AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She wanted everyone to die,” Anaria whispered. “She meant to get her blood, no matter how hard we tried to stop her.”
On the battlefield, it was hard to tell one side from the other, but the enemy forces streaming from the dead forest seemed to have no end. I couldn’t pick out Zorander in the knots of fighting, but my old friend was down there somewhere, still fighting.
He had to be.
I slid my finger between my neck and the collar.
I should be down there.I should be fighting. I didn’t have my magic, but I could wield a sword well enough, and from the look of things, Zor needed every last able-bodied male he could get.
“Let’s keep moving.” I released her arm, but took her hand, wrapping my palm around her shaking fingers. “Tavion can’t be that far ahead of us. Once we catch up to him, you and Adele take the horse and ride back to the war camp. Tavion and I will find Zor.” My gaze drifted back to the fierce fighting, the bodies strewn across the bloody earth like fallen stones.
“No. I’m going with you.” Anaria squeezed my hand. “I let my anger take me over…with the king, but it won’t happen again. There are too many, Raz. You can’t expect to defeat them with swords and knives. You need my magic. It’s the only way to end this before everyone dies.” Her eyes landed on the collar, my finger still worrying the dulled edge.
No judgment in her eyes, only understanding, as if she knew how much being separated from my magic killed me.
“We go in together,” she said softly. “We come out together.”
I wanted to tell her her no. But she’d risked everything to get me out of the prison.
Risked everything to get her mother out of the lowest depths of that hellhole. We’d all doubted her, yet she’d kept her word. The only reason we were walking out of Tempeste was because of her.
I raised her hand to my lips and kissed it, holding her gaze the entire time.
“Then we should get down there.”
* * *
We caughtup with Tavion outside the eastern door. He was loading Adele onto the gelding, who was calmly munching grass, his limpid brown eyes watching us approach, nose flaring at the scent of blood soaking my side.
“Anaria will take Adele back to camp. Raz…you and I will find Zorander and Tristan; they’ve got to be somewhere on that field,” Tavion muttered. He’d transformed back into his own form, his green eyes slightly wild, some of the wolf leaking out, his clothes far too tight.
He turned to Anaria. “Get Adele behind our lines, but if they break, ride for the eastern border. Find the gate, cross over, and don’t stop until you reach Blackcastle.”
“No.” Anaria shook her head, then she grasped her mother’s hands. The female was shell-shocked, her eyes half closed against the light, and Anaria spoke softly, urgently, before Adele nodded, her eyes sliding over to me.
“Swords won’t do enough damage.” Anaria tipped back her head. “Even your wolf can’t make a dent in those numbers. But my magic will. We need the horse, Tavion. Could you carry Adele on your back…if you transformed?”
“If you think I’m going to …”
“Could you carry my mother?” She tipped her chin up. “Adele can use her arms to hang on. Raz and I need the horse to get onto that battlefield, and we do not have time to waste arguing.”
Tavion stared over her head at the raging battle, emotions flickering over his face too fast for me to interpret. “And if I do this?” His eyes fixed on her face. “What’s in it for me?”
Anaria clamped her lips together. “Get my mother back to the camp and keep her safe. You do that and I will give you whatever you want.” Anger bubbled in my belly at everything she offered, at the stunned realization on Tavion’s face.
“We don’t have time to fight.” She glanced to me, remorse glistening in her eyes. “Keep her safe for me, Tavion, and when this is over, we’ll negotiate terms.”
Everything around me turned to a dull roar. The battle, my heartbeats, everything dimmed down to the cracking of my heart breaking apart. My anger wasn’t for her, but at how deftly Tavion manipulated the situation to his favor.
Like usual.
Fury burned in my veins, but I’d seen this coming for weeks. Seen how Tavion looked at Anaria. I could practically pinpoint when his feelings for her had changed from hatred…to something else.
His bullshite excuse about saving her from Lord Havelock and the Shadowlands was only an excuse because he wanted her for himself and was too afraid to admit he had feelings—actual feelings—for her. One moment, the white-haired bastard stood before us, the next, the enormous silver wolf bared his teeth in a parody of a grin and I was helping Anaria lift Adele onto Tavion’s back.
“I really should buckle that saddle onto him,” Anaria muttered, ignoring Tavion’s rumbling growl. “I’d like to put the bit in his mouth, too. Which would serve him right, really.”
“I don’t want to be a burden.” Adele looked stricken, but Anaria shook her head and set her hand on her mother’s frail arm.
