was if they believed Nellie, it would buy us some time.
As we neared the city gate, the guards didn’t draw their blades. Instead, they held their hands out in front of them, which told me they had powerful magic.
I yanked back on Biscuit’s reins, and she skidded to a stop. I leaped off her back and then pulled Nellie down as well.
Turning toward the guards, I lifted my hands in the air in a display of surrender.
One of them stepped forward. “Who are you, and why are you being pursued?” he asked as the fae chasing us closed in.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Nellie beat me to it.
“He’s the best friend of Queen Gloriana, and if you let him get hurt, she’ll kill you all.”
It was a life-or-death situation, and now was the worst possible time to smile, but I couldn’t help it.
This kid.
“Well, not exactly,” I said with a nervous laugh.
The riders reached us, and I realized it wasn’t just Malek chasing us. Brunok and the Enforcer were with him as well.
“He’s got black blood,” Brunok shouted at the guards.
“And shadow powers,” Malek added.
“He nearly killed us all in Buttercup Village,” the Enforcer said. “We’re here to cut out his heart and stop the curse.” He held up a small, nondescript dagger, his gaze dropping to my chest.
“Black blood?” one of the guards repeated.
