“You need to get everyone ready to leave,” I say. “Sam needs you. Agnes needs you.” I bite my lip. “You all need each other. If what the wolves saw is true, if someone is coming, we’ll need to be quick. Jarek and I will go. You and Samaria get everyone to safety. The Guild members are waiting for you at Onyx. You don’t have time to stall, and we absolutely can’t risk you being hurt.”
He clenches his fists. “I feel useless.”
I step onto my toes and kiss his cheek. “You are so much more important than you realize,” I whisper. “Everything hinges on this meeting, Sorin.Everything.”
He attempts a smile, but it comes out forced and broken.
“Sam and Tallulah will be able to help you, if needed. Plus, Ruse and the pups will go with you, that way I can be in communication with them.”
I cradle his face with my hands. “I’ll be fine, don’t be such a worry,” I say as playfully as I can muster. Playfully enough thatperhaps I can trick even myself into believing the words. I kiss him deeply, ignoring the fact that Jarek is still in the room. His mouth presses into mine, his body relaxing within my touch.
When we finally pull away, my cheeks heat as Jarek clears his throat. “So…” I turn to him just as he’s piling his hair into a knot on the top of his head. “We ready, susi?”
“Ready.” I give Sorin’s hand a final squeeze.
“The moment you scope out the hunters?—”
“I know.” I cut Sorin off with another quick kiss.
“And if anything feels out of place?—”
“Sorin,” I say again, following Jarek out the door. “We’ll be right behind you.”
He closes the distance between us again, his mouth meeting mine with an intensity that has me doubting my decision to part from him. Something cold and smooth slips onto my finger, so I break apart our kiss. Raising my hand, I place it against his chest to admire how his father’s ring looks on me.
“I can’t take this.” I begin to pull it off when his hand wraps around mine, stopping me.
“You can and you will.” He kisses my knuckles. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I give him one more quick kiss, right on his dimple, then I’m out the door.
Dread snakes down my spine as the door clicks shut behind me. Nerves and anxiousness battle with each other but there’s something else happening within me that I can’t explain. I don’t let the feeling linger as I reach out to Alaric through our bond and follow Jarek outside the keep.
Jarek,Alaric, and I tread lightly through the forest to the outermost part of the ward where the wolves sensed someone earlier. Though, we’ve been walking for over an hour with no intruders in sight. I rub my hands over my arms, the dampness starting to chill my bones.
It’s quiet, Alaric says.
My head cocks to the side, and when I realize he’s right, I stop and close my eyes. No birdsong. No creaking tree limbs or owls. No wind. Just as it was quiet inside the keep, it’s somehow more so outside. I lived in the forest long enough to know that when the trees and animals quit stirring, it is never a good thing.
“Jarek,” I whisper.
He turns, unfastening his ax as he does.
I bring my finger to my lips, indicating not to make a sound. Not a breeze through the trees or the crunch of branches. The rain has even ceased, leaving the forest a blanket of gray.
He glances around us, at the otherworldly stillness of it all. His ax molds to his hand, eyes set on an invisible target. Magick itches at my palms but I push forward with Jarek and Alaric in my tow.
My breath hitches as we breach over a mossy hill and there?—
My eyes blow wide as I grip Jarek’s arm and turn him. He must see the same thing I do, because in an instant, his body tenses under my touch. Alaric growls, low and deep as dozens of hunters turn in our direction.
“Why aren’t they making any noise?” Jarek asks as we both crouch behind a fallen tree.
Shaking my head, I ignore how my hands slightly tremble as I run them down my face. “I don’t know.”
“We have to run,” Jarek says. While I don’t disagree, I also don’t want to lead them directly to the Jade Guild.
Have you left yet?I ask Ruse.
