Chapter 18

I had never seen a bear in real life, only in pictures. I knew they were big, but this thing…

It looked like it could swallow me whole.

The bear was black, but patches of light gray mottled its fur. It stood as tall as my five and half feet at its shoulder, and its eyes were bright, silvery white. It was pawing the ground with huge-clawed paws, snarling at us. Assessing us.

Raising it’s huge head, it gave a roar, and my stomach lurched at the sight of its teeth. They would make minced-meat of all of us in seconds.

“Do we run?” I whispered, barely moving my mouth. We were all frozen to the spot, and I got the distinct impression the only reason the bear hadn’t charged yet was because we hadn’t moved.

“No,” Lhoris whispered back, confirming my suspicion. “He will be faster than us.”

Kara whimpered. “Then what do we do?”

“You can’t get past him,” the owl said in my head.

“If we can’t run, and we can’t move forward, what the fuck do we do?” I hissed.

The bear ducked its head, then reared back on its hind legs. Fear bolted through me, and my limbs almost moved of their own accord. Kara did move, ducking into Lhoris’ side.

It was all the bear needed. Its front paws thudded back down to the ground, and it charged.

“Into this stall. The bars are wide enough,” the owl called. I turned to him and saw that he was right. The bars he was perched on were wide enough for me and Kara to fit through.

The bear’s paws thundered across the ground as I gripped Kara’s shoulder and yanked her with me to the bars. I pushed her through with no problem, and before I could even turn, Lhoris was trying to force his huge frame after her. I passed between the bars, then pulled as hard as I could on his arm, trying to get his massive chest into the safety of the stall.

But the bear had almost reached us. Snarling and growling, it raised one paw to strike at Lhoris as it skidded to a stop. Kara cried out as we both pulled harder on Lhoris’ arm to no avail.

A blur of white dove at the bear’s face, and its swipe was redirected, high above its head. The owl soared out of reach. The bear reared up again, swiping at the bird like a cat playing with a fly.

Using the time the owl had bought us, I darted out of the stall, ran to Lhoris’ other side, and charged at him as hard as I could, putting all my weight into the move.

Our combined weight was enough for the bars to finally give way to his bulk, and we toppled into the stall.

The owl swooped in after us and the bear roared as it crashed back down to the ground. The sound of its paw hitting the iron bars made all of us scoot backward, Lhoris and I still on our backsides on the ground.

He was panting hard, and my limbs were vibrating with adrenaline as I scrambled back to my feet. Kara helped pull Lhoris up, and I turned to the back wall, where I’d seen the huge top-hinged doors in the other stalls. This stall was no exception.

My stomach tightened. What lived in this stall? Was it just beyond that door?

It was a way out, though, so we had to risk it. I looked at the owl, now perched on a large metal trough fixed to the bars near the back wall. “What lives in here?”

The owl blinked but didn’t respond.

I moved to the door and pushed. It was four times as wide as me and a few feet taller, and it barely budged. Lhoris joined me, and the bear let out another loud growl and swiped at the bars again, making them ring.

Kara joined us, and we heaved our weight against the heavy door. The next time the bear’s claws rang against the iron, it sounded different. I threw a glance over my shoulder. He had managed to slice into the metal.

“Push harder,” I gasped, turning back to the door, urgency lending strength to my arms. With an almighty effort, we managed to get the bottom of the door to move a few feet. Hope filled me, but then something hit the other side, forcing us all stumbling backward, toward the bars and the bear.

“What was that?” squealed Kara, as the door swung on its top hinge. Whatever was on the other side made a loud hissing sound, and the bear roared in response.

“Push back!”

We all scrambled back to the door, throwing our weight against it, no longer trying to open it but to stop whatever was on the other side from getting in.

I looked over at the owl. “Any more bright ideas?”

He hooted, and looked pointedly at where the bear’s feet were churning up the dust outside the bars. The white feather was lying on the ground.

“I’m not going to get it,” I breathed.

The bear swiped again at the bars, claws lodging in the failing metal. One of the iron rods gave up its fight and clattered to the ground.

“Odin help us,” Lhoris said through gritted teeth.

But Odin hadn’t been seen in centuries. We were trapped, and no ancient god was about to stop us becoming bear food.

A male voice rang through the air. “Arthur!” Pounding footsteps accompanied the shout, and the bear rocked back onto its haunches, turning his huge head.

Svangrior skidded into view on the other side of the bars, shadows whirling from his staff. The bear let out a reluctant wail, then fell back onto all fours.

“What in the name of Thor do you think you’re doing!” The fae bellowed at us. He held up his staff, and the bear backed up, ducking his head.

I never thought I’d be grateful to see a shadow-fae.

“Get the fuck out of that stall, now!” Some of the shadows zoomed into the stall and filled the gap around the door, sealing it.

None of us hesitated to do as we were told. It took a moment to get Lhoris back through the bars, by which time Svangrior had backed the bear another ten feet down the path.

My heart was hammering against my ribs, and my breath was coming short.

We were all alive, and in one piece — an outcome I had seriously doubted just moments ago. But we had been caught. And not just by anyone, but by one of the Prince’s own warriors.

Our attempt at freedom had been thwarted. Anger and disappointment coursed through me, along with a healthy dose of anxiety. Svangrior wouldn’t kill us, he knew we were too valuable to his master. But what would the Prince do when he found out?

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the others. Svangrior maneuvered the bear into a stall, muttering soothingly to it the whole time.

Kara looked up at me with a resolute expression on her wide-eyed face. “We didn’t get eaten,” she whispered. “So it was worth a try.”

I swallowed. She might not think so after the lashing that was sure to come our way. I would do what I could to take the brunt of the punishment.

Lhoris squeezed my shoulder and I looked at him. “I got it wrong, Lhoris. I’m sorry, for whatever comes next.”

“Die trying,” he said. A motto of his clan. And his way of saying it wasn’t my fault.

I nodded. “We’ll get out.”

Svangrior strode back toward us, fury burning in his gaze. “Out. Now.” He directed his staff at the door we’d entered through, and we all turned obediently.

* * *

The fae didn’t say a word as he marched us back to the thrall’s quarters. The longer we walked, the more nervous I became.

He locked Lhoris and Kara back in their room without breaking his silence, then marched me on mutely. When we reached the corridor I recognized as the one that housed my room, I spoke.

“It was all me,” I said. “They did nothing. Only I need be punished.”

“How did you get out of your room?”

“I can pick locks,” I lied.

“Do you understand what would have happened if you had died? Do you understand what Maz would have done?”

A swirl of defiance broke through my nerves. “No, I do not fucking understand. Because I have no idea why I’ve been brought here. It’s not my problem if your master can’t use me for whatever twisted game he’s playing.”

Svangrior swung to face me, and I stopped walking abruptly. “He has been looking for you—” he hissed, then broke off, shaking his head. “If that bear had pulled you apart, then Odin help me, the whole Court would have felt his wrath.”

I screwed my face up in anger. “Are you seriously telling me that I have a duty to stay alive, for him and your Court ?”

“Stay in your accursed room,” he spat. “It will be locked with magic from now on. I will not tell Maz about this, because I don’t want to deal with his fucking temper.”

My argument died on my lips. He wasn’t going to tell the Prince? “Does that mean my friends won’t be punished?”

“Unless you try to escape again. And if you do,”—his eyes blazed with anger,—“then their fate will be far worse than Arthur ripping them limb from limb, let me tell you. I will ensure you suffer nightmares about your part in their death for the rest of your sorry life.”