He staggered and caught himself, and then I was out the front door. If we were under attack, then Hannah was in dangertoo. The wards might be enough to hold the attack off, but my gut clenched with caution. Something in the air tasted wrong.
Cold night air slammed into my face as I ran, my boots striking stone in long, distance-eating strides. Rage and tension radiated through me as I lifted my gaze skyward.
The sky had gone black.
Not clouded. Not storm-dark.
Pure, swallowing black, as if something vast had closed over the stars.
Fucking Bram! Now?
If I hadn’t wanted to rip his spine out through his armor before this, I did now.
The wards above the city flared to life, silver light blooming outward in an immense arc. Frost-bright patterns unfolded across the invisible barrier, the sigils interlocking with flawless precision, and the magic sang as it rose. All was working as it should. Yet, the air tasted sharp, bitter.
All of a sudden, the light faltered, and lines fractured. The pattern froze mid-formation.
My blood went cold.
“No,” I breathed, the word ripped from my chest.
The wards stopped forming.
The silver glow dulled and flickered uncertainly, sections incomplete, the magic straining and failing, as if something had severed its spine. Horror punched through me, followed by white-hot fury. We’d been sabotaged, and we were about to be breached.
Another horn sounded. This one announced the type of threat, sharper and shriller.KRAAAM! KRAAAM! BAHROOOOM!
Night wyverns.
Screams erupted on the streets. I tilted my head back in time to see eight forms emerge from the darkness. One of the fire-eyed beasts wheeled about and barreled right at me.
CHAPTER 12
Hannah
Iflattened my body against the shelf and turned my face so I could breathe without giving myself away. Wood dug into my ribs, and dust coated my tongue. My fingers locked around the knife until my knuckles burned. There was nowhere left to retreat, and if he climbed up here, I would have to strike because he’d want to kill me. Maybe if I injured his eyes, it would debilitate him enough that I could get the fuck away.
The thought of harming him horribly twisted into greasy nausea in my stomach. Shit. Now wasn’t the time to get indigestion.
“Hannah.” His deep voice landed low and thick. “This ends here.”
For a heartbeat, the urge to answer coursed through me, but I clamped my lips together. What the hell was going on with me? The echo of my name lingered in the dark like something unfinished demanding completion.
I had to be losing my mind.
The door below me opened, and the faint tug in my chest strengthened. The space below me filled with his undeniable presence. I imagined him tilting his head back as he scanned theshelves, searching for me. My grip on the knife tightened.Please don’t make me hurt you.
Time stretched thin, and I tracked the smallest sounds—the shift of his boots, the faint brush of leather as he moved, and the way he paused as if listening. My muscles burned from holding still, and my ribs screamed as I pressed farther back, counting breaths and waiting for the moment I would have to move.
BAHROOOOM! BAHROOOOM!
The sound ripped through the house, vibrating through the shelf and straight into my bones. My entire body went rigid.Did another prisoner escape?
Boots scraped against the floor, and the pressure of Kai’s presence vanished. The door was still wide open, and I heard his footsteps quicken into a run.
I stayed frozen, the knife still clutched tight, and my heart hammering so hard it hurt.
His footsteps rushed back down the hall. I twisted my head toward the crack in time to see him race out the front door and into the street.
