“No, they won’t,” I said.
Her eyes flashed in the moonlight when they met mine. “Maybe not Ryker, but he’ll kill the others.”
“He needs them too,” Ianto said. “They’re leverage against Ryker and the rest of the rebellion.”
That was very true, and I hoped he was right. I’d hate myself for the rest of my days if the duke killed any of them or maimed Ryker further in a fit of rage. But I’d never be able to live with myself if he slaughtered a bunch of innocents because I chose Ryker over them.
I could live without Ryker. His loss would destroy me, and I’d never be the same, but I’d keep fighting to save the others and to ensure they remained safe. I’d never survive the loss of those children.
We had to move fast enough to prevent the guards from turning on the children. They wouldn’t do anything without the duke’s command, and while they all followed that monster’s orders, some of them would balk at hurting kids… or at least I hoped they would. Others would blindly follow his directives.
If this worked and we succeeded, this would be our second major blow against the duke tonight. He still didn’t know about the first; if he did, there would be far more fighters out here, and they’d be a lot more alert.
Most of them looked half asleep on the field. Others chatted in low murmurs that barely carried toward us. Some faced the palace instead of the woods.
If we succeeded in freeing the children, our next step would be for the poltergeists to alert the army gathering in the Revenant Woods. Many of those amsirah weren’t as well trained as the duke’s army, but we still had weapons from Ryker’s raid on his father’s castle, and we had the gargoyles.
We might also have greater numbers and might defeat this asshole. I just hoped Ryker and the others survived it.
I couldn’t dwell on that. If I did, my feet would remain firmly planted where they were, and I’d never strike this next blow.
“Are you ready, child?” Indon asked.
Ice pumped through my veins as I shifted my attention to him. “No,” I admitted. “But we must do this.”
He studied me for a minute before resting his hand on my shoulder. “You have many choices, but sometimes you must make the toughest one.”
And this was most certainly the hardest one. I swallowed the lump in my throat before replying. “Let’s do this.”
“You must lead the way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Ryker
“Where’s Gaius Gisborne?” I asked as we traversed another narrow hallway deep within the palace walls. The space wasn’t big enough for us to walk side by side, so Samael led the way through the cramped confines.
“Sulking somewhere, I’m sure,” Samael replied. “He wasn’t happy to be demoted from his position as head of the king’s guard already. They should have killed him for his failure, like my father, but at least my father kept Ivan alive. Gaius failed miserably at that.”
Samael couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice as he said this.
“Your father couldn’t have saved Ivan from me,” I said.
Samael’s shoulders stiffened before relaxing again. “Nobody could have saved him from that. No one saw that coming.”
Samael glanced over his shoulder at me. “How did you do that? I thought you had to draw lightning from the sky or earth.”
I lifted my fingers to reveal the sparks dancing over them. “The same way I’m doing it now.”
“And how is that?”
“I’m drawing it from inside me.”
I wasn’t revealing any big secret to him. I believed the answer was obvious; Samael just didn’t want to see it.
“Is that because of your relationship with Ellery Marian?”
I lowered my hand as I glowered at him. “She’s not your fucking concern.”
