Brien paused his assault, his head whipping in Aya’s direction.
It was … impossible. But the wolf held her stare, as if waiting for something.
Aya seized the moment, scrambling backwards to put more distance between them as she threw every ounce of herself into that persuasion.
To me, to me, to me!
Brien took a step away from Will. Then another. And then he bounded forward, Tyr and the others close behind him. Aya stumbled to her feet as she broke into a run, her body screaming as she tried to draw them further away from Will.
She wasn’t fast enough.
Brien’s powerful paws pounded the road as he darted forward, and then he was on her, his body slamming hers to the ground. A sickening crack reverberated across the alley asAya’s head smacked into the slick cobblestones, sending stars bursting across her eyes. Brien’s breath was hot on her cheek as he snarled, Tyr growling behind him.
Through her wavering vision, Aya’s gaze found Will’s. He had gotten to his feet, and he staggered toward her, his shirt soaked with blood, his eyes bright with pain.
His … andhers.
He’d be able to feel it. Every moment.
Because with that issue with his shield … her death would rush toward him, and he wouldn’t be able to escape it.
He wouldn’t be able to escapehere. Pain like that … it would be debilitating. The Athatis would finish her and then him.
Aya cast an arm out, searching for something, anything to use against the wolf pinning her to the ground. Her fingers grasped a loose piece of cobblestone and she wrenched it from the ground, swinging it with all her might at Brien’s head.
The wolf snarled as he reared back, and Aya hoisted herself onto her elbows to scramble free. But again, the wolf was faster. He slammed her back to the ground, her head exploding in pain as it snapped against the cobbles.
The last thing she saw was Will drop to his knees, his hand clutching his chest as he bellowed her name.
13
Someone was roaring. Over and over, their voice a mixture of terror and pain. It floated through the muffled silence that filled Aya’s head – no, filled her very body, the weight of it crushing. She struggled to break through the murkiness, to calm that desperate plea.
I’m here, she wanted to say.I’m here.
But the silence sucked her under, drowning out everything until there was only darkness.
14
Will gave himself an hour.
An hour to wash the blood and grime from his skin, an hour to rewrap the bite on his bicep that Suja, the healer for the Dyminara, commanded he keep covered, an hour to slowly reel back into himself and try to shake away the biting emptiness he could still feel echoing in his chest.
An hour was all he could afford before he had to face his queen.
Gianna rushed to him as soon as the door to her chambers closed, her white silk robe billowing enough that he knew she wore nothing beneath.
‘Are you alright? What the hells happened?’
Will lowered himself to a knee, keeping his eyes resolutely on the ground.
‘I’m fine.’ His voice was hoarse, his throat raw from the cold. His entire body ached.
‘And Aya?’ She tugged him up and dragged him to the loveseat, where she settled beside him in Aya’s usual spot. Her hands yanked up the sleeve of his black shirt, revealing the bandage around his bicep more fully.
‘With Suja. She’ll be fine.’ The words felt heavy on his tongue. Suja had forced him from Aya’s room with orders to rest, claiming the spy would likely be unconscious for hours as she healed, and was in good hands with her and Tova.
‘Praise be to Mora,’ Gianna breathed.
