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“And yours.” Gently pushing it away, I look at Kai’s face instead of Zarid’s. “Toss it.”
Kai dutifully flings the head. It joins the rest of the carnage in the hall, discarded and unremarkable, lost in a sea of others.
When Kai gets to his feet, he picks up his machete and puts it back on his belt where it belongs. Then he takes my hand with relief flowing from his eyes.
Triumph wells up inside me.
We did it.
We just won the first challenge.
Unfortunately, our reprieve doesn’t last more than three seconds.
A bell starts ringing from somewhere outside the palace.
Definitely a sound I don’t want to hear.
It’s an alarm. Not just any alarm;thealarm, only used if the king is under attack.
I hate that it’s so damn loud. The bell is meant to be heard for a fifty-mile radius to call upon Day Realm citizens who are farther away.
Suddenly, there’s trembling under my feet, and a ruckus comes from the stairwell—hundreds of angry voices from a stampede of soldiers.
I’m not sure how many more men Kai can take on by himself, and we can’t stick around to find out.
After a brief moment of eye contact to acknowledge this, we both sprint for the stairs leading to the exit.
Ro
“Are you holding up okay?” I send Kai a glance when we stumble outside into the brightness and heat, and now that we’re in full light, his wounds look even worse. Tissues that aren’t supposed to be exposed are visible in the gaping gashes.
“No,” he answers honestly, and I appreciate that he isn’t trying to be tough about it.
I don’t know how he’s still conscious, let alone running.
He’s lost a lot of blood.
Glancing behind us, I see a trail of red footprints and streaks on the cobblestones. Kai’s boots, my slippers, and the hem of my dress are painting the walkway.
How is Kai supposed to make it through two more rounds of Armand’s game in this condition? Soon, the adrenaline will wear off, and he might not even be able to stand.
However, voicing my concern won’t do either of us any good, so I stick to the problem that’s right in front of us. “So we just need to get to the maze and say the poem. Which challenge do you think this was?”
There’s a pause, and Kai is highly distressed when he says, “I don’t know. The pain… Not enough time. Too loud. Can’t let anything happen to you…”
He doesn’t have to explain that he’s having trouble thinking straight, and I cheer him on, “You’re marvelous. No one else can do what you did back there. I know it hurts, but just stay with me, okay? I need you.”
Blinking like he’s trying to clear his vision, he nods, but he’s not wrong about the noise. Between the bell and the shouting, there’s a lot of distraction.
Throwing a quick look over my shoulder, I gasp at the mob pouring from the palace.
We’re being chased down.
Some commotion comes from our left, and my head swivels to a crowd of soldiers charging at us from the backside of the castle.
Unlike the royal guards, these guys aren’t stuffy palace staff with fine clothing and limited weapons. No, they’re the real deal. Soiled clothing. Dirty skin. Armed to the teeth.
There are too many to count, and they seem to multiply as they fan out on the lawn.
