“So we can’t infiltrate the camp,” he muttered.
Will could feel Desperation’s cool fingers lingering on his throat. One press, and it would steal his air.
So close. You’re so close.
“We can if I go alone,” Will reasoned. He could feel Aidon’s incredulous gaze on him, but he kept his fixed on the eastern hills, as if he could see Aya from here.
“You are not going alone,” Aidon argued. Akeeta loosed a growl, as if in agreement.
“I’m not going to sit here—”
“There were prisoner pens on the outer edge of the camp,” the scout cut in as she dismounted. “There was no one there that matched her description.”
But Will shook his head, his fingers snagging in his hair as he scrubbed a hand through it. That meant nothing. Even if the pens had been lit by torchlight, she wouldn’t have had time enough to truly search for Aya.
And then there was the matter of location.
“They’d keep her closer than that,” Will insisted.
“All the more reason you can’t go,” Liam interjected from where he stood with Azul. “You’ll get the both of you killed.”
“And that’s assuming she’s even there,” Dauphine added.
Desperation’s fingers dug into Will’s flesh as it tightened its grip.
Aya was here, he was sure of it.
“We should join the fight,” Aidon asserted. His throat bobbed as he met Will’s stare. “If they have her, they likelyarekeeping her close. The chaos of battle could be helpful as we break through the front lines.”
Will could see the reasoning, yet that grip on his throat tightened further, his lungs choking as he tried to breathe.
What if he chose wrong? What if he waited, and it cost him—costAya—everything?
If you die here, you’ll never reach her.
If you die here, you’ll fail her more than you already have.
Aidon was at his side in the next instant, his grip tight on Will’s shoulder as he ducked his head to hold his gaze.
“Breathe,” he commanded, his voice low. Will tried, gods did he try, but that frenetic energy had gone from coursing through his body to rushing to his chest, where it tightened and tightened despite the way Will gritted his teeth against it.
“I have to get to her,” he managed to spit out.
“And you will,” Aidon assured him. “If the Midlands retake Sitya, it puts Kakos on the defensive. It putsusin a better position to push through the front lines and reach her. And if word reaches Nyra that two members of the Dyminara helped her people take back their city, perhaps she’ll be more inclined to lend us troops as this war continues.”
Will brushed Aidon’s hand from his shoulder. “I do not care about Nyra and her troops!”
“You should,” Aidon pressed, undeterred. “Because this warwillcontinue, Will. And if we can do something today to help put an end to it sooner, we can save Aya’s life and thousands of others.”
He was right. Willknewhe was right.
A frustrated noise burst from between Will’s clenched teeth, his eyes squeezing shut as he tried to lean into his instincts. He startled as a deafeningboomechoed across the hills, whirling to see a new plume of smoke at the heart of Sitya stretching toward the sky.
The battle had resumed.
“Will,” Aidon pleaded.
I would’ve let the entire world burn for you.
