He felt her – somewhere ahead – a tug in his chest that had nothing to do with the Shards and everything to do with the woman they were taking from him.
With every slam into the wood, his body screamed, but fury was stronger. His boot left a dent in the panel. The cage rattled violently with each blow. The bastards outside only laughed.
“Your Hale whore can’t hear you,LordThorne,” one jeered through the bars.
The wheels clattered hard over stone, tilting him against the wall. He braced, teeth gritted – and listened. He knew these roads. They weren’t heading south to Vallenna City. They were dragging him east. Back to Thorne. Away from Kara.
Through the fog of rage, one thought clawed at him, savage and merciless:
She’s alone. She’s in their hands. They’ll kill her.
Watching them drag her away had brought everything into focus.
He cared about her more than Vallenna.
More than the Shards.
More than the vision, the prophecy–
More thananything.
He bared his teeth and threw himself against the door again. Fell. Hit it again. His wrists burned. He didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.
About one thing he was certain.
He had to save her.
He would save her.
And he would make them bleed for ever laying hands on her.
The night air tore at Kara’s face as the valmare pounded southward. The soldier – Cade, she’d heard another call him – gave her no room to move, his arms tight around her waist as she sat in front of him. He’d bound her hands to the saddle horn and every hoofbeat jarred her shoulders with sharp bursts of pain.
“You’re quiet,” Cade sneered. “Thinking about your traitor? Was he worth it? All this?”
She stared hard at the road ahead. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer.
Sebastian is worth everything.
He chuckled. “Found you two all cosy by that tree, didn’t we?”
The memory flashed in her mind, Sebastian’s hand in hers, his temple against her hair, and her heart broke. But she heard Sebastian’s voice in her mind:
Say nothing. Don’t rise to it. Don’t give him what he wants.
“His father may have insisted we take him home for his trial, but that won’t change anything.”
They’re taking him to Thorne?
Cade didn’t stop. “Thorne’s golden son will be executed within the week... a shame really, he was quite the fighter.”
Her breath left her, but she forced her chin up, refusing to give him the flinch he wanted.
“Shall I tell you how they’ll do it, Healer?”
No, please don’t–
“The noose is too good for him. Too quick. It’ll be the pyre. A spectacle,” Cade said, matter-of-fact. “They’ll drag him to the square, bind him to the stake, build kindling at his feet.” He paused, savouring the image. “Then the order comes, and the torch drops.”
