I hear a distantboom. Then another, closer. Another. Another. Even Adalbrecht stops to see what’s coming.
Thensheappears.
She leaps over the Yssar, spear aloft. Thunder rattles the Göttermarkt when she lands. More follows as she sprints toward the plaza, face cold and furious, each footfall leaving an ox-sized dent in the street.
I don’t know whether it’s a Low God or the ghost of Kunigunde von Reigenbach in that statue, but I am certain of one thing: She is here to reckon with Adalbrecht.
Irmgard blinks dizzily at the bronze statue charging into the plaza.
I yank the crossbow from her grasp and throw it onto the coals of a
nearby overturned brazier.
She grins up at me.
Then she lifts her other fist, now full of her father’s letters, and throws them, too, into the fire.
CHAPTER THIRTY- NINE
Moonrise
“NO!” I scramble after the letters, but they’re gone in a flash.
That was—that was all the evidence we had left.
Emeric can’t call the court now. He doesn’t have a case.
Kunigunde may be the only way left to stop Adalbrecht. And even if she isn’t, it really, really helps to watch her swing her bronze spear into his head.
He lets out a guttural scream-roar as I look to Gisele and Ragne. I see two glowing red eyes in the bundle of fur huddled in Gisele’s arms. At least Ragne saved her eye, but between healing and keeping up the shape of a temple- sized lion, I’m sure she’s out of the fight for good. Not even the full moon can give her infinite energy.
The full moon.
Oh,scheit.
I look up. The sun is sinking behind Castle Reigenbach, golden light searing over the Göttermarkt, flashing over broken glass and silent belfries and the wreckage of the wedding houses.
I have a matter of minutes before the full moon rises.
The ground leaps and shudders as Kunigunde takes a tumble. Adalbrecht snaps his teeth at her, only to bite down on unyielding bronze. There’s a horriblecrack. He shakes his head, voice hoarse with a fresh howl, bits of fang scattering across the plaza. Then he bowls into Kunigunde, shoving her into spilled coals. He’s clutching one bleeding foreleg to his chest, but he brings the other down on her shin. The metal bends and twists.
Then I discover I shouldn’t have counted Irmgard down for the count either, as she drives a knee into my gut. I falter, crying out.
Surprisingly, Irmgard also screams, jerking her leg back. Blood stains her golden skirt.
I look down. Thorns of rubies are breaking through my prison dress. She kicked right into those.
Irmgard rolls away, then gets to her feet, making a limping break for the nearest temple. She’s watching Kunigunde and Adalbrecht over one shoulder as she runs.
She misses Gisele setting Ragne down, getting to her feet, and picking up the enormous, heavy Reigenbach bridal crown.
Gisele swings. And she does not miss Irmgard.
This time, Irmgard stays down.
That’s for the best, because when I try to stand, I find my whole foot has gone numb. Rubies and pearls are bursting through my ruined stockings.
My time is almost up.
