I shivered. But would he kill them if I were gone?
Renwell’s eyes sharpened, and he sneered. “Ah, you’ve fallen for my little spy as well, Falcryn. You won’t kill her.”
“No, I won’t.” Aiden shoved me behind him. “I just needed to get her to the door.” He flung some sort of liquid from a pouch that splattered in an arc at the Wolves’ boots.
Eyes widening with recognition, Renwell hurled himself backward as Aiden seized one of the burning candles and threw it on the liquid. Flames roared from the floor to the ceiling, tongues of fire dancing over the shrieking Wolves.
“Go!” Aiden shouted, pushing me down toward some stairs that trailed into darkness.
He sheathed his sword and slammed the door shut. Then he grabbed a smoldering torch from the ground and lit an odd string.
But still I hesitated.
Everett . . . Delysia . . .
“We can’t stay, Kiera,” Aiden snarled, capturing my arm and dragging me down the stairs.
Something fizzled and spat behind us, and a bitter smell filled my nose. Then...BOOM!
“Fucking Four!” Aiden shouted, throwing his body over mine as the tunnel shook us like the only two coins in a purse.
Rocks crashed and crumbled down the stairs, bouncing off our ankles.
“Run!”
This time, I obeyed, skidding down the stairs as more rocks tumbled around us. “Did you have to blow up the whole gods-damned tunnel?” I yelled over my shoulder.
“Librius must have made it too strong,” Aiden grunted. “It was simply supposed to block the entrance.”
“Yes, by destroying the tunnel!” I tripped, and Aiden yanked me upright before I could fall. I jerked out of his grasp.
We raced down the trembling stairs and burst into a room, coughing on the dust cloud that chased us.
“Let’s go,” Aiden commanded, striding for the door.
“No.”
He spun around. “Yes.”
I pointed Mother’s knife at him, even though it seemed like a dull threat now. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I won’t leave my brother and sister.”
“And what is your plan, then?” His words echoed from the night we met.
“I’ll stay here. I’ll find a way to get them out.” Maybe Melaena would help me. If she didn’t hate me. If Renwell didn’t find me first.
Aiden slowly stalked toward me, crowding against my limp blade and backing me against a wall. He anchored both his palms by my head, smelling of battle. His green eyes burned through me to my soul.
“D-don’t,” I whispered.
“Don’t what?”
For a moment, everything else burned away as we panted against each other’s lips. Flames of a familiar feeling singed myblood. We stood in a scorched ring of everything we’d destroyed together—my family, his vengeance, our kingdom.
Yet, that traitorous feeling had not perished. The embers remained stubbornly alive beneath the ashes of our secrets, waiting for a breath of hope.
“I will never forgive you,” I said.
The spark in his eyes vanished. “Fight me, hate me, princess. But I refuse to let you die.”
