Page 148 of Storm of Ink and Blood

Still. He’d hoped.

He’d been relying on the faint chance that Zarya’s destiny might somehow make this all work out. It had been a fool’s wish. A true soldier didn’t rely on chance.

He watched as she jumped from her perch, struggling to reach him. He fought in her direction, trying not to hurt anyone, but was shoved left and right in the press of bodies.

He wasn’t used to this feeling of utter helplessness and he hated it.

That’s when he saw two guards seize Zarya by each arm. She fought like a wildcat as more closed in around her, momentarily cutting her off from his view. Fuck.

“Zarya!” he roared as he continued to battle a human tide. “Zarya!”

Then he watched in horror as a soldier knocked her on the head before she went limp.

“Zarya!” He would destroy that asshole. Fucking tear him limb from limb. Every single one of them would suffer at his hands.

“Move!” Rabin shouted, shoving harder, no longer caring who got in his way. A guard heaved Zarya up on a shoulder, her arms and legs dangling as they carried her off. Rabin tried to follow, but he couldn’t untangle himself from the press of limbs and panic, almost as if fate was trying to keep him away.

He pushed through the crowd with another thrust, closing the distance as he stumbled against the crush.

The soldiers reached the palace, the lead guards slipping through a door.

“Zarya,” he screamed as he lunged. The others quickly stepped inside as he ran, just as the door slammed in his face. He rammed his entire body into it, backing up and then ramming it again, but it was solid wood, banded with iron, and offered no give. He speared a beam of copper light at the handle, but it dissipated against it. More fucking magic working against him.

“What happened?” Yasen yelled over the cacophony, coming up beside him.

“They took her.” Rabin backed up, scanning the palace, his mind recalculating as he quickly took stock of every window and exit.

“Shit! What do we do?”

“Come with me,” Rabin said, spinning on his heel and stalking away.

FIFTY-ONE

Zarya awoke to a pounding in her head, her vision blurring and smearing against grey light. She lay face down on a hard surface, and if she listened carefully, she could hear the muffled din that signaled thousands of panicking voices.

She groaned and attempted to move, only to find someone had tied her hands behind her back. She wiggled numb fingers and twisted her wrists against the bite of rope.

Blinking heavily, she waited for her sight to clear before she took in her surroundings. The floor was marble, inlaid with colorful patterned tiles, and a long row of windows curved around the room in a gentle arc. She watched rain pelt the surface, tracks sliding down the glass.

The sky swirled with angry, grey clouds and a clap of thunder mingled with screams and shouts and the clash of steel against steel, shattering glass, and the roar of explosions.

Her chest tightened. Everything they’d been planning had gone completely wrong. This wasn’t a protest, it had become a riot. A boiling pot that had been bubbling for a thousand years, finally spilling over to consume everything in its path.

They knew success had always been a thin hope. Everything they’d done had been pieced together with tattered thread and a whispered prayer. She just hadn’t expected things to go quite this poorly.

The sharp click of footsteps drew her attention and she shifted, whimpering as a sharp stab of pain flashed over her scalp.

She looked up to find her half-sister standing over her.

“You are responsible for this?” she asked.

Zarya grunted, refusing to answer as she glared up at Dishani. A swift kick to her stomach had her crying out. She gasped for air as she curled into herself, partly from pain but also from the shock that her own flesh and blood would treat her with such naked viciousness.

“Answer me!” Dishani hissed. “You think you can show up here, take my crown, and upset my queendom. Who the hell do you think you are?” Her voice reached a fever pitch, echoing off the marble floors and ceiling, ringing in Zarya’s ears. She coughed, gagging as she writhed on the floor.

“Answer me!”

Zarya sucked in deep breaths, any words she might conjure lodged in her chest.