I was too slow to understand the signal. But Meera wasn’t. She’d jumped to her feet, wobbling to the side as the gryphon’s body shifted beneath us, her stave out and pointed. Aiden was faster. Black ropes sprang from his stave, overtaking the light emanating from hers. He bound her within seconds. Rhyan lunged protectively in front of me, his body blocking me from view. Aiden bound him anyway, then bound me, too.
My skin itched the second the ropes made contact, and my chest tightened.
“Maybe you misunderstood,” Dario said. “We were always going to Seathorne.”
My heart sank. “Why? Why stick to the plan? Rhyan just fought for you—with you! He protected you! Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“That we fought together? Just like old times?” Dario spat. “What did you think happened here, my lady? That wemade up? That it’s all better? We stopped a fucking threat. Nothing more. Rhyan did his duty—the least he could do. Now we’re going to report it. And then I’m going to do my duty and bring you before my Imperator.”
“You would have died without him,” I said through gritted teeth. “Rhyan killed your akadim when you couldn’t. He fucking held you when you were laying there in shock! You owe him. He saved your fucking life. And you Godsdamned well know it!”
Dario smirked. “Aye. But we saved yours first, freeing you from the ropes.”
“Ropes you put us in!” I shouted.
Rhyan only shook his head beside me. “Lyr. Don’t.”
I rose to my knees, trying to get between Rhyan and Dario. He could bring me before Imperator Hart. I didn’t care. But I was going to be damned before I subjected Rhyan to the place where he’d been helpless and tortured. “Doesn’t anything he did matter? He was your friend, and by the way he acted tonight, he’s still your friend. He’d never do this to you if the roles were reversed.”
“If the roles were reversed Garrett would be alive! My father would be alive. You don’t want to play this game with me.” Dario’s eyes darkened.
“Bring me then,” Rhyan said calmly. “Let me answer for my crimes. Let me receive justice if this is what you need.” His eyes fell on Aiden. “But you both know what Kane is. What he’s capable of. Please. Don’t bring Lyriana and Meera into that. They’re innocent. I beg you.”
Something lifted in Dario’s aura, and my heart nearly skipped a beat. He was listening. Rhyan was getting through to him.
Just as quickly as he seemed to shift, his aura darkened again, pulsing with something angry, and rageful. “Kane’s who we report to.” He stalked forward, hand on the hilt of hissword. “We could have reported the threat to my father. The Master of Peace, remember? But you killed him, too.”
I could feel it coming. Dario was going to strike.
“If you touch him—” I snarled.
“You’ll what?” He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me easily aside, hovering over a kneeling Rhyan.
The wind howled, and I desperately tried to get back. To find a way to fight. Aiden had stilled, watching the exchange with the focus of a hawk. Meera started shouting, and I was pleading, begging. But Dario wouldn’t be deterred.
“Aiden got his. I want mine. You promised to answer for your crimes. So, let’s start. You said I could break your arm.” He made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Not going to work while you’re bound.”
My breath came short, my heart fluttering with panic. I knew what was coming next. And from the way Rhyan’s face paled, his breath coming short, he knew it, too. Dario fisted his hand around the hilt of his dagger, the gleam of the blade caught in the moonlight. “Noses don’t break twice? Do they?”
The crunch sound was awful. And I screamed as Rhyan fell unconscious.
Meera and I were both rushing for him, awkwardly crawling on our knees, our arms bound, our power gone.
“You bastard,” I yelled. “You fucking gryphon-shit bastard!”
My fingers itched, desperate to touch Rhyan, to soothe him, to heal him. His eyes were swollen shut, his nose bleeding fresh blood again. The gryphon shifted and Rhyan rolled into me, grunting softly.
“He’ll fall off,” I said at last. “How will you explain that to your Imperator? I assume he asked you to bring him back alive?”
“Put his head in her lap, free her hand,” Dario ordered Aiden, his gaze distant. “Hold him then. Keep him from falling.”
I wanted to punch him. But I also saw a flicker of regret in his eyes. I just hoped I could use that to my advantage.
“Vra,” Dario commanded the gryphon. “We’ll stop at the nearest post to report the attack. Then we head straight for the Imperator.”
I brushed Rhyan’s bloody curls off his forehead, willing my hand to warm, for my heart to glow. I wanted to heal him. I needed to.
His eyebrow furrowed beneath my touch. But no heat came. There was nothing else I could do. I could only sit there and try to hold him. Keep him safe, and allow him to rest until sunrise. Until we faced his father.
