His life, gone. Snuffed out. Just like Amelia’s.
A sob rips out of me, resonating through the night. Oh, gods.
The Given may stick together, but what good is that when we all fucking die?
I thought that once I rescued my sisters and saved them from the king, we’d be a team and tackle whatever came next together.
But apparently, I was wrong.
“No. You can’t do this, you can’t split us up,” Violet says.
Marie turns to me, her eyes watering. “Birdie, you can’t leave us.”
The twins tremble in my arms, and my lungs squeeze tighter and tighter. How could this be happening? How could this evening have taken such a dark turn?
Gabriel is watching me, and I stare back at him, searching for a sign that I’m wrong and this isn’t the plan. But his face is serious, his eyes are dark, like a forest in the moonlight, and his lips curve into a deep frown.
No.
The word races through my mind. My body. Mysoul.
My fingers twitch around the girls, and I contemplate running away. We could do it—turn around and disappear into the woods. We could try to get away on our own...
But we wouldn’t get far.
Acting rashly will doom my sisters, sentence them to death. We don’t have any supplies or weapons except for my dagger. Our clothes were meant for the ball, not for the impending winter. We don’t have cloaks or food or water.
We havenothing.
“Don’t do this,” I plead, desperation coating every syllable. “Please, don’t do this.”
The last word escapes me on a whimper, and my knees knock together.
Here I am, beggingagain. It always seems to come back to this. No matter what I do, no matter where I go, we keep returning to this gods-damned awful place.
The Hunter, in a position of power.
Me, imploring him to change his mind and to save me from this fate.
Gabriel’s brows furrow, and he scrubs a hand over his face. Will this time be different? Will he listen to me and change his mind?
Suns, maybe this is all a bad dream, and the Winter’s Eve Ball hasn’t even taken place yet. Maybe Kadyn’s still alive, and there’s a chance for things to change. We can come up with a new plan, and people can stop dying all around me.
But then, Gabriel’s mouth dips. The crease between his brows deepens, and before he even says a word, I know this isn’t a dream. This is all too fucking real.
“We need to move quickly, Wren,” he says quietly.
Is that a hint of gods-damned compassion in his tone? What is it doing there? Howdarehe pretend to be sympathetic and understanding of my plight when he is playing a part in it?
He adds, “The king is coming.”
As if I could forget.
“I saw the ember,” I snap, remembering the way it glowed, reminding me of those crimson, rage-filled eyes. The promise in the king’s voice to find me cycles through my mind, even now. “I understand what it means.”
Marie hiccups, and I clutch her tighter.
Gabriel’s frown deepens. “The twins can’t come with us.”
