Once we’d exited the tower, I turned to him. “What I said in there about why I’d say yes to longevity … I didn’t mean to imply that Eva isn’t content with you. I realized how it sounded after I said it, and I just wanted—” Cutting off my ramble, I shook my head. “Never mind.”
He stared down at me, so many emotions flickering across his features. All were there and gone too fast for me to identify them.
His eyes dropped to my mouth. Hovered there for a few moments. When they shot back up to meet mine, there was a gleam of needin their depths that almost stole my breath.
Something built in the air. Something warm and muggy. Something with enoughumphit could zap my body as effectively as the cuff I’d thankfully had removed from my wrist. I swallowed hard, feeling—
An alarm rang out. Loud. Piercing. Incessant.
It was the same alarm that had sounded when the hounds and lamiae attacked.
Shit.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ilet my gaze zip around, looking—
There.
The torches on the front of the rise were lit, signaling that intruders were heading right for the city doors. My stomach sank. “We—”
Talon whooshed by me so fast I felt a brush of air across my face and hair.
All right.
Swearing, I made a mad dash for the garrison just as armed officiates began pouring out of it. I boxed away the dread that tried gripping my gut and stilling my thoughts. There was no time to panic, no time to worry; I had to reach for that battle-state of mind I’d learned to adopt since being plunged into Xalbia.
Inside the garrison, I joined the fast-moving line of people who were taking weapons from the armory. A sense of battle-readiness rolled off the officiates and even some of the candidates. Others were a mass of anxiety.
Just in case the intruders managed to scale the walls, I nabbed a scythe as well as a bow and quiver of arrows, just as I had last time. Falling into the line of people rushing out of the garrison, I joined them in tearing across the bailey to thestaircase near the front wall. Boots hammered on the stone steps as we raced up to the battlements.
Reaching the top, I frowned in surprise. “They’re not here yet?” I asked the person closest to me.
Keyes’ eyes met mine. “No. This is possibly the worst route they could have taken. There are more beasts guarding this part of the Pines—they’re already attacking, picking off numbers.”
Yes, I could hear them. Hear growls, roars, snarls, and the avian-like shrieks. It all made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Whoever sent them would have anticipated this, so why go for a frontal attack?”
Keyes pursed his lips. “My guess? They thought all the trees would provide them with so much cover that their presence wouldn’t be noted until it was too late.”
As Ajax ordered us all into position on the battlements, I balanced the scythe against the short wall in front of me and then reached back to swipe an arrow from the quiver. A little out of breath from all the dashing around, I dragged in a long, centering inhale as I made an effort to steady my breathing.
I strained to see beyond the tree canopies to get a glimpse of what we were facing. More hounds? More lamiae? Something else?
It was impossible to tell.
Urgency pounding through my system, I angled my bow downwards, attached the arrow to the string, and then pointed the bow toward the enemies I couldn’t yet see. I didn’t release the arrow, though. Like everyone else, I waited for the signal from Talon.
At the moment, the Cardinal stood in the center of the battlement, his fist held up in a gesture to wait. And so we did.
Archers held their bows steady. Phoenixians conjured orbs of cold air. Officiates who were manning catapults putflaming rocks in place. Delphiae held themselves stiffly as sparks of energy played over their palms. Other officiates readied the bubbling cauldrons, tossing this and that into them.
The animalistic sounds coming from the forest became louder and louder as the trespassers came closer and closer. And then, finally, they reached the part of the forest where the trees were more thinly spread.
As I got a look at our enemies, I felt my lips flatten. The hounds were back, galloping through the forest. Again, they had company. Not lamiae this time, though. Running among the seemingly never-ending number of dogs were hundreds of bulky, tusked, gray-skinned humanoids.Orks. All carried either axes, spears, swords, or hammers.
Various Deimos-beasts pursued the intruders. Bears covered in black scales. Tall, shaggy, ape-like humanoids. Overly large birds that were somewhat similar to white screech owls.
Talon whistled loud and then slammed down his arm.
