“All right.” Kalen pushed up from the ground. “We can do a loop around the city, see what we can find. It’s a vast land out there, but if they’re anywhere nearby, I should be able to scent them.”
Because the smell of blood and flesh was strong. And fae were able to sense things mortals could not.
I jogged down the steps and headed toward the horse. When he spotted me, he stamped at the ground, kicking up dust. Rearing back, he let out a horrible noise, nothing like any neigh I’d ever heard before. This was something else entirely. A shriek of pain and fear, the kind of sound that could cut through bone. With wild eyes, it stared right into my soul, screaming and stomping and jerking its head at the rope attached to the reins.
Stumbling backward, I slammed into Kalen. Pain flared bright and hot in my wounded back. He gripped my arms and pushed me behind him.
“What’s happening?” I whispered.
Kalen’s palm rested on the hilt of his sword. He gazed around. “He’s sensed something. We need to get inside.”
“Sensedwhat?” I asked, my voice rising.
He took in a long breath through his nose, scenting the air. A moment later, he unwound the rope and shoved the reins into my hands. “Take him into the castle. A storm is on the way. Youcannotbe outside when it hits.”
“A storm? What do you mean, a storm?”
Storms were nothing I’d ever experienced before. The Kingdom of Light didn’t have them. Rain showers, yes. Cloudy days, occasionally. They came just often enough to keep the hardy plants happy and the dirt from drying out too much. But I’d never been through anything like the storms I’d read about in books. Lightning and thunder, blackened clouds that lurked in the sky like shadows of death.
“A storm,” he repeated. “One that is far worse than anything you could dream.”
Tension pounded in my skull. “I didn’t know your mists brought storms.”
“They don’t. This is no natural storm, Tessa.”
I read between the lines. If this wasn’t a natural storm, then it came from somewhere else. Somewhere with power over the elements. My heart dropped to the sandy ground by my feet. How could that even be possible?
“The Kingdom of Storms is attacking us?” I took a step away from him, shaking my head. “I thought you killed all those fae.”
“They’ve clearly sent more.” He curled his hands and faced the mists, calling to me over his shoulder. “You need to get inside. I’ll fight it off.”
My mouth went dry. “You’re going to fighta stormon your own?”
“It isn’t safe for you,” he replied, pointing at the black castle in the distance. “Go in there. The storm will knock down the wooden buildings, but you should be safe within the stone. Now,go, Tessa. Get inside before these fae claim your life.”
Thirty
Tessa
Icouldn’t believe this was really happening. As Kalen vanished into the mists, I whirled on my feet and faced the onyx building. The boot of the gods, the stories had always called it, in tales told around packed hearths at the end of a long day in the fields. I’d never believed any of it to be true. They were just stories. Or so I’d thought. Kalen had opened my eyes to a lot of things.
And now he had to fight an entire storm.
Thunder boomed behind me, and the sky flashed as lightning forked through the mists. I jumped, and Midnight let out an anxious scream. I ran for the building, the pain in my back flaring to life with every step.
Finally, I reached the doors just as another boom shook the sky. I threw it open and stormed inside. Rain slashed down from the angry sky. I pulled the horse in behind me and slammed the door just as a horrible wind pushed against it.
My breath heaved from my lungs. Sweat dripping down my brow, I stumbled away from the door as the wind battered it. The door itself was made of that same black stone, but there was a tiny, circular window at eye-height. I rose up onto my tiptoes and peered outside.
The world had been transformed. A powerful storm whipped through the city, winds and rain and sleet swirling so fast that it was impossible to see a damn thing. Not even the mists were this impenetrable. Dread crept down my spine like a monstrous spider.
How could Kalen survive that?
Because he was the Mist King, I reminded myself. He could survive anything.
Swallowing, I turned to Midnight and stroked his head. “Looks like it’s just you and me for a bit.”
He didn’t answer. He was a horse. But he seemed to give me a thankful nod.