Not it seems impossible.
“I’m not little,” I say quietly. I’m very aware of the fact that we aren’t alone, but Luther seems to be occupied with something else. Anything else, I’m sure. He doesn’t want to see us doing...whatever it is that we’re doing. I don’t even understand quite what’s happening. I only know that I love it. I love the way Edward is making me feel.
Desired.
Aroused.
His.
“You’re very small,” Edward says. “And delicate. And brave.”
“I’m none of those things,” I whisper. “I just want to find the king.”
“How very noble of you,” he tells me.
“I promised Luther’s kid I would do it,” I tell him. “And it’s my duty as a fairy.”
“Your duty?”
“Yes. You’d do the same thing if you knew of an evil plan to overthrow the kingdom.”
“I don’t know if that’s true,” he says, tilting his head. He considers me for a moment, and then says. “But we’ve dilly-dallied long enough, my dear. I dare say it’s time for us to be on our way.”
“But where will we go?” I whisper. “Surely Wyatt has guards all over the castle.”
“Luther?” Edward looks past me to the wizard, who looks back at us.
“I know a place,” the wizard says, and he motions for us to follow him. I assume that as a wizard, he knows spells to teleport directly out of the dungeon, but the King of the Fairies is a clever man and he has many wards and charms in place to prevent anyone from doing just that. Wyatt might be in control now, but the King of Dark Falls isn’t the kind of person you mess with. Then again, now that I know much of his reputation is made up of rumors, perhaps I’ve misjudged the dear king. Maybe he’s not responsible for the wards, at all. Maybe that’s all Wyatt’s doing.
We walk carefully, quietly up the stairs. There are no guards around, but I don’t know if that’s normal or if it’s a sign that things have already gone terribly wrong. Are the guards busy defending the king? Are they in the midst of preparing for a battle? I have no way of knowing.
Each step feels like it takes an eternity to climb. When we reach the top of the stairs, Luther whispers some words I can’t quite make out and pulls the heavy dungeon door open. I hope that Peter and Billy have made it to safety. Either way, it’s now our turn to run. We move swiftly, carefully, down the hallway. We’re careful to stay out of sight.
To my surprise, Edward steps ahead of Luther.
“This way,” he murmurs, and he turns down a side hallway, pulls on a torch, and a little door slides open from the wall.
“How did you know that was there?” I whisper.
“Just go,” he motions. “Quickly.”
Hastily, Luther and I both move into the little hallway. Edward brings up the rear and closes the door behind us. Just as the wall panel slides back into place, I hear voices. Two or three people come marching by. I can’t tell what they’re saying, but it sounds ominous. Their voices are deep and give off this depressing sort of air.
I hope we aren’t too late.
“Will this take us to the king?” I ask quietly.
“No time for that now, my dear,” Edward says. He presses his hand to my back and pushes me forward. I hate how happy that touch makes me feel. It’s not a lot. Not by any means. But it makes me feel like everything is going to be okay.
I don’t like how content I feel with him touching me like this.
It makes me uncomfortable, perhaps because I’ve never had someone touch me like this before. It’s not that I’ve never been around men or attractive people in general, but Edward gives off this vibe of confidence and power that I’ve never seen before.
“This way,” he murmurs. He motions for us to keep walking. The passageway is completely dark, but Luther has cast some sort of spell that enables him to hold a sort of light ball. The orb glows and he holds it just above his hand. The blue light glows in the darkness, and we walk silently, quietly behind him.
Edward’s hand stays where he set it: nestled on the small of my back. Is it bad that I love it? For some reason, his touch makes me feel very...safe. Incredibly safe. Having his hand on me makes me feel like no matter what happens next, everything is going to be fine. It’s a strange sort of feeling because I’m walking through the darkness with a wizard and a fairy I know nothing about, but I feel safe.
I feel like no matter what happens, it’s all going to be okay.