His hunt had already begun.
I doubted Gadriel would abandon his post in Torhiel. Not when he made such a show of the devil kingdom and the cruciality of his political affairs. He’d remain there, playing diplomat. But he’d send his knights. Sir Karst and Sir Regis would be coming. They would be leading the charge, and the thought twisted my stomach into knots. I still wasn’t sure if Leya had told me the truth. There were too many pieces that didn’t fit. Too many unknowns.
Still, I wasn’t afraid to die.
I was afraid of being caught, being dragged back into Gadriel’s hands.
Death would be a mercy.
Gadriel only tolerated me when I bent to his will, when I played the role he desired of me. Now that I’d fled, escaped him, defied him, and embarrassed him, his wrath would be unspeakable.
He wouldn’t simply reclaim me.
He’d ruin me, slowly.
“Odessa!” I heard faintly. “Odessa!” Leya’s voice came filtering back. “Can you hear me? I think they’ve sent sentries after us!”
My thoughts snapped back to the present at the sound of Leya’s cries.
The truth was, I had no idea where I was leading us. I knew Falhurst no better than any other city. I was running on instinct, guiding us toward the only path I could recall, the only path that might lead out. I was headed for the carriage station.
It was a guess. But it was all I had.
That was where travelers passed through, where tolls were paid, lodging assigned. There had to be an exit beyond it. I remembered the caravans from the night before, their steady flow in and out of the gates. They had to be coming from somewhere. Leaving from somewhere.
The small glimmer of hope I held onto was quickly fading. We were at a clear disadvantage. Leya and I were just two women who were practically unarmed and entirely untrained. What chance did we stand against sentries? Those men were bred to serve their city, trained to guard and control who entered and exited this place.
My breaths turned harsh and uneven.
What could be done? What was left to do? Nothing. My faith in myself began to crack and splinter.
Calm, Odessa, I told myself.Calm down.
But the storm was already surging. Rising and roiling inside me, justbeyond my reach. I couldn’t stop it this time. I had nothing to ground me, no anchor to hold onto.
I could hear the pounding of hooves behind us. The sentries were gaining. It wouldn’t be long before they caught up, before we were cornered or surrounded.
And then the thought chilled me: What had Gadriel ordered them to do?
Were we to be killed on sight? Taken as prisoners?
What would become of us?
The carriage station came into view ahead. Handlers were stationed there, checking carts and caravans as they passed, but the station itself pulled at me like a beacon in the night. It glowed with the promise of escape. Something deep inside urged me on, whispering that this was where I needed to be.
Onward was the only direction where freedom still existed.
I snapped the reins, urging Sigrid to move faster. The shouts and commands from the sentries faded behind me and I didn’t care. There was no turning back. I’d rather die breaking free than waiting to be caged like an animal.
We barreled past the first checkpoint, passing through just before the handlers could make sense of what was happening. But the commotion we stirred sparked the next post into action, their forces scrambling to bar our way. We must have been a spectacle, Leya and me. Two women astride a mottled gray steed, hair whipping like banners in the wind as we charged through the gates.
Behind us, the horde of sentries continued to give chase, desperate to catch up. And in that moment, somewhere between fear and flight, I felt it. A thrill rising in my chest. It bloomed bright as coals and I let out a wild cackle. When I did, Leya’s grip stiffened.
Was I losing my mind? Had my mother passed a fragment of her madness on to me?
I looked a hellion in every sense of the word.
The world around me began to dim, and my senses dulled, each detail waning with the seconds that passed by. The noise of the city began to fade, replaced by the faint sound of my own breathing. Before us, the second checkpoint was fast approaching, and I pushed Sigrid to her limit.
