Foxheart

Chapter Sixty-Six

Fox woke with a start, his lungs raggedly inhaling a large gulp of air. He couldn't see, his eyes were covered with something, and, for a moment, he couldn't move. His whole body was numb and incredibly cold, as if his whole being was made of ice.

Fox sucked in the damp, musty air, trying to calm himself as panic began to flutter in his chest. Memories flourished in his eyes. Memories of Sodden and that damned Spirit that put both him and Esme to sleep.

Esme. Her kiss.

Fox shoved aside the memory, trying to ignore the tight fluttering in his chest and how his mind seemed to drift off at the thought of it. He was captured, the worst case scenario. He had no time to think about Esme and her kiss and how warm she was or how she tasted.

No! Control yourself! Fox snarled at himself and the Esme in his mind's eyes vanished. He could think a little clearer now.

Gradually feeling came back, enough that he began to feel something around his wrists. Handcuffs.

Now he had enough strength back, Fox wriggled to sit up, glad to find his hands were tied in front of him, and tore the cloth from his head.

Instantly his stomach dropped. Surrounding him was the exact some walls he had seen Esme in before. The walls of the highest tier of cells. Worst yet, he was alone. Esme wasn't beside him.

Fox's heart tightened with panic. Just where was she? He had promised her he'd keep her safe and out of Denver's clutches. And then there was the curse, making her believe she had murdered her aunt. Esme would just hand herself over with a little bow attached! She wouldn't fight! He'd failed her. Again.

'Esme!' Fox croaked out hoarsely, his voice catching in his dry throat.

'Fox?' Someone replied, but not who he was expecting.

'Bull?'

A relieved laugh echoed from her. 'Oh, good, you're awake, lad.'

Fox felt his stomach tightening more. Bull was in here with him and Esme, locked up. Caught.

'Where's Badger?'

'In here with us, I'm afraid. All of us got caught. Didn't stand a chance! Those White Wizards are swift when they get their nose to the grindstone.' Bull replied calmly. 'Bit of a mess we're in.'

'You don't say.' Fox snapped, his brain going into overdrive as he tried to pull some kind of escape plan from thin air. 'Where's Esme?'

'Don't know. Didn't see her being dragged in with you. Safe to say she's somewhere else.'

Fox groaned and smashed his head against the bars, squeezing his eyes shut. Everything had fallen apart so fast and he was struggling to grasp some of the strands to pull it back together.

'Don't go fussing, lad.'

'Now's the perfect time to fuss, Bull!' He snarled.

'We have a wild card. Don't you go forgetting about a certain man wondering around trying to find Esme's truth.'

Fox stiffened as hope blossomed. Grand Wizard Lithgow hadn't been caught. He was out of the smithy when the police descended, meaning he was out there somewhere still, traipsing around trying to find a Spirit.

'Is he goin' to be able to bail us though?'

'Don't know, lad, but he's better than nothing.'

Fox wasn't so sure. The Grand Wizard didn't have the political power he was meant to have with Denver around.