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When I met her gaze, I knew one thing—I never should have brought her to this place. There was no way to protect her in there. I should have kept her safe in the Market of End until the threat from the Rathalans dissipated. Or taken her to Kadden and asked for sanctuary for her. Instead, I’d brought her to face this black death for my own selfish reasons. For Lila.
I knew I was willing to die for Lila. I’d known that since the moment I’d fallen in love with her. But was I willing to sacrifice Raven for her?
If we entered this cursed forest, it was unlikely we’d find our way out again. If we didn’t go forward, there was no hope of getting to Askeland in time to save Lila. I could never live with myself if I didn’t do everything in my power to get her back. Yet—I couldn’t do anything that would harm Raven.
If Raven was going to risk her life in the bramblelands, she deserved to know the truth about why I was really taking her to Askeland—about the king, about Lila, about the stone, all of it—and decide for herself if she wanted to continue. If it put our mission in jeopardy, so be it. I couldn’t lie to her any longer.
I reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The thick clouds above our heads had begun misting, and her cheeks glistened with moisture. Her lips parted slightly like she was going to ask me another question, and I found myself leaning closer to her. She held my gaze, her midnight eyes fiery and unwavering. I wondered if she’d ever look at me that way again after this moment.
Just then, Kah bumped into me, making me stumble backward. “Now is not the time for this,” he said sharply, speaking only to me. The hair on his back was standing straight up, and he was sniffing the air. “The Rathalans are close.”
Raven quickly turned away, her face flushing a deep red.
“I don’t care. We can’t go in there, Kah,” I said, marching in the opposite direction of the bramble. “This is no place for us.”
“We have no choice now,” he said.
I stopped my retreat. Kah glared at me, daring me to argue with him. He seemed irritated that I’d been momentarily sidetracked from our mission. Skies, what was I thinking?
“What’s he saying?” Raven said, anxious to know what was happening.
“The Rathalans are closing in on us,” I told her, suddenly unable to meet her eye.
Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of the knife that had been tucked in her belt since we’d left Javan. “We can lose them in the bramble.”
My eyes darted to the looming forest. “Raven, if we go in there, we might not come out?—”
“Look out!” Kah shouted.
My staff was raised before I saw the Rathalan scouts materialize out of the trees behind us.
“Raven, get back!” I yelled, pushing her behind me.
The first Rathalan rammed his sword into my staff, while the second—a huge boulder-like specimen of a man—slammed into me, knocking both me and Raven over. I sucked in a sharp breath as my injured shoulder impacted the hard ground. He tackled me, aiming his knife at my throat. With one hand, I managed to block his blade, and with the other, I jabbed my thumb into his eye. He cursed, dropping his weapon. I tried to roll away, but he wrapped one of his beefy hands around my throat. His rank odor filled my lungs as I pounded him in the face with my fist. He didn’t even blink.
Black skies! This was like fighting a blazen mountain.
“Kah, a little help?” I choked, pushing against the Rathalan’s tree-trunk arm to keep him from crushing my windpipe.
“I’m kind of busy over here,” Kah said as he defended himself against an attack from three other Rathalans.
Suddenly, the man on me howled and collapsed his entire weight on top of me, dead. Mother of skies! This guy was heavier than Kah.
With a huff, I managed to roll the dead whale off me. A knife—Raven’s knife—was buried in his back.
Raven grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. “I think I’ve just evened the score.”
For a moment, all I could do was stare at her, jaw slack. She’d saved my life.Again. I didn’t know whether to clasp her forearm like warriors or wrap her in my arms in gratitude. But there was no time to do anything.
Behind us, Kah flattened the last scout. “There are more coming,” he said to both of us, panting. “We have to get out of here.”
Raven narrowed her eyes at the wall of black bramble ahead. “Let’s go.”
With no other choice, we crossed into the dark forest.
“Stay close,” I said. “Don’t touch anything. Don’t wander off. And don’t let your guard down. With any luck, we can slip through these lands unnoticed.” I knew that was a lie even as I said it.
Raven pulled her cloak close around her as a shield against the poisonous thorns. I did the same. In the Terran village, we’d searched for thicker clothing to buy without any luck. No one made clothing for trekking through the Bramblelands because no one was crazy enough to need it. One scratch from a thorn would cause the endless sleep. Yet, that felt like the least of our worries if the Bramblemen found us trespassing.
