I had no stomach for collateral damage.
“Warm and toasty isn’t on the agenda for today, I’m afraid,” Ryland’s breath turned into a ghost that vanished in the wind. “The temperature will drop even more once that storm is upon us. An hour before the full force of the snow and wind arrive, and after that…we’ll be lucky if we don’t freeze to death.”
Rooke didn’t answer, standing beside me with his palms flat against the parapet, sleeves barely covering the thin silver cuffs glinting like frozen moonlight. All across the ledge, beneath the fluffy snow, matching runes glowed, part of the ward keeping him prisoner.
Those cuffs were shackles, an everyday reminder of hisfate, and I followed his stare out across the ice, wondering why all of this mattered so much to me. But it did, maybe even more than my duty to my queen.
Maybe because they were one and the same, saving Rooke and saving Valarian.
Uniting the Triune, killing Gravelock, ending this thing on Kaden’s behalf, all of it mattered equally, because once Gravelock leashed the Triune’s power, nothing would matter at all.
“If I know Venmir, they’ll come across right there,” Rooke pointed at the far-off hills on the opposite bank. “Standard formation, fifty across, ten deep, and he’ll bring every last one of his guards. Five…six hundred.”
“We could use the ice against them,” Ryland said at last, studying the frozen lake. “There are thin spots.” His eyes slid to mine and I suppressed my horrified shudder. “Sledge hammers, maybe, could weaken the ice before they arrive.”
“Sorry. I’m fresh out of sledge hammers.” Rooke muttered.
“It’s ten miles to Evernight, which means a four-hour march, give or take.” Kaden’s head turned toward me—slow. “They’re already on their way, so our clock is ticking.”
“We’ll gain a bit more time with the storm. That sand is a slog, especially in all that armor, adding the wind to their faces might buy us an extra two hours, by my estimate,” I observed, drumming my fingers on the frozen ledge. “Plus another hour to move his army out into the ice and get all those soldiers positioned. They can’t just…fly themselves here, like Varian?”
“Not that I know of,” Rooke answered. “Gravelock always stomps up to my door, soldiers in tow, I can hear him coming a mile away.”
“Once the brunt of this storm hits, they’ll lose visibility,”I murmured, picturing the onslaught. “The snow will be blinding when they come off that hill down into the mist, and…”
“They won’t be able to see.” Rooke’s dark blue eyes collided with mine. “But even better, any Fae with fire magic will be compromised by the cold, the wind, the damp. That’s an advantage.”
I touched the hilt of my sword again, grinding my teeth as I looked for anything else we could use against the enemy. “The frozen lake is their biggest weakness.” I murmured. “They’ll be exposed out on there and all that weight….”
Excitement ignited inside me, along with an idea that had me nodding to myself, picturing the scene.
“They might go through on their own,” I said, excitement turning to cold, hard calculation. “Those guards are heavily armored, loaded down with weaponry. The ice barely supported the three of us. But if there was a way to weaken the ice, to melt it…”
“He’ll bring magic wielders who freeze the ice beneath them.” Rooke countered, clearing the ledge of snow with one swipe of his hand. “They’ll be on the front line, so the chances of them drowning are, sadly, small. The storm won’t dampen their abilities, I’m afraid. It’s a nice thought though.”
“If we had archers, we might be able to do something about them,” Ryland said.
But I was only half listening as Rooke and Ryland went back and forth, arguing one scenario after another, each of them growing more desperate. My sister was inside these walls. The men I loved. Everything I cared about in the entire world…was here.
Gravelock would kill us all—even my sister—after hehad the relics and used Rooke’s blood to claim the Triune’s power. There was no walking away from this, and only one way we survived.
The Butcher of Evernight and his entire army could never set foot on this island.
Ryland and I had to buy Rooke time to unite the Triune.
I’d been thinking of every story—old wives’ tales—I’d ever heard of the Triune. How uniting them was an enormous test of will. How their magic, once combined, would corrupt the wielder’s soul.
How, in the wrong hands, the Triune led to cataclysmic destruction, plunging our entire realm into ruin.
But in Rooke’s hands…
Maybe I was an optimistic fool, but I believed Kaden Rooke—arrogant, careless, spoiled Kaden Rooke—was both pure of heart and strong enough to resist whatever corruption nestled at the Triune’s core.
“Best estimate, they’ll be in position in a little over five hours. We’ll hold him off for the final two. We can do that.” I made myself believe the words, laying my hand beside Rooke’s, watching snowflakes melt onto my skin.
“Then we still have four hours, perhaps five before they get close enough to become our problem.” Ryland rubbed his jaw. “I’ll go check on Varian and Ariel.” Those amber eyes landed on Rooke before drifting over to me.
“Come inside and get warmed up, Lyrae, then you and I will take turns up here, watching for their approach, while Kaden gets his ritual set up.”
