Page 161 of A Touch of Poison
“Yes.” He steered closer, letting his knee brush mine as he gave an encouraging nod. “We’ll be fine. We’re going to give them a little surprise. On my signal, turn left and ride hard. I’ll be with you. But we’re going to race past them, stop them controlling our path. All right?”
My pulse sped, but I nodded and patted my stag’s shoulder. If this was Vespera, it would be like a night as the Wicked Lady. A shady forest. An enemy to evade. I flashed Bastian a cocky grin. “I got away from you, didn’t I?”
He snorted and shook his head.
I hung on his every gesture and breath, waiting for the signal. As we crested a low ridge, he pulled on his stag’s reins. “Now!”
Thighs squeezing, I steered into a tight turn and urged my stag into a gallop.
We sped through undergrowth and dodged tree trunks. My heart roared to be racing through the forest, and I ducked closed to my steed’s back. “Come on, stretch your legs.”
And he did.
The world blurred by, and soon enough a cloaked form rose from the undergrowth.
In a blink, I steered past them. I peered over my shoulder with Bastian on my tail, the stranger spinning on the spot but left behind. They wouldn’t be able to outrun our stags.
Grinning, I looked ahead, but another figure blocked the way. A fae woman, bow drawn.
“Kat!” Bastian’s voice at my back.
With a gasp and no conscious thought, I steered into a dense clump of trees.
An arrow thrummed somewhere near my shoulder.
Close. Fuck. And two of them.
Then came the sound of thunder.
Could a storm cover our escape? But I heard no rain on the canopy.
When I looked over my shoulder, I understood.
Deer.
Dozens of them. Hinds, mostly, all with riders.
They galloped after us and pulled alongside, their lack of antlers allowing them to cut beneath the lowest branches with ease.
I shot Bastian a wide-eyed look. Who the fuck were they?
He shook his head, as clueless as I was. “Stay with me.”
They forced us west, not responding when Bastian demanded to know who they were.
As long as we travelledwiththem, they kept their distance, but as soon as we tried to break through their moving blockade, they closed ranks and fired upon us. My stag grunted as an arrow clipped his leg.
Ahead, the trees thinned out. We’d be at the advantage then—on a clear course, our stags could outrun the smaller hinds. “Come on.” I patted his shoulder, urging him towards the forest’s edge.
We broke free of the trees, sunshine piercing my eyes.
“Shit.” Bastian wheeled his stag around.
My stomach dropped as I pulled to a sharp stop.
Ahead rose a craggy cliff face. To our left, another. And to our right, another.
A dead end.
