Page 17 of Inked in Emeralds (Inkbound #3)

T he next morning started off with a cool breeze and a blast of sunshine.

The type of day we got back in The Hollow maybe three times a year.

I forced myself to take it in…to be grateful I was alive to enjoy it.

But no matter how much I tried, last night’s dream still lingered in the center of my chest.

Hook was yards behind me, but I didn’t dare look back.

Part of me wondered if there was some chance he’d had the dream too…

I was fairly sure it wouldn’t be the first time we’d shared the exact same dream.

But then I saw his red-rimmed eyes and exhausted face, and I realized he hadn’t even slept, never mind dreamt.

Not that I’d be able to tell beyond his appearance.

He had no trouble keeping up so far, and he’d been his usual, brooding self when we’d broken camp earlier.

I, on the other hand, had been quiet all morning. I knew the others had noticed, and even thought about trying to pretend all was well, but I couldn’t muster the energy.

“You alright there, Princess?” Billy’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

She tossed a glance over her shoulder my way, not slowing her pace as she guided us through yet another janky-ass trail that ran parallel to the Yellow Road.

“Yeah.” I straightened my shoulders, attempting a smile. “Just a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

All true. Every step brought us closer to The Emerald City and I had no idea what we’d find when we got there. I had to trust in Gayelette and hope the fates had our backs.

Again.

Surely, even they were getting weary, though. And I couldn’t help but wonder when we were going to run out of miracles…

“Word of advice.” Billy shoved aside a supple branch that snapped back and hit me right in the throat.

“Don’t think too far past the here and now.

It will only make the task seem more monumental.

One foot in front of the other and take it in chunks.

Today, we get to The Emerald City. That’s it.

One thing and when we do, we count the win and move on tomorrow. ”

I rubbed at the sting in my neck and nodded.

She was right. The big picture…the total sum of all we had to do to succeed? Was like contemplating a climb up the sheer side of an ice mountain with murderous monkeys and the most powerful being alive waiting at the top to kick us right back down it.

Keep your head down and climb.

It was noon by the time the forest began to thin, and the landscape changed over to grassy, rolling hills.

“High alert now, in case of scouts,” Billy called back. “Without the tree cover, we’re vulnerable.”

The men were already ahead of her, hands on sword hilts. We crested the top of the steep hill we’d been slogging up, and I paused to stare down at the view.

“Oh, wow,” I breathed.

The Emerald City shimmered in the distance below, its towers glittering like shards of polished gemstones. Delicate, green-tinted glass caught the sun’s rays, sending tiny rainbows across the hills and valleys surrounding it.

Duncan stepped up beside me and let out a low whistle. “And I thought Alabaster was beautiful…”

Hook stood in silence, face unreadable, although his gaze lingered.

“Even fancier than the last time I was here just a few years ago.” Billy’s lips were flat as she turned away from the view. “Good news is, we’re close. Once we get to low ground, it’s maybe another hour walk, and we’ll be standing at the gate.”

It was a mix of dread and relief for me. Closer to answers meant closer to danger, too.

The first tremor rippled beneath my boots when we were about two thirds of the way down the hill. Billy and I both stumbled, catching each other's arms for balance.

“What was that?” I glanced around, looking for the cause.

The ground shuddered again, a low, steady rumble from deep inside the earth. We all stopped and widened our stances to stay on our feet.

I turned to Billy, my stomach going sour. “Do you have earthquakes here?”

“I don’t know what that is, but?—”

A deafening roar erupted as a ten-foot chunk of the ground in front of us exploded. Dirt and grass flew through the air, bits of it pelting my face. Instinct took over, and I reached for my whip.

Billy scuttled back as a monstrous, scaled worm surged up from the fresh hole in the ground, its gaping maw full of razor-sharp teeth snapping.

“Billy!” I shouted, flicking my whip. It wrapped around her wrist, and I pulled hard, yanking her safely out of the creature’s reach just as it slammed into the earth again and disappeared.

She landed beside me, eyes wide. “What the bloody hell was that?”

Bookworm—albeit supersized this time—but I wasn’t about to try to explain now. “They’re a gift from Almira.”

Hook and Duncan, who had been trailing behind, rushed to stand in front of us. Hook lifted his hand as Duncan surged past him, sword drawn.

“Run!” Hook shouted, throwing his arm out.

An inky shadow snaked through the air as another massive worm burst from the ground.

Dirt and rocks rained down on us and the creature lunged our way, but didn’t get far.

Hook’s shadow blessing curled around it and tightened like a rope made by the devil himself.

His face was a mask of pure focus as he wrestled the beast to the ground, the noose around its neck tightening until its body twitched and dropped with enough force to shake the ground.

“Fucking hell, that’s terrifying,” Billy shouted, looping her arm with mine and dragging me in the opposite direction.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of adrenaline and panic as the area around us erupted with worm after worm, their enormous, segmented bodies surging through the ground like it was water.

Duncan whirled, leaping through the air and peppering one with a flurry of strikes as Hook sent gusts of wind crashing against the ones closing in behind us, knocking them off course for long enough that we had time to scramble forward.

Billy darted ahead, bow drawn, calling warnings over her shoulder as she fired. “Left!”

I dodged as another smaller worm breached just feet away from me. It let out a squeal as an arrow buried itself into the creature’s side, and I came in behind it to deal the death blow with my dagger.

It was sheer chaos, but we managed to stay one step ahead of them, if barely.

The ground around us was riddled with sinkholes, and I was just starting to wonder how we could continue to dodge the worms and still manage to keep ourselves from plummeting into one of the holes when, for one dizzying second, everything went still.

Nothing but the ragged sound of our breathing and the creak of shifting dirt beneath our boots.

And then a new sound tore up from the depths of the earth, so deep it rattled my bones. It was like the ground itself was screaming. A huge swatch of ground twenty yards ahead of us split with a thunderous crack.

I stumbled back just in time to avoid a shower of rocks when a worm the size of the earl’s mansion busted through the ground, its jaws snapping open wide enough to swallow a full-grown oak tree.

“We're dead," Billy breathed, her voice tiny and certain. "We're so dead."

That’s when I saw her. Sitting on the creature’s back, silver hair whipping in the updraft, black lightning sparking and cracking all around her. A living storm. Her cackle rang out, sharp and shrill.

Billy let out a howl of straight fury and burst into a sprint, firing five arrows in rapid succession, her hands a blur.

Each one sliced through the air with deadly precision until the very last second when Almira flicked her wrist, sending a shimmering wall of black energy to block them…

Each ricocheted off and plummeted, harmless, to the ground.

Billy cursed and nocked another arrow, but Duncan was already moving, a bellow tearing from his throat as he leapt for the beast’s side, hacking with brutal strikes of his sword. Hook moved opposite him, trying to create a shadow big enough to encompass the creature to no avail.

It wasn’t enough.

I knew it in my gut. We couldn't win, not like this. I tossed the whip aside and shoved a shaking hand into my satchel, tugging out my jeweler’s loupe, making quick work of finding the right lens.

The others were still fighting, and every second was one I couldn’t spare, but the only way we had any chance at all was if?—

There! As the worm reared back bearing its unarmored belly, a pale pink spot, dead center, came into view.

“Together!” I shouted, my voice hoarse. “Everything you have to the pink swatch of skin on its belly!”

Duncan charged, hurling his sword with both hands as he let out a war cry. Hook sent a lightning strike even as Billy loosed an arrow, all aimed dead center.

The attacks hit almost in tandem, and the creature let out a squeal as steaming green liquid rushed from its belly. It thrashed once, twice, and then came crashing down with an impact that sent my head snapping back and my loupe flying.

I caught myself just in time to see Almira leap free of the worm’s back and float toward the ground, flickering in and out of view.

“Don’t let her get away!” I shouted, diving for my whip as Billy and the boys ran toward me. We charged toward her when she flickered one last time and fizzled away.

“What the hell?” Billy shouted, skidding to a stop.

I slowed, heart hammering against my ribs as a pile of clothing fell to the ground with a thump. On the churned-up earth before us lay only a pair of pointed black boots, a tattered black cape, and two shriveled, striped socks.

No witch.

Just an eerie silence and an icy gust of wind that swept over us, carrying a whisper that curled cold fingers down my spine…

“I’ll be back for you, my pretty.”