What had Aurelius said to get the guards to leave in the first place? What had he claimed his reason for visiting the prisoner was? And whatever he had said, what had Klaus thought about it? Her burns felt better, and despite how she was feeling about him at the moment, she was grateful Aurelius had come by.
Some of the guards looked in on her, maybe wondering what Krampus had done to her. She wasn't going to let them think she was afraid of the Monster Under the Bed. There were other Acurials to fear.
She didn't notice the fog until the guard farthest from her cell dropped to the floor as it blanketed him. The black fog already swarmed on two others. Aurelius? The three remaining guards scrambled back but the fog kept advancing, and when they screamed the fog shoved its way down their throats. In less than a minute all of the guards were on the ground covered in the black fog that was thick enough she couldn't see them through it.
Out of the fog stepped Clíodhna holding an iron key. The light of the few torches was enough to show her the Leprechaun's eyes were solid black.
As Faryn scrambled to her feet Clíodhna unlocked the cell door and pulled it open.
Faryn hurried out of the cell. "Does Krampus know?"
Clíodhna jerked her head no. "I prefer he doesn't know who I am."
But who are you? Faryn bit down on the question. Aurelius's father had waged war against the Fair Folk. Why did a Leprechaun have his powers? But now wasn't the time to ask, not when Clíodhna was her ticket out.
Together they raced up the steps leading out of the dungeon. At the top, where the palace once more took on a chocolatey glaze of warmth rather than death and despair, was more black fog. Here it had thinned enough to reveal the guards buried underneath it.
"Are they dead?"
"Only unconscious." Surely, Clíodhna couldn't stretch her power much farther. Maybe one more guard, but then she would almost certainly have to draw back some of the it. But Faryn barely knew her. Maybe her reserve of power went deeper than Faryn thought.
Before rounding the next corner, Clíodhna skidded to a halt and held up a hand. Black smoke raced along the floor from the direction they'd come and climbed up her leg, twisting around her arm and wrist, twining around each finger. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the fog around the corner and onto whoever was there. A moment later, there was a thud, and Clíodhna took off again. Though Faryn's strides were longer than hers, it felt like for every one step Faryn took, Clíodhna had taken three.
What was the plan? Where were they headed? But as much as Faryn wanted to ask, it wasn't wise to speak right then or to waste time.
In the middle of the hallway, Clíodhna came to a stop along its wall. She pushed on the plain brown wall, and a portion of it swung back to reveal a passage.
"How?" the word slipped out.
When had they discovered this? Had Peter and Clíodhna found ways to explore while Faryn and Cassian were locked away and weren't being escorted around the castle?
Clíodhna only offered her a slight smile as an answer as Faryn stepped past her and into the passage. Letting the door shut behind them, Clíodhna sealed them into the dark. Seconds later, a light flicked on, and Faryn was able to make out a flashlight in the Leprechaun's hand.
The passageway was narrow and dusty, and it felt as if dust coated her throat. She didn't know what time it was—whether most of the castle was asleep—or if they were likely to encounter a servant in the passageway.
The two of them rounded so many corners that Faryn had absolutely no idea where they were. The passageway would be following the hallways of the castle. That's the most she could tell. In the passage, the presence of a door was much more obvious.
Clíodhna pulled open one that led into a wideONLYONWATTPADBENDERempty hallway. She pointed to a door directly across from them.
They'd only managed to get halfway when a guard rounded the corner. The Leprechaun sent her power after him, and though the Elf tried to turn and run, the fog slammed into him, pushing him to the ground.
That wasn't going to reflect well on Faryn.
While Clíodhna used one hand to control the fog, she used her other to motion for Faryn to keep going.
Faryn hadn't even taken a step when—
"I thought I heard a disturbance."
She whirled.
Aurelius stood at the other end of the hallway, and though his tone was causal, his face betrayed him as he stared at the Leprechaun who used powers so much like his own. As an Alkine, his sense of smell wasn't as keen as Faryn's, but surely even he could pick up on the notes of it. He looked afraid. Confused. And maybe even hurt.
Mist appeared around him, and Faryn's heart pounded as she reached for the door handle.
"Who are you?" The mist around him thickened into fog.
"No one to you," Clíodhna said.
Aurelius's power shot out, missing Faryn and Clíodhna by mere inches. As Faryn yanked open the door across the hall, she dared a glance back at her first friend. He nodded, and the next second the two women were out the door and in a garage containing six sports cars, all different colors. The walls here were painted an icy blue that seemed to shimmer and reflect the colors of the cars in smears. Instead of a garage door, there was a curved passage large enough to allow only one car through. There were two elegant doors at the end of it.
Peter stuck his head out of the driver's side window of a white car without a speck of dirt. Cassian was tucked in the back row of the car. The moment Clíodhna slid into the front passenger seat, and Faryn into the back beside Cassian, Peter started the engine with the push of a button before clicking a second button, this one above him. It opened the doors at the end of the tunnel, and he put the car into drive.
He didn't waste time driving slowly as he maneuvered the car into the tunnel and out into the night air. Before them lay the second bridge that attached the palace to the rest of the city.
They probably had minutes—if that—before Klaus and Jack learned what had happened.
The road over the bridge was covered in a fine dusting of snow, whereas the railing's snow layer was so thick, they could hardly see the stone underneath.
Franavik, where her mother hid, was in Greenland. From researching Ruhnerium when she was younger—when she still hoped she might call it home—she knew there was a small Human airport that had sprung up when towns, that had been only comprised of Acurials, had filled with Humans once they learned these places felt almost magical.
It was a relief their vehicle was electric rather than powered by gas. There were no gas stations in Ruhnerium, and she didn't know about the other towns. The charge they had would be more than enough to get them to the airport—if that was in fact where they were headed.
They couldn't take any Acurial train. Even if it was safe for them, the train ran on its own time, not theirs. Klaus and her cousin would find them before they even boarded. Which meant their only option was the airport. Even if Jack and Klaus arrived before their plane took off, they couldn't start a fight in a human airport—at least she hoped they wouldn't. Still, it was better they boarded a plane before her family had a chance to purchase seats on the same aircraft.
In the darkness of the car's backseat, Faryn felt Cassian's gaze on her
She turned toward him. "Are you all right?" What if he had gotten a concussion?
As they passed through the light of a lamppost, he nodded.
Peter weaved the car through the streets. The bridge they had crossed was no longer in sight behind them.
"How did you pull this together so quickly?"
Clíodhna shrugged. "Peter and I had been looking for an escape route for days."
"And with you and Cassian not in the same room, it was easier to sneak him out." Peter took a right, and Faryn could now see the end of the town, where the buildings stopped and all that remained was a vast snowy plain and the night sky dusted with stars as if someone had thrown a handful of sparkles across the black. Peter seemed to be driving as fast as he dared within the town's limits. The roads weren't that wide. But still at any moment, from any corner, headlights could sweep behind them, and it could be someone sent to bring them back. "I booked us on the next flight out. But it's to Norway. We'll be able to get a flight to Greenland from there." And then Franavik and her mother.
Faryn felt a lump form in her throat. "Thank you." She didn't know how to express her gratitude to these Acurials who did not know her a month ago and yet who now were risking their safety and reputation to help her. "I'm—" She swallowed down what felt like a sob..
Clíodhna twisted in her seat to look back at her. "I know." She thought she saw a hint of a smile grace the Leprechaun's face.
Cassian leaned over to look at Clíodhna. "How did you manage to get Faryn out of the dungeons?"
The Leprechaun stiffened. "I—I incapacitated the guards. And then Krampus let us go." She reached down for something near her feet. Even Aurelius hadn't known who she was. Could she be a daughter he didn't know he had? The Leprechaun held something out to Faryn, interrupting her thoughts.
Her mother's dagger.
"How?" She took it into her hands with an ounce of reverence. She barely noticed Peter pass over the city's limits.
"I got it back shortly after they took it away. As well as the rest of your things though that was a bit slower of a process, but we figured we'd be needing your passports." She tossed Faryn's and Cassian's bags in their laps.
With every minute that passed, Ruhnerium grew smaller behind them. Something flashed across her vision, and she squinted.
Headlights.
"Uhh . . . Peter?"
"I see them."
He picked up his speed. The road here, used only by Acurials, were covered by a clear structure that kept out the snow and ice. While it kept the road safe, it meant they were trapped if the car caught up with them.
"How far to the airport?" Cassian asked.
"Forty-five but I think I can get us there in thirty."
It wasn't long before the car caught up with them. Cassian rolled his window down and turned in his seat, placing a foot on the floorboard and bending his leg on the seat. He braced his hand on his seat's headrest. There wasn't a lot of room for his standing leg; the car's selling point seemed to have been the front seats. The back ones felt like an afterthought. Cassian maneuvered himself so that the top half of his body hung from the window, and Faryn felt like her heart might lurch out of her chest.
Was it the castle's Elves in the car behind them or Klaus and Jack? Moroz and his daughter? Her uncle?
Aurelius?
Cassian stretched out his hand, his palm open, and in the headlights from the other car she could see mist forming there, churning into something thicker. As it grew, it spilled over his hand and wrapped around his arms.
He let out a harsh breath, and he pushed his hand forward. The white fog moved at a crawl, but the car behind them caught up with it in seconds. It looked as if Cassian were sending his magic at the tires.
He gritted his teeth, his outstretched arm trembling. The mist dissipated, and he slumped back into the car. "I'm sorry," his voice was ragged.
Faryn crouched beside him. "Are you okay?"
"My magic, it's taxing me too quickly." He held up his hand, palm empty. He must have been trying to bring forth his powers. "I won't be any use. Not for a while." He looked at her. "It's up to you."
"I—no." She shook her head. Every time she had used her powers, she'd been touching the surface her powers unleashed themselves upon. She'd have to touch the road, and that wasn't a possibility.
Clíodhna twisted toward them. "I can do it."
Cassian lowered his hand. "You don't have magic."
She lifted one should in a shrug and rolled down her window. "Why do you think Arlo was taking care of me?"
"Friendship?"
She didn't answer, instead turning in her seat and leaning out the window. The black mist formed around her, twining in spirals around her body until it pooled in her palm.
Cassian shook his head. "What are . . ."
Clíodhna's hand trembled, and she didn't look at them. It was clear Peter wanted to stare; his head kept turning toward her before focusing back on the road ahead.
The magic poured over the sides of her hand like water overflowing from a cup. It rolled over the ground with a speed Cassian's hadn't been able to match. Her power slammed into the car behind them, and Clíodhna jolted, her hand grasping the headrest. Her arm outside trembled as her bent fingers tensed. Her hands were bare; her fingers must be frozen. If she left her hand out much longer, frostbite would become a problem.
From behind them came the squeal of tires, and the other car began to spin. As Faryn held her breath, the car slammed into the clear wall of the tunnel. Who was it that was in there?
Clíodhna slouched forward, cupping her hand to her chest.
Digging through her own bag, Faryn found her pair of gloves. They'd be a little big on Clíodhna, but she hoped that would only help.
She handed them to her, and the Leprechaun accepted them, her eyes half closed.
"Clíodhna," Peter sounded hoarse. "Can you please explain who and what you are? Because I didn't think Leprechauns had magic."
"I'm not evil."
"I didn't say you were."
She let out a heavy breath, sliding on one of the gloves. "Aurelius's father was my grandfather. While he, Gryla, and Leppaludi were at war with the Fair Folk, he and my grandmother somehow fell in love." She flexed her hand and closed it, working blood into the fingers. "When my mother was born, the war was over and Krampus had left. My kind were afraid of his power. And I know that's understandable but—" She bit her lip, not looking at any of them. "They killed her and then my father for daring to marry into such a family. That's when I met Arlo, and he's been sheltering me ever since. Aurelius doesn't know he has a niece. I'm not even sure he knows about my mother."
"But why did you hide it from us?" Peter asked. "Faryn is friends with Aurelius. Or was. She wouldn't have been scared of you."
"And you?"
"I've been a little bit terrified since the day we met."
Clíodhna snorted before looking behind her, past Faryn and Cassian, and at the wreck she'd caused. "Krampus has always been bad. He can give you nightmares. Absorb your energy to strengthen himself, and though I don't have those powers, I've still inherited the magic, and it would only be foolish for Acurials to not be afraid. I came with you because I wanted to get away from Ireland." She looked at Faryn. "You grew up being misunderstood. I know what that was like, and I wanted to help you. I thought if there would be one person who could understand me, it'd be you."
The words tugged at her heart, and Faryn laid her hand over Clíodhna's. "You've saved me—us—so many times already. We're lucky to have you Clíodhna."
The Leprechaun swallowed. "You'll let me stay?" Faryn's heart broke at those words. How many times had Clíodhna been turned away by people she wanted to call her friends?
"It should be me asking you that."
She wiped at her eyes. "I want to stay."
Claus has a new cover, and it's exactly what I was picturing in my head! I'm really grateful to the incredible person who designed it.