Let the blood flow.A throaty laugh pushed through my lips. Dropping to the ground to avoid the swords, I lunged and swept the feet out from under the first Sentinel. Before he could react, I lodged my blade between a sliver of exposed space on the back of his calf. Blood spurted, and he howled as he blindly arced his sword through the air. His weapon connected with the soldier on his right, and I sprung forward. One quick swipe and his injury mirrored the first kidney shot I’d delivered earlier.
Their blood trickled down my forearm.
Swords came flying then, and I parried while backstepping toward the now-open getaway path. The tang of iron flooded my nostrils, and the red tendrils blurring my vision sharpened. Escape was possible. The path was open and within reach. All I had to do was break the next blow and bolt. The city’s layout hadn’t changed. I knew where to hide. Where to seek refuge when I didn’t want to be found. I just needed to—
Kill.
My hand thrust in a deadly uppercut, and the Sentinel crashed into a nearby stall in an immobile heap. I didn’t have to run. I could let this wondrous heat guide my hands. A rampant hunger worked its way through me. But their blood wasn’t good enough. There was something else.Someoneelse I needed to eradicate.
A blistering mirage of competing reds took shape beside me. Bowen. He raised one brow and gave a flippant flick of his head toward the looming Sentinels. “Killing them won’t satisfy you.”
A resounding growl bellowed from somewhere deep inside of me just as another Sentinel sliced open the lower part of my cheek. Sticky heat coated my face. I reacted before I knew what had happened, kicking the soldier square the chest so he stumbled back. And with that opening, I brought my blade down on the soft space where neck and shoulder met.
His body crumpled before me, and Bowen sighed. Waving his hand over his shoulder, he stalked down the mouth of the alley. “Better put a move on, love. There are more where that one came from.”
Spires of raging light skewered the sky. More Sentinels. Darrien waited on the outskirts of it all, snarling and fighting against the command that kept his body motionless. It was only a small amount of blood, but my command would hold until it cycled out of his system days from now. Regardless, he was the least of my concerns for the time being.
The Sentinels were a different story.
Following Bowen’s now-sprinting form, I took off down the alley. Beams of light crashed around me, shattering crates and stalls as Sentinels gave chase. The clashing of metal boots ricocheted off building walls, and adrenaline took control of my limbs. Veering left and right, I darted through the city, vaulting over rails and climbing walls to try to lose the soldiers at my back.
Bowen threw a glance over his shoulder and laughed. “Brings back memories, don’t it?”
I chuckled. I’d first met him at a trading outpost while on a job. I’d watched from my seat at the back of the tavern as he’d strode in and moved from table to table, wide grin on display as sticky fingers deftly snuck into pockets. When he tried his routine on me, I chased him through the crumbling streets of worn stone until I cornered him at the docks. He didn’t try to deny taking my bits. Even insinuated that I must have let him.
He hadn’t been entirely wrong.
Bowen ducked between two crammed buildings, and I followed him. Shadows cast from the walls devoured us, and I hid and watched as Sentinels raced by. The cramped space brought us close, and Bowen placed a hand on my chest. In the exact same spot where Leena had placed her hand as she’d ignited her power and brought me to my senses. For a moment, those disastrous red tendrils wavered. Bowen stilled, eyes wide.
“Come with me.” His voice dipped an octave and hinted at despair. Cardamom and orange flirted with my nose and left me groaning.
“You’re not real.” I needed Leena. I needed her to ground me. To remind me… Bowen ran his thumb along my jaw. Memories disappeared, and there was nothing except the feel of his touch.
“Real enough. Let’s get you fixed.” He stepped away, and the space between us cut like ice. But I was helpless in this red sea, and I floated after him in a daze…wondering where his current would lead me.
Twenty
Leena
Dusk settled low over Luma Lake, and as each apricot ray of the setting sun softened to usher in a darkening sky, my pulse climbed higher. Noc was still missing. Still locked in that terrifying city with deadly Sentinels and Darrien on his tail. We had barely escaped with our lives. Assassins following Darrien’s orders had chased after us. They’d fought against Kost and Oz in the shadows as I stood by, entirely useless and unable to access the beasts in my arsenal while stuck in their realm.
I didn’t even have time to process what it meant to see my Charmer’s symbol sucked dry of color. To find a locked door to the beast realm and no promise of opening. Despair had changed those beautiful shadows to dreadful, smothering smoke, and I barely kept control of my emotions long enough to escape with Kost and Oz.
Is that what I’d face if I were to accept Noc’s proposal and rejoin him after death?
Screwing my eyes shut, I let out a breath. A question for another time. Death is all that would face him if he didn’t make it out of that city. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open, hoping Noc would appear. Nothing.
We waited in a small cluster of willow trees, hidden in the shadows of their trunks and the dripping strands of their leaves. Beside me, Oz leaned against the nearest one with his arms folded across his chest and his neck stiff. Dark eyes brewed something fierce, and his jaw ticked. Kost was a statue tethered to the hidden sewer gate we’d snuck through. I wasn’t sure if Noc would emerge from the same path, but they had discussed some of the city’s layout during the travel here.
If Wilheim hadn’t gone on high alert, shining spotlights on every citizen, we would’ve exited through the gleaming back gates like every other local. For the most part, the rainbow cobblestone pathway leading away from the city was empty. A few patrolling Sentinels stalked along the walls and near the exit. With the lake as a natural barrier to outside attacks, there were fewer guards here, but that didn’t mean they were any less vigilant.
All I could do was pace. I wore down a parallel path to the lake, the grass beneath my boots turned muddy. The placid, glassy waters reflected the sky and stretched from horizon to horizon, but there was a faint mist of white to the north. A billowing cloud that skimmed the surface of the water and hinted at a hidden world. Without a boat and with no bridge in sight, there were no obvious means for crossing. Not that we were ready to leave. Not without Noc.
Noc.I dropped my gaze to the pulverized grass before me. His shove had been a blade to my heart. I knew he’d sacrificed himself to give us a chance at escape, but what if that was the last touch I ever got?
Stop.I bit my lower lip.Don’t think like that.The beams of light had ceased, and the awful grating intonation careening through the city had been silenced. Good or bad, I didn’t know.
“The king will soon get word of our appearance, if he hasn’t already. He’ll assume we’ll go to the ruins, even if his reasons are incorrect.” With tense fingers, Kost clutched the strap of his satchel. “We need to put as much distance between us and the Sentinels as possible.”
