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“Go,” Kaviathin said. Althazair nodded and lifted Eros up under his armpits.
“I’m going with him.” Juliet’s face had gone pale, even with the icy wind nipping at her cheeks. She got on the other side of Althazair and tugged on Eros’ arm, dragging him up the hill.
I turned my attention back to the main house, not seeing any more guards around. “Maybe Thora got them all,” I said to Kaviathin.
His lips set in a flat line. “Or maybe they are waiting for us.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I gripped my dagger in my hand, anger coursing through me knowing that one man I cared about had already been killed, and another seriously injured, if not close to death himself. It was time to make them pay.
“My thoughts exactly.” Kaviathin held up his gun and we took off, staying low as we went around the bend of the lake. The cabin was in sight now, and it was eerily quiet. No snowmobile noise, no men shouting, no more gunshots. Just silence.
Kaviathin held his finger to his lips, indicating for me to be quiet, and I nodded as we approached the back of the cabin. I pressed my back against the wood, the jagged edges poking me in my back. We scooted along the outside and stopped just under a window. I rose slowly, peeking inside, my breath leaving my body. Orin and Valik were tied in chairs, sitting back-to-back, their faces covered in blood. I squeezed my eyes shut, biting down as hard as I could on my bottom lip to stop the sob from escaping my lips.
I was fucking terrified at what was about to go down, but I didn’t have any choice. If I was going to die out here, then I was taking Ryzen Goodacre with me. He had to pay.
Kaviathin gripped my hand, the one holding the knife, and shook his head as tears rolled down my face. “Focus,” he murmured, and I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.
We moved slowly towards the front of the house, the stairs just a few feet away. If we could get in the door and surprise him, maybe…
A click had me freezing as something cold and hard pressed against my head.
“Hands up,” a man growled. “Or I’ll blow your fucking head off.”
My whole body froze as he snatched the dagger out of my hand and tucked it into his pocket. He reached over, yanked the gun out of Kaviathin’s hand, then punched him square in the jaw. Kaviathin’s head snapped to the side, and the look he gave the man was the promise of absolute death.
“Go on, he’s waiting for you.” The man poked my back with the rifle, and I followed behind Kaviathin as he went up the steps to the open door.
Heat blasted from the house, warming my body as we walked into the living room, hands raised. Ryzen sat with his back to us in a folding chair in front of the burning fireplace, wearing a red snowsuit. He turned slowly around, and my eyes widened at the eyepatch covering his right eye. Good. I hoped that fucking hurt like hell. Maybe if I played my cards right, I would get to take his other eye tonight.
I wasn’t prepared for the revulsion that coursed through my body as he faced me. The disgust and hatred I felt for this person was indescribable. I clenched my hands into fists, my nostrils flaring.
“There she is.” Ryzen clapped his hands together, the sound of his voice sending chills up my spine. The look on his face was of pure triumph. He thought he had already won.
A grunting noise had me looking behind him to see Cian tied to a chair just next to the fireplace. My hand flew to my chest at the sight of his blood-soaked shirt. He was injured, and my whole body vibrated with rage as blood spewed from his mouth.
“Oh, don’t worry about him. He’s fine. What do you think, Nova? Should I do to him what you did to me?” Ryzen pointed at his eyepatch.
The guard walked over and handed him Kaviathin’s gun and my dagger.
“Won’t be needing these now, will you?” Ryzen took the blade and shoved it into Cian’s thigh, making him roar out in pain, which only made Ryzen laugh. The sound echoed around the room, completely devoid of any type of remorse for the pain he was causing.
“No!” I screamed. The tears I had been trying to hold back started to fall, and I took a step forward. My whole body was shaking with rage. I couldn’t just sit here and watch Ryzen hurt Cian, although it looked like that was exactly what Ryzen planned.
“Nova,” Cian panted, his head rolling to the side. “Run, baby.”
“Too late for that.” There was a sinister edge to his voice as Ryzen pointed his gun at me.
Kaviathin stepped in front of me, and I stumbled back slightly. “Let her go, Goodacre. You have what you want. You wanted him, and obviously me. So let’s do this.”
I looked over my shoulder, all around the room, looking for anything I could use as a weapon. The guard came around, shoving Kaviathin out of the way so that I was exposed to Ryzen again. He stepped forward, his face twisted in disgust before punching Kaviathin in the face.
“Really, Kaviathin? You think you’re going to be the hero here?” Ryzen sucked air through his teeth and glared at him. “This is where you beg for your life, but I kill you anyway. Got it?”
Kaviathin spit at Ryzen’s feet, his eyes dark. “Never.”
Ryzen huffed, waving his gun at us. “Have it your way. Get on your knees, both of you.”
Fuck. There was nowhere to run, to hide. I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel at that moment, but sadness wasn’t it. Nor fear. It was anger. Rage swarmed every inch of my body. I had to do something. Anything. This couldn’t be it.
