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I sucked in a shaky breath, my eyes meeting Anaria’s.No,I thought,that would not happen. I would not allow any of us to become one of those…things.
“Good luck. We’ll meet you in Blackcastle in a couple days.”
“You’d fucking better,” Tavion growled, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking straight at Anaria, and I didn’t miss the echo of frustration in his voice.
In a flash of light, Tavion was replaced by the enormous silver wolf, and I lifted Adele onto his back, Anaria moving her mother’s arms so they were tight around the wolf’s neck. “Hang on. Don’t touch anything down in the tunnels. I’ll find you once we get to Blackcastle.”
She stopped in front of Tavion, leaned in close enough her nose almost touched his twitching black one.
“Keep her safe. Do not let her fall.”
The wolf chuffed out a snort, as if to say,like I would allow that to happen, then slipped through the tent’s opening like a ghost. The three of us watched them disappear, Tristan galloping behind, until they were swallowed up in the panicked soldiers streaming through what remained of the torn-apart camp.
Zor’s calloused hand tightened around my wrist, his other around Anaria’s, and the world became a dark blur, a chill wind tearing the breath out of my lungs.
34
ANARIA
We landed at the eastern edge of Caladrius in utter silence.
The ground beneath my feet was barren, not so much as a drop of life, but two steps away, on the other side of that glowing portal, lay a verdant forest older than time, along with water and safety.
At least, I hoped Solarys would be safe.
I wasn’t sure about anything now.
Even the dying screams of the far-off army didn’t reach us. Tempeste was little more than a dirty smudge on the horizon; even my Fae sight couldn’t penetrate the miles between us and the horrors unfolding on that plain.
None of us spoke, Zor’s hands still banded around both my wrist and Raziel’s, as if he couldn’t bear to let go. I tried to calculate how many soldiers we had left behind, how many Reapers might have been lurking in that cloud.
How many soldiers would rise from that field as something other than Fae.
Then I stopped counting.
I didn’t want to know.
We were so close to the wall, the hum of magic vibrated up through the soles of my thin slippers, the air shivering with power, gooseflesh rising on my arms.
I was the world’s worst traitor for running.
What sort of person runs and leaves the others to die? Or worse?
Glancing up at Zorander’s clenched jaw, the utter stillness of his face as he stared west toward his army, I realized I wasn’t the only one asking that question. Gods, I practicallytastedthe guilt seeping from his pores. His shame matched my own.
But saving Adele from such a fate…I chewed my lip.
No, there was no shame in wanting my mother safe after the conditions she’d endured for decades, though I wondered if my magic could have killed the Reapers contained in that cloud like it had killed the one inside Ember.
Zor’s hand slipped away, his unsteady breath matching my own.
If he’d used all his magic today, if he hadn’t left enough in reserve…we would be trapped on that field at the mercy of the king and his Reapers. Doomed with the rest of his men.
A harsh lesson, and one I finally understood.
“Can they track us here?” Raz asked quietly.
“Not normally. Traveling through space that quickly doesn’t leave a scent marker, though I don’t know enough about Soul Reapers to say for sure.”
