“Are you okay to fight?”
Rexton looks up, his voice dying out as he takes notice of my expression. My fear must be showing, and I swallow past the lump in my throat as he rises and closes the distance between us.
My heart pounds as he cups my cheeks, holding my face tightly between his warm palms.
“You know what to do,” he says. “You’ve prepared for this.”
I shake my head. “I have not. I’m going to fuck up.”
“You have, and you’re not. Androl and I will be with you every step of the way.” Rexton releases me and steps back. “I won’t let you embarrass yourself, Cassia. I promise.”
I’m not sure if I believe him, but I don’t have much of a choice. Chaos is erupting outside, and people are waiting on me. Ready or not, I have a duty to fulfill.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
CASSIA
REXTON AND I teleport to the center of camp, right outside the leadership tent. Rexton fucks off to who-knows-where while I ensure that the squad officers within First Unit are all aware of their designated locations. They are, and I’m impressed by their sheer speed and efficiency as they ready their soldiers and teleport out of camp.
Prince Nolic and his men will be able to teleport the second they set foot off Greed’s soil, and we need to be prepared for the worst.
Camp clears out in under thirty minutes, and I send one messenger to Aziel and another to Raum with an update on the situation. They’ve been readying additional troops, getting Wrath’s soldiers into position to teleport in and support, and they should begin preparing to do so.
“Ready?” I ask Rexton.
He nods, and we teleport to the pass where Prince Nolic and his men are set to arrive. It’s a narrow area, surrounded on both sides by prominent mountain peaks.
Androl is already there with a small handful of Wrath soldiers. Most of First Unit is located on the mountains overlooking the pass. It offers the best vantage point.
Rexton appears beside me.
I scan the pass, expecting to see a Greed messenger waiting for us, but the clearing remains empty. Alarm bells are ringing. A glance at Rexton’s cautious expression confirms that he’s thinking the same thing.
Androl licks his lips, his black eyes darting around. “Something isn’t right.”
Prince Nolic is a royal. He’d expect us to be waiting for his arrival. He wouldn’t risk crossing into Wrath without assurance that we aren’t going to slaughter him and his hundred soldiers.
He’d send a messenger.
But he hasn’t.
We wait several minutes. Still, nobody appears.
I shift my weight. “Where do you—”
My question is cut off by a loud sound from the mountain on our right. It’s a call, one meant to signal that fighting has broken out. How? It would take the Greeds hours to climb the mountain and cross into Wrath, and there’s no place for them to have done so without being seen.
Now’s not the time to worry about that.
I teleport toward the sound, landing squarely in the center of the mountaintop. It’s chaos. There are Greeds everywhere I look. Hundreds of them. Where have they come from? Panic claws up my throat, but I push it down as I teleport toward the nearest Greed.
First Unit has over a thousand highly trained soldiers. They know what they’re doing, and they’re familiar with the unpredictability of war. I have to trust that.
The Greed nearest me begins to turn in my direction, and I pull out my souvenir dagger and sink it into his chest beforehe fully registers what’s happening. Wraths continue teleporting into the area, responding quickly to the call.
We’ll make quick work of the Greed soldiers, but I anticipate it’s only the first of many surprises.
A man appears beside me. He’s fucking huge, and he reeks of power. He lunges for me, almost knocking me off my feet. Men as large as him aren’t supposed to be so fast, and I grimace as I avoid his tree-trunk arms.
