Facts that I pushed out of my mind as best I could when Layla stunned him with her shield, and I embedded my sword into his chest.
He stared at me, his eyes turning glassy as his spirit left his body, leaving a sick feeling lingering in my stomach.
“There’s a way out,” Layla told me as she pressed against my side. She frantically looked around the area.
There were Nora everywhere.
“Where?” I asked.
“The tunnels,” she whispered.
My brow furrowed.The tunnels we just came up from? Through Novak’s not-so-subtle hole?
That was going to be a problem.
Even if we managed to reach it unseen, the Nora would find it in an instant.
No, what they needed was a distraction. Something to lure them outside and away from the potential exit, thereby giving us enough time to flee.
Not us, I thought, realization striking me in the heart.Them.
Because there were really only two of us here who could lead a large enough chase into the sky to distract the legion.
Me.
Or Novak.
But their anger toward me was stronger than their desire to slaughter Novak.
Because I was a Nora.
Their traitorous Commander.
The betrayer. The one they wanted to make bleed.
If I flew… they’d chase.
Because they were hungry for my blood.
Novak might be a lethal beast, but the Nora knew my face; they felt the sting of treachery that had them homing in on me even now.
They saw me as a Fallen even though my wings hadn’t changed.
A disgrace.
A being who needed to be punished and destroyed for what I’d done.
The anger in their eyes hit me from all directions, especially now that I had killed some of our own.
Olaf.
Perseus.
They had been some of the closest warriors in my squadron, and if I was willing to kill them, then no one was safe.
Underneath the anger was hurt that I’d chosen the other side.
It was an emotion I would use against them.
