Page 49 of Wings of Lies (Daughter of the Seven Circles #1)

I shook my head. “Unless he’s playing a bigger game than I’ve realized. He’s not working with them.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him. But we don’t have time to mull over why everyone wants you. We gotta run. ”

“I can’t. My cuffs!”

He glared at my ankles. “I really hate those jangling bastards.” He swooped down and picked me up. “I’m not risking my neck because of your stupid cuffs. Hold on.”

Squeezing my eyes shut from the wind, he luscelered us away from the pond. We ran over flat grassy lands and continued into another forest. A typical, average-looking, non-glowing forest. Squirrels and all.

He stopped when we reached a golden field and put me down, breathing unevenly.

“Why’d we stop?” We couldn’t possibly be far enough away. But if they never saw us leave, they would never know what direction we went.

He gestured in front of him. “Because we need to walk through that, and I figured I’d tell you what to expect first.”

I stared at what he pointed at. Near us, metallic golden strands swayed, but halfway out, a shimmery haze split the field, changing the gold to silver.

“Why does the grass look like that?” It reminded me of the field near Drune Forest.

Oliver chuckled. “It’s the barrier that makes it that color.”

I craned my head up to him. “What?”

“The Ethereal Kingdom is on the other side of the golden grass. There is a barrier in place that separates The Divide from the kingdom. It keeps out unwanted species.”

I stilled, staring at the swaying silver grass, as a chill brushed my spine. “I can’t cross that.”

He looked at me funny. “Your legs look fine to me. ”

My eyebrows shot into my forehead. “We just said angels were after me, and now you want to go into their territory? Do you plan on handing me over to them, too?”

His mouth opened and closed. “But that’s where we can eat food,” he whined.

What a child.

“Aren’t there other places we can eat? Or hunt more squirrels?”

Oliver frowned. “This is the closest place to find real food. Aren’t you sick of squirrels? Wouldn’t you like some homemade bread or stew or anything else?”

I threw up my hands. “Of course, Oliver. I’d love to have my fill and not be on the brink of starvation! That doesn’t change the fact I, for some reason, have everyone after me!”

“Okay, okay, don’t have a panic attack.” He mulled over the rest of what I said.

“I promise if we see any angels with armor, we leave. But they normally don’t come to this village.

Plus, it’s just over the border. Then, after we eat, maybe we rest a second.

Magda won’t fly away on her broomstick before we arrive,” he said, bottom lip sticking out as his blonde lashes fluttered.

Such a baby. But my stomach rivaled with the need to reach Magda.

“I swear, Oliver. If we run into trouble…”

He hugged me. “You’ll love this place, trust me. Plus, I’d never risk our deal for a second time.”

We walked to the edge of the golden grass. A hum of energy vibrated into my feet and up my spine. “So, we just walk through? Easy peasy? ”

Oliver nodded. “As long as you have angel blood, you should be good. But once we cross, we need to move fast again. I only stopped to be considerate and let you know what the barrier was.”

I was sure that wasn’t the only reason.

“Okay, what about my cuffs?”

“What about them? I’ll be carrying you.”

I bit my lip. “But what if they have demon energies in it? Do you think the barrier would pick up on them?”

Oliver glanced at my cuffs, analyzing them.

“I don’t think it’ll register with border control.

They may like to make sure what walks onto their side is angel, but I’ve seen mix-breeds in the villages, some even part demon.

They’re not as strict about their rules in this area, but once you pass the villages and near their capital, they’ll hunt you down if you’re not pure angel. ”

“You’re sure?”

He grabbed my hand, the devil sneaking a peek through his bold smile. “Any danger, and we’re out, I promise. Plus, you already agreed. Too late to back out now.”

“Okay,” I sighed, trusting him.

He pulled me through the shimmery barrier before I could finish my sentence. It tingled against my skin like pins and needles.

“Did you feel that?” I whispered, awed by the golden field butting up to a stream that bordered a forest of pink trees.

“No dilly dally, remember? We need to run.”

Oliver swooped me up and luscelered us over the stream and through the pink trees.

His puffs of hot morning breath hit my cheek until it changed to sprays of spit.

After nearly missing a couple of tree trunks, his long strides shortened, slowing our pace to a jog.

A pink root caught his shoe. He tripped, and I landed in a bush .

“Oliver! What is with you and dropping me?” I yelled, swatting away the branches trying to rip out my hair.

“Sorry, jailbird,” he panted, laying stomach first on a bed of pink leaves. “Olivmobile is out of commission. It’s time to use those scrawny legs of yours. It’s just by those trees.” He pointed without looking.

“Get up. Someone promised me bread and stew,” I said, walking over to his sprawled body, holding out my hand to him.

He smiled like an idiot as he looked at it. “Does this mean you forgive me?”

“No. But I want food. For that, I need you.”

His goofy smile widened as he latched on. “I’ll take that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on.”

We shuffled—okay, I shuffled while Oliver strode—until we arrived at an edge of thinning pink trees and a view of the village—a very unmodern village, with thatched roofing and wood siding. Some, very few, were made from plain stone.

Oliver noticed the look on my face and chuckled. “It’s not Earth, Lucy.”

“Well aware. What are they doing?” I asked. Figures moved about, but from this distance, I couldn’t tell why.

Oliver grinned as he rubbed his hands together. “It’s their daily market, with lots of food.”

Thank heavenly.

He stepped into the clearing. I hesitated. I’d be completely exposed the moment I stepped away from the forest. They’d see us coming. They’d see me .

“I promise, I got your back. Any trouble and we’re…” Oliver turned back to me, words trailing off as he gazed at something over my head. “Fuck-a-duck.”

I turned, gaze landing on a piece of paper at my back, and almost sank to the ground.

We should’ve never stepped over that border.

Crushing pressure gripped my chest at finding my face on a piece of paper with the words WANTED ALIVE at the top and an outrageous sum of money on the bottom.

But before I had another panic attack at the fact that someone named Michael put a bounty on my head, something flashed through the clearing.

There wasn’t enough time to warn Oliver as the red blur luscelered toward him at top speed. I shoved him out of the way as the figure, meant for Oliver, slammed me into a tree.

I cried out, feeling a snap in my ribs. A scrawny redhead with dark skin grabbed my neck and held me against the tree with one arm. I latched onto his wrist, summoning my Infernus.

“Michael wondered if you’d be stupid enough to enter Elora and come to Etherea.

I guess it’s a good thing he had me stationed here,” he said, unfazed by the ice spreading across his skin as he reached to his belt and took out a feather.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your parlor tricks with a Binding Rune.

” Then he slammed my head back into the trunk.