Teddy had never trusted that fucker, and not just because he flirted so freely with Stella. There was something oily about him. He was too perfect, too smooth, just too much to be believed. He didn’t like the way Fionn latched on to Stella and, in context now, the attack on the street where Stella had nearly been killed felt like a test—either of her skill or Teddy’s attachment to her.
“Which way was he going when you saw him?” Teddy asked.
Stella looked up at the castle and Teddy’s blood went cold. “Thatway. I’m sorry. I should have known. I’m not stupid enough to actually trust a mercenary, but mercenaries tend to not care for revolutions.”
“Unless he’s not really a mercenary,” Katerina said.
“Regardless, we have to get moving,” Teddy said. “Jeneva, head toward the docks to find your father. Light the barracks torches along the way if they’re not already lit. We need to get this whole place on high alert. Stella and I will go to the castle to try to find our families and get the spectators to shelter.” He paused. “And be careful with the other competitors. Rett and his friends have never been proven to be actively involved with the rebels, but that doesn’t mean they’re not.”
Jeneva and Katerina nodded, then ran off back the way they’d come from.
Stella was already halfway to the door when Teddy caught up with her.
“I’m sure everyone is fine.” He was trying to be reassuring, but he only sounded doubtful.
Stella led him back along the path she’d taken through the maze—past Drew’s crumpled body and ivy splattered with blood, twisting and turning through the narrow maze until they heard the sound of footsteps coming from around a corner.
Adrenaline coursed through Teddy’s blood. He would fight his way out of this maze if he had to. He was going to protect Stella and get them both back to their families.
A lump formed in his throat when he thought of the remnants of the royal booth, but he shoved the thought from his mind. He needed a clear head and he would not default to despair in a moment like this. Not when Stella needed him.
She was frozen beside him. Her hands rested on the hilts of the short swords at her hips. They both stood waiting, muscles coiled for action.
A familiar whistle sounded above them. Teddy’s gaze snapped up. Alexandra smirked down at him from her perch atop the maze wall beside them. The fear in his chest unknotted as she held a finger toher lips, gestured to the corner he was approaching, and held up three fingers.
Stella shifted beside him, drawing her short swords as quietly as possible.
Together they advanced, pausing at the corner to look at Alexandra. She held up three fingers, silently counting down. Teddy stepped around the corner with Stella on his heels at the same time Alexandra jumped down onto the back of one of the men.
Alexandra drew a dagger across the throat of the man in front of her as Teddy took on the man to the right. He easily deflected a swipe from the rebel, plunging his sword through the embroidered Sons of Endros sigil at the center of his leather breastplate.
Steel met steel beside Teddy as Stella took on the third attacker. She spun away and Teddy took over, shoving the man against the wall and cutting his throat with a dagger.
Before the rebel’s body hit the ground, Teddy had swept Alexandra into a hug.
She patted his back. “I know I’m your favorite and all, but we have to go. Our father sent me to get you both and we need to get beyond the castle walls now.”
“He has a plan?” Teddy asked.
Alexandra nodded. “He said to find you and Stella and that Stella would know the way through the queen’s garden.” She looked at Stella. “Apparently both royal families are aware that you had a way to sneak in to see Arden.”
Stella blushed. “What about my family?”
Alexandra nodded. “They’re safe for now, but we have to move.”
Stella’s shoulders relaxed, and she started forward, leading the way back through the maze. They didn’t encounter any other bodies along the way, but when they finally broke free from the arena, they could see the full carnage of the attack. Several of the bleachers lay in crumpled piles of wood; no bodies, but there were distinct blood spatters on the wood.
Alexandra urged him forward. “We don’t have time to investigate now. We have to fight to see another day,” she said.
A faint flicker in Teddy’s peripheral drew his attention. He turned to watch a flaming arrow arc through the night, striking a shadowed figure to their left.
A scream rent the air as the arrow’s flame caught the shirt of the figure. He turned to run, seemingly to escape the range of the archer, but the wind fanned the flames so his whole shirt caught and he fell to his knees and howled in pain.
Teddy finally recognized him. It was Dixon.
Stella gasped. Reaching out her magic, she yanked the flames away from his shirt and caught them in her palm, realizing as soon as she did it that she’d drawn attention to them.
They watched in mute horror as an arrow hit Dixon’s throat. He let out a horrible gasping sound that they could somehow hear even over the chaos.
