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This was it. This was the moment Asher would end his hesitation and follow their orders.

A gust of wind rustled the leaves beside her, and she closed her eyes against the sudden onslaught of leaves. When she opened them, Asher had become a blur of movement.

He disarmed the tall soldier by knocking the hilt of his sword out of his hand. He immediately brought his own sword up to block the other soldier as it swung in a powerful arc straight toward his throat.

He was fighting two against one. He was fighting for her.

Though he was younger and faster than these two higher-ranking officers, they had more experience, and it didn’t take long before they overpowered him. He bent low, rolling away to put as much distance between them as he could.

Asher plucked a sprouted plant that had pushed its way through the path and whispered a word, one Lore couldn’t hear. Suddenly, vines sprouted from the small plant in his hand, splitting into two and wrapping around his swords. Sharp thorns of hardened wood sprouted from the vines.Magic.

Lore swore, backing away from the fight.

Asher went on the offensive again, jumping forward with both swords raised and targeting the taller of the guards first. At the last minute, the guard twisted, narrowly avoiding losing his neck, but Asher’s blades still tore into his chest. Blood erupted from the freshly cut wounds made worse by the spikes from Asher’s earth magic. The spikes seemed to grow and pierce deeper into the flesh, even as his swords pulled free.

The hurt guard cried out, falling back, while the other launched himself at Asher, his sword cutting through the air. Asher parried the blow at the last second, barely protecting his face.

Lore looked around when she heard the shouts of other soldiers running toward them. Clearly, the sound of swordsclashing was so loud in the quiet garden it must have drawn their attention. When she looked back, Asher was on one knee, swords straining against both guards’ blades. Somehow, the one with the shredded chest had gotten back up and was still battling. She could see the other guards now as they ran full speed from the castle, so incredibly fast.

Glancing back to Asher, she saw a cut along his shoulder and his uniform was darkening with his own blood.

This would be it. They would overtake him. It would be his end, and, shortly after, hers would come too.

Lore cried out and dove into her bag, finding the tome she had shoved to the bottom for safekeeping. She threw it open. The moonlight ignited its pages.

“I accept. I’m taking you from here, but you must help me do it. Help me escape with Asher!” she shouted at the book. Her voice was hoarse with fear.

Suddenly, she was bathed in silver moonlight. It spooled out of her in shimmering waves to race up the guards’ legs, over their arms, and down their throats. Both guards dropped their swords and began clawing at their necks, gurgling as they choked on the thick, viscous light.

Asher hadn’t moved. He kneeled in shock, staring at the two men who, only a breath ago, had been ready to end his life.

Lore shouldered her bag and pressed the still open book to her chest; she could feel power pulsing from the pages through the fabric of her cloak, soaking into her body. Then she grabbed Asher’s arm, careful to avoid the wounded shoulder, and tugged. They had to go!

They raced from the garden path and into the shadows. Her mind reeled at the vision of the two guards, their throats bleeding from where they tried to claw at the light.

She had done that. That horrible, powerful, awful thing had been done by her. She flinched, pushing the guilt down.

She couldn’t—wouldn’t—think about that now.

Asher was silent, but he followed as she guided him through the garden. Wherever they stepped, the shadows rose to meet them. The moonlight was no longer drawn to her. The book knew somehow that they did not need light, now. It had gone dark the moment they’d turned to flee, though the pages still pulsed against her chest with magic.

They were invisible in their shroud of darkness, invisible as they scaled a tree, invisible as they climbed over the garden wall, and invisible as they entered the woods.

Chapter11

The pair didn’t stop running until Lore was sure her lungs would burst. Though Asher could have run farther and faster, he’d kept pace with her, sometimes placing a guiding hand on her back when she tried to slow down or when the moonlight disappeared completely and rendered her human eyes useless.

They finally emerged from the woods at the edge of a cliff, and Lore suddenly realized she was seeing the sea for the first time. Before them was ocean, stretching as far as the eyes could see. Even this high up, she could hear its power. Tumultuous waves churned below her, the sound mixing with the roar of blood in her ears until it was deafening.

She followed Asher down the rocky cliff face, barely keeping a grip on the slick salt-sprayed rocks. She slipped twice, slicing her thigh on a jagged piece of rock the second time.

Her tears mingled with the salty spray of the unforgiving winter ocean.

She was tired of crying.

By the time they climbed into a small cavern carved into the rock, still far above the rocky shore, Lore’s tunic and leggingswere soaked through. Her curls clung to her cheeks, and her lips were numb.

She couldn’t feel her hands.