“Are they always like this?” Callum asked Riordan.
“Pretty much.” He shrugged.
“And you,” Ryker snarled, turning to face Callum.
“Don’t you speak to my brother with that tone.”
“Whenever you are not with Cadence, Riordan will supervise you,” Ryker said, ignoring my warning.
Callum jerked away from the smug-looking Prince, his mouth hanging open in horror.
I wanted to scream. Every time I thought I could slip out from beneath Ryker’s control, he was lurking in the shadows, ready to ensnare me, always one step ahead.
“Ryker,” Eamon’s voice called from the doorway.
His face was flushed, and sweat beaded on his forehead as he fought to catch his breath.
“Perfect timing.”
“Ryker,” he said again, this time with an edge to his tone. “The palace is under attack.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ryker
“Under attack by whom?”
“They’re Wraith Borne, Ryker,” Eamon panted, sweat soaking the collar of his tunic.
Cadence stiffened beside me, and I reached out, drawing her closer.
“Wraith Borne,” I repeated, the words tasting foul in my mouth. “How many?”
“At least a dozen. Maybe more.” Eamon’s chest shuddered as he struggled to catch his breath. “They breached the outer perimeter just minutes ago. Tore through the sentries like they were nothing.”
“Fuck.”
Cadence’s nails bit through the linen of my tunic, marking my flesh. I could feel the hummingbird flutter of her pulse, rapid and raw.
“Where’s Malesh?”
“Already out there,” Eamon said, jerking his chin back the way he had come. “Fighting on the ramparts.”
Cadence pulled out of my grip as she tried to push past me. I caught her by the elbow, but she set her jaw in that stubborn line I knew all too well.
“We have to help him.”
“You are not going anywhere.”
“Like hell I’m not! I refuse to sit idly by while people I care about are slaughtered.”
“I need you safe,” I snapped, grabbing her wrist. “We can’t let them get through the next line of our defenses.”
“Then you’ll want all the help you can get,” she said, fire blazing in her eyes.
I held her still as I tried my hardest not to shake some sense into her. “You’re powerless, Cadence.”
She recoiled as if I had slapped her. “And you are a fucking asshole,” she said, wrenching her arm from my grip.
