It was too late by the time I caught the gleam of the hallway light along steel, the blade aimed straight for my throat.
Her body slammed into mine, and I reached for her wrist. Before I could stop it, cold steel kissed my chest, leaving a searing cut.
I pushed the hand she held the blade in towards herself. It was already tinted red along one edge. Her vacant eyes met mine, empty and wrong, and dread flooded me.
Grunting, I pushed her away.
The woman staggered back, hands trembling.
My chest felt damp and warm. It dripped and dripped too fast, faster than I could staunch. Pain swelled through me like a crescendo. For a single heartbeat, she stared, then dropped the blade to the ground.
The eagle burst into my thoughts, shrieking, wings thrashing in frantic warning. I was sliding down the wall, my hands damp as I pressed at the wound. Hot liquid welled between my fingers.
I tried to breathe. Tried to speak as I stared at her shape, but the woman slipped out of the room without a sound.
I couldn’t see. Couldn’t feel.
Get help, I commanded.
The eagle cried again and launched itself upward, straining beyond the confines of this place. It flew farther and farther.
I waited for a long time. Until the pain dulled and the room turned colder.
Pinpricks of red crowded my vision, too faint against the dark.
Perhaps Madden had ordered this. Hadn’t trusted me enough to keep me.
Cold crept into my limbs as I waited, tugging at me with the lure of a restful silence.
A tall shadow filled the doorway, silver light outlining dishevelled hair. A murderous, cedar power filled my senses.
He came.
I leaned into him and into the dark.
Chapter 56
Jane
“Give me that shirt,” someone said, tearing through the sweet darkness.
“Who?” another one asked hoarsely, the words carrying an acrid tang.
“No fucking clue,” the first man replied, the voice sounding slightly irritated. “But someone’s going to pay for it. He wants her alive.”
I felt hands dragged me across a cold surface. A whine left my mouth before I realised it.
“Why a half-breed?”
Moments passed before Cahir spoke. “Because she can divine,” he said, his voice edged with something. “We’re running out of supplies, and he needs something to bargain with the heads.”
The other man started to argue, but Cahir cut him off. “Out. Not here.”
My head felt too heavy, clouded and aching. I reached for the eagle, but the familiar wasn’t there.
“I’ll ask around,” the stranger said more quietly. “But everyone knows she’s supposed to be Lady. Keeping her alive is a risk. They won’t back off.” A pause. “She won’t last long, Cahir.”
Some thread of awareness latched onto their words. I remembered where I was and the memory of the human who tried to stab me.
