She twisted, studying the grove only to find it empty except for her. She didn't know how, but the mare had managed to take her offspring and leave.
"You couldn't have taken me too?" Eva grumbled, pushing herself to her feet.
Her head pounded. She reached up, her hand coming away wet with blood. She must have hit her head when she fainted.
The rustle of branches sent her heart lurching seconds before Caden stumbled through them, covered in blood, his face white with pain.
"Caden," she gasped, rushing to his side.
Blood poured from beneath the hand he clasped to his belly. He sank to his knees and Eva caught him as he toppled to his side, lowering him gently to the ground.
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to get clear." Her hands fluttered over him as she checked on the injuries. An arrow was lodged in his leg, another in his shoulder.
The wound that concerned her most was the stomach wound that Caden had his hand clamped over.
"I was never going to leave you," he said through gritted teeth.
He let her move his hand, a small groan leaving him. She made a pained sound at the sight of the wound. It'd pierced his abdomen, and blood slid from it in thick rivulets. She'd been around enough injured animals to know a mortal wound when she saw it.
There was knowledge in his eyes when she looked back at him with a lost expression.
"I'm not getting out of this one." He raised one hand to her cheek, a soft smile transforming his face. "Worth it though."
She took his hand and shook her head. It wasn't. It really wasn't.
"I bought you as much time as I could. You need to go," he said. "They're right behind me."
She shook her head again, emotion stealing her voice and leaving her mute.
"Yes—you need to survive," he said. "I sent Jason and Kent for Darius. Head for the city. They'll meet you."
"I'm not leaving you behind," she argued.
Fallon had survived a blade to the chest. The Trateri healers could help Caden. She only needed to get him to them.
He closed his eyes as a rusty laugh escaped him. "No choice."
"There's always a choice," she told him fiercely.
"Fool," he whispered as his head fell back. His hand went slack in hers.
"Caden." She shook him, his head lolled, his body boneless. "Caden, come on. We have to go."
He didn't answer. She put her fingers to his neck, checking for his pulse. She found none.
Grief was a wild thing in her breast.
She hugged him to her, shocked at how abruptly this powerful man had slipped from this world. Tears stung her face as grief tore a hole in her. It shouldn't have felt this consuming, not after their short time together. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath.
A great yawning chasm opened, consuming her from the inside out. Numbness soaked through even as tears continued to trickle down her cheeks.
Movement in the trees announced their presence.
Vincent led them, but he wasn’t the leader. The man behind him was, his features strong and blunt, his body muscular. Cruelty was stamped on his face as he took in Eva, sitting with Caden's head still cradled on her lap.
The authority with which he carried himself meant he could only be one person—Pierce. The ringleader.
He was the man Darius and Caden had been hunting all this time. The man in the shadows, forcing others to do his bidding.
