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Wey shot us each a glare before staring at the convoy again, so I leaned in to my little bird and murmured, “You doing okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’m nervous, but I’m alright.”
“If you need to sit this one out—”
“I’m ready. I want to help.”
I nodded at him and leaned in to press a kiss to his temple, squeezing his shoulder. “Alright.” After he sent me a small smile, I turned to Florin, saying, “What about you? You okay?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “For someone who supposedly hates me, you sure seem awfully concerned about me all the time lately.”
I sighed. “I don’t hate you.”
His eyes went wide. “Wow, never thought you’d admit it willingly.” He sent me a small smile that actually looked genuine, and surprised me further by shoulder-bumping me. “I don’t hate you, either.”
Braz huffed in amusement, and I grinned, saying quietly, “You heard him, boys. Florin loves me.”
“I didn’t say—”
“Yousodid.”
“I absolutely did not—”
“It’s okay, Florin. We all heard you the first time. You don’t need to say it again.”
He opened his mouth to reply, an angry expression on his face, but I shot my hand out and slapped it over his mouth. I could tell he was about to punch me in the face, so I leaned in and whispered, “I hear something.”
He immediately hushed, and I dropped my hand, turning toward the quiet sound. Laughter. I could hear quiet laughter in the distance.
And if I could hear it, then they could possibly hear us—if they had a shifter with them, anyway. My hearing was a tad more acute than Wey or Braz’s, so I wasn’t surprised no one else seemed to catch the sound yet. I put my finger to my lips in the universal sign ofshut-your-trap, then tapped my ear so they’d know I could hear something. Everyone nodded and remained quiet, turning back to the road and watching the procession slowly make its way closer.
It seemed to take forever and no time at all for it to reach us. The convoy was larger than we’d been told to expect. We’d been expecting five carriages and less than twenty men on foot and horse—at the most—but there were eight carriages and thirty men on horse. Behind them, there was a very long line of shifter and human slaves with collars around their necks, the chains connecting their collars to the slave in front and behind them. The entire two lines of slaves were tied to the very last carriage. They were on foot, filthy, and clearly exhausted, but that didn’t stop the guards in back, who were on horses, from whipping them and yelling at them for going too slow.
It took everything in me to hold in a growl at the sight.
These people, these Lords and Ladies, were absolutely disgusting and horrible. How could anyone think it was okay to treat other people that way? They’d been in power far too long and didn’t even see us as living, breathing creatures anymore.
Seeing this was a stark reminder of why I’d been helping the Resistance for so long. It was why we were here today, fighting. These people who not only allowed these things, but actively participated, didn’t deserve to be in charge. They needed to be taken down.
And we were going to fucking help make it happen.
At least the slaves here today would be set free once we were through with their masters.
Wey held up his hand, telling us to wait, and I was practically coming out of my skin. If I’d been allowed to stand, I’d be jumping on my toes in preparation. It was time to show the Resistance just how valuable my family and I could be. It didn’t matter that there were a lot more men than we expected—we’d put them down just the same.
Finally, Wey gave us the signal, and I took off down the hill, leaping in the air to shift. Braz and Florin headed straight for the guards on horses, clearing a path for me. So I pushed my four paws as fast as they could go, heading for the first carriage in the line—we’d agreed ahead of time with the guys attacking from the other side. Weylyn flew over my head and landed on top of the carriage in time to yank open the door for me.
I leapt so the front half of my body landed inside. With my mouth, I grabbed at the person’s legs I’d landed on, and yanked them out of the carriage. There was screaming from the man I was dragging, and from the woman Wey pulled from the carriage and threw across the road. Theon ran up behind the woman and held a sword to her throat, but I couldn’t concentrate on him—Wey was flying to him, anyway—because the man I had began kicking like crazy. It only made me bite down on his ankle hard enough to crush bone.
The noise level on the road went up a few notches as the other carriages were attacked, and the humans, mages, and slaves realized what was happening.
The man between my teeth wasn’t Holcot, which was disappointing, but he was probably one of Holcot’s assistants. He pulled a long knife from a sheath on his belt, so I released him only to crunch down on his knife arm. I felt the bone break as the man screamed in agony. Reaching up with my claws, I scratched them down his throat, then listened to him gurgle his last breaths.
As soon as I spat out his arm, I checked on Theon and Wey. Theon was still standing there with his sword facing the woman, watching as Wey snapped her neck. My gargoyle turned to me with a nod, so I took off to the next carriage with both Wey and Theon beside me. I slowed my pace so I could stick by my little bird.
Wey and I took down three more guards on horses, and I caught sight of Braz and Florin fighting more of the guards up ahead. The little human was much better at fighting than I’d expected, and Braz was ensuring his safety even as the big half-orc took down guard after guard.
When we reached the next carriage that hadn’t been attacked yet, Theon didn’t hesitate to open the carriage door for me. I leapt in and dragged out a screaming mage Lord while Wey pulled another mage from the other side of the carriage.
