No,Sonara thought, overcome with panic.You have no power over me.
Her grip tightened on Lazaris anyway.
Sweat beaded on her brow, but she could not release the blade.
And then, as if in a dream, she felt her own arm moving, lightning quick. She saw the blur of black and blue sweep past her vision as she lifted Lazaris, and in one swift motion… it slid right through his sleek armor as Sonara stabbed the Wanderer boy in the heart.
Chapter 15
Sonara
The Wanderer bleeds red.
It was the only thought that came to Sonara’s mind, as she removed her sword in one fluid motion, the blade slicing through a gaping wound in his chest. It had sunk right through his armor, blood and metal and bone.
Someone gasped in shock, before a scream erupted from the tall Wanderer at his side.
Well done,Sonara’s curse hissed. She felt it settle back down into its cage, satisfied.
And then Sonara was stumbling backwards, a bloody Lazaris still in her grasp, as Jaxon yanked her away from the chaos and hauled her into the crowd, pulling them away just as another scream rang out from behind them.
“SEIZE THEM!” the Wanderer woman shouted.
Sonara’s feet moved of their own accord as Jaxon ran, hauling her along, cursing under his breath as they shoved past fires and campsites and beasts awakening from their slumber as the screams intensified, following closely behind on their backs.
Jaxon stopped, yanking her into the shadows of an empty makeshift booth, wares packed away and locked up for the night. A crate of hand-woven carpets leaned against the booth’s edge, and Jaxon pulled her down behind it, yanking Sonara to her knees as she shook, Lazaris still locked in her iron grip.
“What the hell?”
Jaxon shook her, his eyes wide and… afraid. Jaxon wasafraid.
“What thehell,Sonara?”
She couldn’t stop shaking. “I don’t know, Jax. Goddesses damn me, I don’t know what happened!”
She looked down, saw Lazaris in her hand, and dropped it, hands shaking as she tried to wipe away the trickle of the Wanderer boy’s blood that had flowed down it.
“My curse… it… controlled me,” Sonara tried to explain, but the words failed her, for what could she say,howcould she make him understand what had just come over her, standing before that Wanderer boy? How could she tell him the strange voice that had made her choose a side in that otherworldly half-place before death, that had been whispering to her all these years since, had finally taken hold of her?
Too many times, her curse had gone awry.
“Stay here,” Jaxon said, untying the red bandana from around his neck. He scrubbed at her hands, trying to get the blood away. She gripped the worn fabric like a lifeline. “We’re getting out of here. Far away, and then you’ll explain.”
He stood, creeping around the edge of the booth as shouts rang out, and a group of Soreian and Wasteian warriors ran past, shouting questions at passersby. Some of Jira’s Diamond Guard stomped past after,spears in their hands. The queens, the king and the Wanderer leader had to be aware by now.
They had to get out of here before someone discovered her.
“The job,” Sonara said. “The Princess.”
“Screw the job,” Jaxon growled as he crawled back over. “Jira’s daughter can do her own damned mission.”
He removed his worn hat from his head, placing it over Sonara’s hair. “We’re going to find Markam. His curse can help us get you out of here unseen. Head down. Hand over mine. I’ll lead you.”
“But—”
She didn’t get to finish her thought before there was a shout.
She peered out of the shadows as a group of Dohrsarans closed in around one of the Wanderer soldiers, shouting curses.
