Dozens of Reds and Sun Court knights pour through the broken perimeter. They were waiting for the leader of the rebellion to show up before revealing their true numbers.
We’re fucked.
“Max!” Nick’s voice barely cuts through the chaos. “Max, stay where you are!”
I spin and run, risking a glance over my shoulder.
Nick gives chase, but I don’t stop, even though I have absolutely no idea where the hell I’m going.
I’m not running toward safety.
I’m running because there isn’t any.
Not with the Reds.
Not with Luther ready to slit throats before asking questions.
Not with some winged savior that visited my mother in the dead of night.
I don’t know who killed her. Whether it was Lillivere or the Lord of the Tides or both of them working together, I can’t trust either side.
So I run.
Branches whip my face. Rain clings to my lashes, turning every blink into a smear of light and shadow.
The forest spins.
The Summerlands should be green.
Fern-covered.
Wild and lush.
But all I see is red.
A trail of fallen leaves carpets the forest floor ahead, vivid against the mud, leading deeper into the woods. I couldn’t tell west from east if my life depended on it, and I skid to a stop.
Footsteps echo behind me, heavy and familiar.
“Gods damn it, Max!” Nick shouts.
A Sun knight slams into Nick before he can strike, wrenching a dagger from his grip while two more seize his arms. The bright light pouring off their bodies and flashing off their armor lulls me into a dizzying trance.
Nick thrashes, feral, until he suddenly goes still, his unconscious body crumpling as the soldiers gag and bind him.
Rough hands clamp around my wrists and lock around my upper arm. My fire sputters uselessly beneath my skin, exhaustion and adrenaline crashing together, while that strange white glow from the soldiers presses in from all sides.
So many of them.
Shining so bright.
So close.
So beautiful…
Whatever magic I conjured earlier is spent now, and my lungs burn. Could I burn crimson again and free myself? I don’t want to kill all these people. I?—
A leather gag with a wide circular bit is forced into my mouth, my hands now tied behind my back.
