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I turned, stunned to see who was giving the order.
It was Lila.
Before I could blink, Jeddak stalked through the crowd toward Commander Bloodbain like an attack dog. Bloodbain moved just as fast, pressing his dagger to my throat in a silent warning to stay back. Without pausing, Jeddak ripped Bloodbain away from me and disarmed him in one swift motion. The suli map flew out of his hand and rolled along the stone floor.
I leapt after it.
“Guards!” Bloodbain bellowed, realizing the Kovaks had betrayed him. “Kill the Kovaks. Kill them all!”
Chaos overtook the great hall. Weapons clashed, bear teeth tore through armor, and metal smacked stone as weapons and bodies collapsed to the floor. The Rathalans were deadly and fierce, but the Kovaks outnumbered them with men and bears.
The wedding guests dispersed, some running toward the door, others looking for weapons so they could join the fight. Thebear king watched distantly from his throne as if the evening was going according to plan.
In the commotion, I grabbed the map on the floor right before I felt a knee slam into my back. I looked up to see it wasn’t Bloodbain. It was Jeddak.
“Jeddak, what are you doing?” I cried, scrambling to get away from him. But his eyes didn’t meet mine, and the cold, blank expression he wore made it seem like he hadn’t even heard me. What’s wrong with him?
Gripping my hair, he wrenched my head back, trying to take the map from me.
“Raven!” Sora called out. “Over here!”
I threw the map at Sora, but with my hands still bound, it didn’t reach her. She dove after it.
Seeing the map change hands, Jeddak shoved me to the ground.
“Kill the Zaviens. And get that map,” Lila said, like she was a commander and Jeddak was her one-man army.Were she and Jeddak in cahoots to get the Azurstone this entire time? The thought made me feel sick.
In response, Jeddak swiped a discarded sword off the ground and stalked toward Sora. Sora limped toward the door, stumbling among the crush of fighting Rathalans and Kovaks. Jeddak was gaining on her.
I searched for Kah in the confusion. He was fighting several Rathalans near the terrace. “Kah! Help!” When he looked up, I pointed at Jeddak.
Shoving the Rathalans aside, Kah bounded toward him. Seconds before Jeddak caught up to Sora, Kah clamped his teeth onto Jeddak’s wedding coat and hurled him to the ground. Kah’s black eyes bored into mine from across the room. “Run!” he said out loud.
I ran over to Sora to pull her toward the door just as Lila’s bear sprang at Kah, tearing a gash into his flank with her claws. Kah’s roar was deafening as he turned on the white bear, jaws wide as he rammed into her with his full weight. The white bear faltered against the blow but then shifted, rearing up on her hind legs, a deadly growl ripping from her throat. Kah reared up to meet her, and the black and white bears clashed together in a match of fury and claws.
“We have to get out of here! Where’s Skyler?” I said frantically.
Before Sora could answer, Jeddak ripped the map out of her hand and raised his sword to follow through on his bride’s command.
“Jeddak, no!” I shouted, trying to get through to him.
Just then, a figure slammed into Jeddak, causing him to stumble and drop his weapon.
“Skyler!”
Skyler looped his shackles around Jeddak’s neck, forcing him to his knees and kicked his sword away.
As they struggled, Jeddak’s necklace caught my eye. If Lila had given him that necklace, could it be affecting him somehow? Is that why he was acting like this? Or was something else going on? With no time to think it through, I reached for the pendant and ripped it off.
The hollow, inhuman look in Jeddak’s eyes didn’t fade.
Then I saw it. The protection mark on his chest had vanished, replaced by a new one—a white spider.
I sucked in a breath, thinking about what Queen B’kara had said:A Magi’s spell will eventually fade unless it is bound in place by a marking.
Skies! Was Jeddak being controlled by a Magi?
“Get out of here!” Skyler shouted at me and Sora.
