“I can fight,” Kai protests.
“No,” Mar and I say in unison.
“You’re not back to full strength, and you can’t push it. Not today,” I finish.
Furi, did you get all that?
Yes, Blackblood.She veers down at a sharp angle.
Be careful, girl.
Jace, Zadyn, and I leap off, the dirt ground of the outer courtyard meeting us with a thud and stealing our breath. It hurts like a bitch, but we’re up in a matter of seconds, Zadyn immediately shifting into the biggest beast he can muster. I’m well stocked on knives thanks to Jace, who opts for his usual swords and skilled phantom hands.
Stop thinking about his skilled phantom hands.
We cut our way to the towering doors, hurling out our gifts to take down every golden soldier in our way. The halls are pure chaos, bloodied servants running, tripping over the bodies of nobles scattered across the floor.
We burst into the council room to find bloodstains all over the table. Jace shifts the massive hunk of wood aside in an impressive show of strength and heaves open a trapdoor in the floor. We peer down into a black hole, and I breathe a sigh of relief when Sorscha’s big doe eyes peer up at us. She holds a trembling blonde female in her arms. Cece.
“It’s you! Oh, thank gods.” She clasps her chest, and the horrified look on her face recedes. Her gaze shifts to me. “Cousin.”
“Are you hurt?” Jace pants, cutting off my response. The princess shakes her head. “Where is your father?”
“He made us promise to stay here and not to come out.”
Jace and I exchange a look.
Then a crashing boom rips through the air. I’m momentarily blinded as shards of stained glass rain down on us. The girls scream as Jace and Zadyn both leap for me. Jace gets there first, tackling me to the ground and covering me with his body.
Black smoke rolls in, letting us know that the castle is now on fucking fire.
I scan the room for Zadyn. He’s in one piece, still inOrCatform.
Jace scrambles off me, reaching down to pull Sorscha and Cece out from their bunker.
“Get them out of here,” he says to Zadyn. “Get to the edge of thewoods and have Furi pick them up. Serena, tell her they’re coming and to be ready.”
I nod as Zadyn nudges Sorscha’s leg. When she doesn’t move, Jace picks her up and plops her on Zadyn’s back, then does the same with Cece.
He hesitates, looking back at me. Jace places his hand on Zadyn’s furry head and says, “I’ve got her. Now go.”
I watch him disappear through the blown-out window with the girls.
Furi, we’ve got an incoming. Zadyn’s on his way with the princess and Cece.
On it.
“Oh my god.” My breath catches when I see the massive army in the distance, charging over the hill.
The rising smoke. The field turned battleground. The bodies littered across the lawns.
Kylian’s vision is coming true.
I grip Jace’s sleeve. “We have to find Derek.”
He nods, taking my hand and pulling me into the smoke-clogged hall. We’re holding our breath, pushing through the thick haze, when a body slams into me full force.
I blink and stumble back a step. “Igrid?”
