Page 108 of Harbinger

“Keep moving!” he shouts.

I stagger ahead, tears streaming, my throat raw. I’m barely able to force my legs to keep going.

I reach the trees, stumbling into their cover, but when I turn to him, Kieren isn’t there. I spin around, heart in my throat, nearly slipping in the mud, and finally see him.

Kieren is on the ground in the clearing.

A hound has him by the arm, dragging him backward like he weighs nothing. He fights, kicking the animal off as his hands claw at the dirt, trying to find leverage. But the dark is full of movement now as the others close in.

“Get up!” I shout.

One of the dogs looks around, alert. Interested. I can draw them away. Give Kieren a chance to move again. My eyes scan the woods around me wildly, looking for any sign of a path, any clue how close we are to the main road. If we can reach it, we’ll be going in the direction of Miradores. They wouldn’t dare to follow us there.

I wet my lower lip, pursing my mouth to whistle, to call the hounds after me.

But on the far side of the clearing, lantern light blooms between the trees, and men emerge from the woods. A half dozen of them, and the one holding the light …

“Where are you going?” the bartender calls, voice filled with delighted cruelty. “Are you going to leave this one behind for us to kill, too?”

My heart stops.

They can’t see me. Not under the cover of the forest. I retreat one step into those shadows.

“We’re here for you, witch. Not him.” The barkeep crouches down with the lantern and presses a knife to Kieren’s throat. But my best friend looks up, staring toward the darkness ahead as if he knows I can see him, and mouths the command he’s given me twice already.

Run.

I grab hold of the nearest trunk to steady myself. A few steps back and the woods will swallow me from sight. But I can’t bring myself to keep running.

If I do that, he dies.

If I go back, we’ll probably both die.

The idea lodges in my ribs like it’s that blade at his throat.

And then I shake it off, because I am not leaving my family.

Not again.

Tree branches catch at my cloak, the forest trying to stop me as I walk toward the clearing. But I keep going, stepping out of the tree line and into open view.

Fix it. I can still—

The sight of him steals the rest of the thought. Kieren is on his knees in the mud, two men forcing him upright as he fights them like an animal. His bottom lip is split and bleeding. He’s close enough now that I can see where the hounds tore his clothing. Far enough that I can still turn and run.

“Arden, stop,” he shouts hoarsely. “Run. Don’t—”

The lantern light wobbles ahead like a beacon.

Do what needs to be done.

I couldn’t make the sacrifice that night. But this? This isn’t a sacrifice at all.

It’s what needs to be done.

Only one step left. The noise drains away, and there is only stillness—as if the world has narrowed to a single unavoidable path. I step before the barkeep. Lifting my chin, I aim my words directly at him. “Let him go.”

That’s all it takes.