Reid spun his blade around the sword of the opposing guard, disarming him with a quick movement of his wrist. The sword clattered against stone, and Reid dragged his own across the neck of the guard. The man fell with a macabre splatter on Reid’s boots. He leapt over the body, people screaming and fleeing from him, and members of Sachia’s crew emerged from the crowd. Flames swallowed the back half of the Sanctum. Reid distinguished carefully between those that ranathim and those that ranaroundhim. Just as it had been in Innisjour, it was only the fools that faced him who met the blood-slick end of his blade. Yet he was on the verge of descending into the version of himself that didn’t care for human life, that was capable of killing anyone and anything that stood in his way. He clung with shaking hands to the person his father wanted him to be.
In front of him, the final guard stood, the only thing standing between Reid and Koen. The guard lifted his enormous broadsword with strong arms and a frame that stood as tall as Reid did. The man snarled something vicious in Asteryan, and Reid bellowed with laughter as his opponent brought his blade up. Too heavy. Too wide. A blade like that was never meant forbattle—it was built for a gruesome show, one Reid was moments from stealing. The man swung down. Reid dodged and then performed a perfect riposte, moving his blade far quicker than the city guard had time to counter. Reid sliced through the side of the guard with a middle blow, and his sword sang with the cutting of fabric and flesh.
The guard roared in pain and sunk to his knees. Reid gave one last swing, and his blade lodged in the side of the man’s head. All life drained from his eyes.
Reid reached the iron pole, and Koen railed against the chains that bound him. “Are you all right?” Reid yelled over the chaos.
“Oh, justfine,” Koen muttered as he struggled against the chains with only half his body. Blue and purple bruises shadowed his face, and every time his left shoulder moved, Koen winced. He’d been beaten at minimum, likely worse.
“You should have told them you weren’t me,” Reid insisted as he started to tug at the iron chains that secured Koen to the thick pole.
“They would have killed me regardless. No use in taking you with me to hell.”
“Hell is the last place you’ll go,” Reid said. He growled in frustration as he continued to work the chains. He started pulling at them, cursing, “Thesefuckingchains.”
“Move!” Sachia’s voice rang in the air as she leapt onto the platform. Dressed in a utilitarian dress, her red hair braided over her shoulder, she was back in the part of a merchant’s daughter today.
“Oh, thank the gods,” Koen said.
“Cover me,” she bit at Reid.
Reid grabbed his sword again just as Sachia slid to the spot in front of Koen. Her hands hovered over the chains. She bent her fingers and slashed downward. The line of links broke. The chains unraveled and clattered to the ground.
Koen stumbled from the pole and clutched his arm, letting out pained breaths. “Shit,” Sachia said. “It’s broken, isn’t it?”
Rage coated Reid’s tongue. They had broken Koen’s arm.
And then more explosions sounded, this time coming from the port.
“Please tell me you have a plan,” Koen begged, staring as debris and fire and smoke wafted into the ocean.
“Yes, we have a plan,” Sachia insisted. Two members of her crew jumped onto the platform. She barked her commands. “Get Koen to the ship and make it to the prison. Find my brother. We’ll meet you there.”
No. She should go to the ship, too. There was no guarantee they would both make it out of this alive, and she needed to see her brother. That had always been her plan. “Sachia—” Reid started.
“There is no time, Wolf, and I’m not leaving you. Let’s go!”
Sachia jumped from the platform and into the crowd. Reid stared after her, paralyzed for a moment at the sureness he’d just seen in the pirate witch. She easily could have abandoned them all there and made it out of this conflict. In so many ways, that was the most advantageous choice for her.
Yet she hadn’t. She’d gone running after Vaasa without hesitation.
A member of Sachia’s crew helped support Koen, and his friend leaned against the man with a pained look on his face. Reid turned to the docks where their tenders were supposed to be waiting. Fire swallowed the mooring in incredible blasts of red, orange, and yellow as various ships launched into the ocean, people fleeing toward the larger ships anchored further out in deeper water. The Iron Bay was a mess, boats narrowly slamming into each other as some tried to make it out to sea while city guards rushed in to try and save their own watervessels. They had targeted the quickest of the Asteryan ships in hopes of easing their escape.
“You can make it?” Reid asked the pirate holding most of Koen’s weight.
Koen scoffed at him. The pirate nodded sternly.
The Red Corsairwas waiting. Koen could manage. Reid turned to face the Sanctum, the place his wife was trapped, and then his jaw dropped.
“Tell me that was part of the plan,” Koen said.
Reid shook his head.
“Holyshit,” Koen hissed.
CHAPTER
37
