“Appreciate that,” Henry said as he clapped me on the shoulder. Blood trickled from a cut above his eye, but his grin was infectious.
Another guard, a burly man with a long scar across his cheek, charged toward us with his sword raised, interrupting our moment of camaraderie.
“Go.” Henry nodded toward the wagons. “I’ve got this.”
I sprinted for the nearest cart and jumped into the bed. Sacks of grain and salted meat lined the interior, enough to feed dozens of people for weeks. I worked quickly, tossing them to the ground where Josef and two others waited to haul them into the forest. The rest of their people lingered nearby, ready to carry the supplies out.
“How much longer?” Josef called as I moved to the next wagon.
“Not long,” I said, hefting a heavy sack over the edge.
Henry appeared at my side, shouldering bags of grain as if they weighed nothing. We made quick work of the supplies before moving to the final cart. We were halfway through when a horn blared from somewhere down the road.
Reinforcements were approaching.
We’d expected this, but hearing the sound made everything real.
“Time’s up,” Sinead shouted from atop the second wagon. “Everyone out!”
I launched myself out of the cart, taking stock of the soldiers lying on the ground, groaning in pain. Some guards had fled, likely to call for the reinforcements now approaching.
I watched as Henry wiped blood from his knuckles before he stepped back toward the tree line, his eyes scanning the horizon. He didn’t need to say it. I knew the danger hadn’t passed.
As we disappeared among the dense forest, clinging to the shadows concealing us from view, I had to hope that our efforts were enough. That Cadence’s plan would succeed, allowing us to escape the Unseelie Kingdom.
No matter what came next, I would get my sister out.
That was my promise.
Chapter Forty-Three
Cadence
My footsteps echoed down the empty hall as I wrung my hands, unable to stifle the dread that had settled in my stomach the second Callum slipped past the gatehouse.
If he’d been caught… I couldn’t imagine what would happen to him. All I knew was that I would stop at nothing to free him. Even if that meant tearing the Unseelie Kingdom apart piece by piece.
Whispered shouts up ahead pulled me from my spiraling thoughts, and I paused as I strained to hear what was being said.
“You served one purpose. One!” The voice sounded familiar, though I couldn’t place it.
“If your cunt’s so worthless the Prince got bored with it, maybe I’ll hand you over to Lord Ensworth and see if he’s less picky,” the man said with a sneer.
A small whimper followed. “Please, Uncle. I c-can’t b-breathe.”
I knew that voice all too well.
Celeste.
“My brother was too soft on you. If he’d disciplined you as I told him to, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
“U-uncle,” she said, the single word punctuated with a wheeze.
Before I could stop myself, I rounded the corner and came face to face with Lord Barrington, Celeste red-faced and pinned to the wall. She was clawing at his wrists, fighting desperately for every shallow intake of air.
Eric Barrington had replaced his brother, Dara, as head of the family following his untimely demise.
Another death that landed at Ryker’s feet.
