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Sorcerers could cast all manner of spells, like how Sawyn hypnotized Briar... and yet when I remembered the Rooks we encountered on the road, I realized they didn’t have that eerie green glow in their eyes. They didn’t seem vacant and hollow husks. They had shrewd and cunning eyes, vicious but aware. How had I not put that together? How could I have assumed they were under her spell? But I knew why I had made such assumptions: the truth was so much worse. They had willingly followed her. Siding with Sawyn had been theirchoice.
“Some said Sawyn was our savior. Others said we should kill her.” The merchant crossed his arms and glared at us. “I’ve lost a lot of people I loved, even though they’re still alive.”
“Why didn’t you follow her like your sons?” I tried to steady my breath, dropping the serilberries on the table even though he didn’t ask for payment.
“She shut down the mines, so many people without a job.” He shook his head. “The strongest were conscripted to become Rooks. They could’ve said no, but then there’d be no money to send home, and after Sawyn’s wrath during her search for the Crimson Princess, the towns were left with nothing. Fields lay fallow, people fleeing across the border being chased by their very own family members, so many lives torn apart...” He picked up another packet of seeds and flipped it around in his hands. “Our options were three: side with Sawyn, starve, or flee. I could never celebrate such a ruler, but neither shall I dissent. I’m not a Rook, but I’m not against her either, if anyone were to ask. Some people still rely on me to put food on the table. My choices are not only my own.”
I let out a shuddering breath. “I pray one day your choices and the ones that serve your family are no longer at odds.”
He clenched his jaw, releasing a world-weary sigh. “If you’re successful, maybe I will live to see that day.”
I pocketed the nitehock seeds and turned from him without so much as a farewell. The sights and smells of the market soured upon his words. The abundance and life that seemed to thrive in the capital was a hollow facade.
I saw it now on each face I passed—that weariness of people broken by the reign of Sawyn. Their silence was their only vote of confidence for the sorceress, but enough to keep her in power. What good would a mob of humans be against her dark magic, anyway? Some had to support her... but somechoseto support her, too.
I ducked past the rows of hanging tapestries, twining through the tables, and halted, throwing out my arm to stop Grae from stepping any closer.
A line of Rooks marched down the thoroughfare. People scattered to give them a wide berth. I watched the sea of black parade through the streets like a swarm of ants.
“We may well be able to cut the head off the snake,” I said, clenching the seeds in my pocket. “But it will start a battle, not finish it.” My chest rose and fell, the sounds of the market rising louder. Each one of those Rooks was a member of my kingdom, someone’s family. It would’ve been so much easier if they’d been under a spell. “How many of my people will I have to kill to save the others?”
“Calla?” Grae’s voice was muffled, far away above the roaring in my ears.
I barely felt Grae’s hand touch the small of my back as he led me through the markets. How many people would I have to kill? How many lives would be lost before my righteousness didn’t justify it anymore? We moved down an alleyway, away from the crowds, but heat still burned my cheeks. Grae shouldered open a rickety door and pulled me inside.
My eyes darted around the room, unseeing, as he rested me against the shut door.
“Breathe,” he commanded.
I choked on each breath, gulping, but no air filled my lungs. I stared up at the dusty rafters, feeling the fiery panic scorch my skin.
Would I lose my soul trying to do the right thing? Would darkness claim me just as it had Sawyn? I took a shallow, shuddering breath, noticing the space at last. It appeared to be a grain store, little more than a cupboard, with bags lining the walls and a set of scales sitting on a wood table.
Grae’s cool hand on my cheek made me jump. “Breathe, Calla.” He rested his cool forehead on mine.
My lungs expanded. One breath, then two. The panic slowly ebbed.
“They’re not under her spell,” I whispered.
“I thought they were as well.” Grae held my gaze. “But our plan remains the same. We rescue Maez, we kill Sawyn, and we pay off Damrienn to get Briar.” Grae breathed along with me, his own rhythm slowing mine. “Once your sister is safe, we will come up with a plan to deal with any Rooks still loyal to their fallen queen. Give them some time to realize they’re on the wrong side. You’ll feed the villages and reunite their families... they’ll see you’re a better ruler.”
I wrapped my arms around his back, feeling the connection that pulled me back into myself. “It’s a start.”
“We don’t need to fix the entire world tomorrow,” Grae whispered, brushing his lips against mine. “You don’t need to control every flame. Tomorrow is the spark that will set it all ablaze.”
My lips crashed into his, needing the comfort of his promise. His tongue met mine as he rumbled a pleasurable hum. The rush of panic morphed into the rush of desire. I would set it all ablaze.
His hands found my ass and hoisted me up. I hooked my legs around his hips as he pinned me back against the wall. My chest heaved against his, wanton desire burning through me.
My lips found his ear as my hand slid down his torso. “I need you inside me. Now.”
He growled against my mouth, spinning me and dropping me onto the worktable. I chuckled at the fervor with which he untied my tunic. I gripped the edge of the table as he yanked my trousers so he didn’t pull me off with them. His eyes filled with predatory heat as he scrambled to free himself and stepped back toward me. I dropped to the floor, spinning around to grab the far edge of the table, ready for him. A feral snarl escaped him as he watched me spread my legs. He prowled forward, gripping my hip and lining himself up.
He thrust inside me, filling me to the hilt, and I gasped as the sensation sent bolts of desire shooting throughout my body. He moaned, pulling out and thrusting in again. I held the table tighter, the rickety wood thudding with each wild pump. He reached around, his fingers finding my throbbing clit and circling it as he drove deep into me. Everything else faded to the recesses of my mind as my body homed in on that feeling building between my legs, unable to tell where he ended and I began. I pressed my cheek against the table, groaning at the crazed rhythm of him moving inside me.
The sound snapped his leash and Grae pulled out of me, spinning me around and lifting my ass onto the worktable. His hands hooked behind my knees and he yanked me toward him. I wrapped my hand around his cock and guided him back to my entrance. His fingers gripped my chin, making me look him in the eyes as he slowly pushed back into me. My mouth dropped open further with every inch as I watched his pupils dilate until only the tiniest rim of dark brown ringed the inky black.
“Whatever happens tomorrow,” he breathed, his voice rough with desire as he filled me, “whether we have a hundred years or one more day—we will face this world together.”
