Eventually, the cooks lit the lamps and candles and left the clean kitchen. Helene took Isabel to bed, and Caddik excused himself with Pax to check on the animals.
Nikella leaned back in her seat, rubbing her eyes. “We can’t stay with Caddik much longer. We’re putting him at risk.”
“Agreed,” I said.
“You should get some rest first, Nikella,” Jek said gently.
“No.” She bowed over her papers. “First, we need to?—”
Caddik burst in through the back door, breathing heavily. “He’s back. Korvin came back.”
Chapter 35
Kiera
We staredat the old man in shock.
“Korvin is here!” Caddik bellowed. “With his Wolves this time! Go!”
Everyone leaped away from the table, drawing weapons as they went.
“How many?” barked Jek, wielding his huge sword.
“A dozen, maybe more,” Caddik raced to the western window, Pax at his heels. “Gods damn it! They’ve set fire to the stables!”
Shouts and the thunder of hooves rose from outside.
“You three with me,” Jek ordered Maz, Sigrid, and Yarina. “We need to save the horses.”
Nikella stuffed her sketches into her pocket. I swore I saw her fingers trembling. I swept my own fingers over my knife brace, checking that they were still there. Ruru pulled out the short sword the Dags had given him.
“We’ll bar the front door, slow them down,” Aiden said.
Pax barked, reminding me of Isabel.
“I’ll get Helene and Isabel,” I said, already running out of the kitchen, “and put them in the cellar!”
I didn’t stay to watch the others leave. There were no goodbyes, no shouts of encouragement.
No time. No time.
I sprinted through the house. A window exploded to my left, and a torch fell inside. The curtains and carpet burst into flames. I shouted, “Fire!” and kept running. More windows exploded.
I bounded up the stairs. Crashes echoed, and I hoped to all the Four that Aiden was blockading the entrance.
Helene was already peeking out of her door when I skidded to a stop in front of it.
“Korvin,” I panted. “Cellar. Now.”
Her face blanched. She spun around and dragged Isabel out of bed. The girl woke instantly, brushing her red curls out of her wide eyes. “Where are we going? Are we hiding? Where’s Captain?”
I snatched the lizard’s box from a small table in their room just as their window shattered and another torch sailed through.
Helene and Isabel screamed.
Cursing Korvin and his Wolves to the depths of the wandering hell, I shoved Helene and Isabel out the door with Captain under my arm. We scurried down the stairs, smoke hanging like a gray cloud in the foyer.
Aiden, Nikella, Ruru, and Caddik piled chests and tables in front of the door while something slammed into it over and over.
