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Arms wrapped around me from behind. We sped toward the earth, avoiding the trees.
“Tell him so the next time you’re alone.”
“Kieren!” Tears streamed as he shifted me in his arms so I could hold onto him.
“Hang on, Moira darling. I’ve got you.”
In the dense growth of trees, he didn’t set me down, but flew close to the ground into the heavier woodlands where massive evergolds grew close together. “I need to hide you.”
I could hear someone yell not far behind us. “Moonring!”
Barron Coalglass. My heart hammered against my ribcage. Kieren banked hard left toward a fat, hollowed-out tree. He dropped me inside, but it was too late. Barron was upon us. Kieren whipped around, wings up. I burrowed farther into the hollow of the tree, loose bark crumbling on my shoulders.
“I know she’s there,” crooned Barron. “As soon as I kill you, I’ll find her.”
“You make it sound so easy, Coalglass.”
“It will be. You’ve spent too many days in the Senate, Moonring. Your hands have grown soft, your hide thin.”
“Is that so?” Kieren circled, leading Barron away from the tree. “I’ll give it to you. Even leaderless, your operation seems to be functioning well.” He drew him farther away into a clearing.
Barron laughed. “Leaderless?” His chilling tone pierced me with cold hatred, his voice a viper’s sting. “She tried. But failed.”
My heart plummeted. I couldn’t read Kieren’s expression from this distance, but the silent pause told me he digested the truth of the statement. Barron wasn’t bluffing.
“Your king lives?”
“Oh, yes.” Having circled around, Barron was now opposite Kieren in the clearing, facing me. Arrogance and triumph dripped from his voice. “Poison has no effect on my lord and master. Unfortunately, the sedative she dosed him with did. Even so, he no longer wants her for just a breeder.”
Relief washed over me until he spoke again.
“He wants her for much more. After he punishes her.”
My heart sank, stomach clenching tight. Barron’s black eyes found me in the gloom. “And I intend to help him do just that. As soon as I dispatch you”—he glanced upward—“he’ll be along shortly, so let’s get this over with.”
Barron lunged, lightning-swift with the aid of his wings, slicing a concealed dagger across Kieren’s chest. Kieren cried out. The two grappled and fought, steel swinging, wings flapping. I cringed, watching the two fall to the ground. A crunch of wings. Barron bellowed, blowing a line of orange flame, singeing Kieren. Another cry.
I glanced up through the barren trees, fearing I’d see the monster, looking for help, finding no one. A panting struggle. Blood gurgling in someone’s throat. The two Morgons collapsed, one on top of the other.
Both still as death.
Terrified, I tip-toed into the open, crunching fallen leaves beneath my feet. Kieren splayed unmoving atop Barron, whose staring, black eyes showed no spark of life. Careful of Kieren’s wings, I pulled him by the shoulder, rolling him off of Barron. Kieren’s short-sword was buried to the hilt under Barron’s ribs, blood pouring a dark pool into the ground.
The front of Kieren’s shirt was burned away, his entire chest a mass of seared flesh. But his chest rose and fell. Alive.
“Oh, Kieren.”
I didn’t dare touch him further, knowing the pain of the burn probably knocked him unconscious. I curled into a trembling ball next to his body and waited.
No one came. Time stretched. My shivering grew more violent, wracking my body from teeth to toes. So cold.
I heard nothing but a night bird in the tree above me, a scurrying animal in the fallen leaves, the wind singing a solemn tune through silvery branches. My fingers stopped stinging. My breath grew shallow.
Singing Wind Woods.
Petrus said there was magic in this place. That it clung to the Moonring Morgons because their clan was first born in these woods. Would it protect me because I was beloved by Kol? Would it keep me from dying?
“Please protect us,” I whispered to the woods, voice broken.
