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‘You won’t leave me here.If you were going to do that, why save me from the wisps?’

He released a heavy sigh.‘You’re more trouble than I expected.’

‘More trouble than I’m worth?’

He glared at me but said nothing.Instead, he mounted the waiting griffin.Then he held his hand out to me.God, I hated that creature.And I was pretty sure it hated me, too.It stared at me like it was eyeing off a fat mouse it wanted to eat.

‘If you make me come down there to get you, you will not like the consequences,’ he said.

I’d probably challenged him enough for one night, and I was eager to crawl into bed, even if that bed was at the top of a tower in some strange castle.Reluctantly, I took his hand and he pulled me up behind him.

‘Why isn’t this thing wearing a saddle?’I asked, my eyes growing wide.

‘Hold on tight,’ was all he said before the creature took off.I wrapped my arms around his waist, clinging to him as if my life depended on it, shutting my eyes tight and clenching my teeth to keep from screaming.

Chapter 13

Tarian

Thethrillofthewind sharpened the electric bite of adrenaline still pounding through me as we tore through the night.There was little to keep us from slipping off the silky hide and plunging to our deaths when flying bareback; just my feet hooked onto the hollows at the joints of Melaie’s wings and a vice grip on the ruff at the base of her neck.I didn’t fly bareback often, and I’d definitely never done it with someone else on board.Fortunately, from the stranglehold Imogen had around my waist that was all but cutting off my ability to breathe, she seemed to realise the need to hang on tight.

As Melaie angled her wings and pitched us back down towards Dreadhold, I felt Imogen press her face into my back and moan, somehow managing to tighten her hold even further.We circled the tower, drawing closer and closer, until we touched down amid the maze in a much gentler landing than last time.

‘Better,’ I murmured, rubbing Melaie’s neck in appreciation before I turned my attention to trying to dismount.Imogen’s arms were still locked around my waist.

‘You can let go now.’I shifted, trying to relieve the pressure on my ribs.She was trembling slightly.‘Imogen?’

‘Yes...just...give me a minute.’She drew in a few slow, deep breaths, before eventually loosening her grip and drawing away.The creep of cold air between us made me think, briefly, stupidly, about taking off again, before I dismounted and offered her my hand.

‘I can do it myself,’ she said as she waved my hand away, but continued to sit there, staring straight ahead and sucking in breaths that sounded shaky even to me.Melaie flicked her tail as she turned to look at her passenger, and I braced a hand against her shoulder in warning.Finally, Imogen seemed to gather herself enough to lean forward and slip off the griffin, stumbling woozily as she hit the floor.She tried to steady herself with a hand against a damp flank, and Melaie growled, her hide twitching.

Imogen snatched her hand away and frowned at the golden eyes trained on her.‘Does she hate everyone, or am I special?’

‘If she hated you, you wouldn’t still have all your limbs.’My eyes flicked to the muddy dress she was trying to pull back down over her slender legs, before I wrinkled my nose down at my own mud-coated clothing.‘Come on.Bog mud only smells worse as it dries.If we get it off now, we might be able to avoid reeking for the next three days.’

She hissed as she twisted her body this way and that, examining the myriad of bites and scratches all along her arms.They were all up her neck, even on her face.‘You know, in most mythology, pixies are harmless.The worst they’re supposed to do it turn your coat inside out or steal your socks.’

I examined a bite on my thumb, bright red and stinging like there were still teeth in it.‘I suppose the uselessness of your mythology explains why you followed the wisps.These pixies have toxins in their claws, so we’d better sort that out too, or we’ll be drooling idiots by morning.’

She flashed me a wide-eyed look.‘Can we use the same balm you gave me for my burns?’

‘No.But there are springs beneath the castle that will counteract it.If we go there now, we can deal with the scratches and the mud at the same time.’I scanned her, seeking signs that she might be reacting to the toxin quicker than I was.My body’s ability to heal itself was much faster than a human’s.It would hold off the effects for longer.‘Let me know if you develop a sudden desire to lick the walls or if everything starts to look blue.’

She frowned like she thought I was teasing her.I wasn’t.She must have realised I was serious, because when I headed for the door, she followed close behind me, and we left Melaie preening her feathers as we headed down the stairs.

The springs were in the bowels of the castle, way underground and a long climb down.Imogen still wasn’t showing any signs of toxicity by the time we reached them, which was a relief.I didn’t have much experience with human healing and durability, but I had thought it would hit her harder.Still, I was glad to be wrong.I didn’t much fancy trying to wrestle her into the water because her mind had turned.

‘What is this place?’she asked, craning her neck to take in the wide cavern, her face violet in the glow of the springs.

‘This water leeches up from deep underground,’ I said, crossing to the pool.It rippled gently as water poured from the wall in a constant fall.‘We aren’t sure if it collects magic from the soil as it rises, or if it comes from whatever core it spurts out of, but it has healing properties.Useful when you’ve a garden full of venomous plants.’She looked wary, her mouth tightly drawn as she eyed the pool.It was strange enough by human standards, I supposed.Pulsing with soft purple light, steam swaying over the surface, cut into smooth rock that glittered with shards of mica.But there was a stack of towels on a ledge nearby to indicate that it was safe to get in.

‘Or, if you’d prefer to take your chances, I can chain you up now so you can’t claw your eyes out later,’ I said, a lick of irritation in my tone as I took a hold of my shirt and pulled it up over my head.

‘What are you doing?’she demanded, stumbling back a step as I dropped it to the floor.

I arched an eyebrow at her.‘Getting in.’

‘Do you have to do that while I’m in here?’She folded her arms across her chest.