Or an entire army. How many people had died because we’d been bound?
The anger building in my chest felt foreign. I usually buried such feelings, but this … this felt too big to contain.
On the Rymarian side of the ward, Flynn and Teal stood, shaking the snow off their cloaks.
“Her footprints go that way.” Typical Flynn. He didn’t care about things that didn’t immediately affect him. He didn’t care who’d bound his power, not if it was unbound now. Political machinations were of no interest. Footprints were. “We need to follow them before they disappear.”
“No!” Grayson barked. “We stick together.”
“Then you’d better get over here, because I’m following those prints.”
Grayson’s jaw dropped. Flynn never asserted himself. Never made demands.
Flynn made to follow the prints, and Teal grabbed his arm. “Wait. They watched over us. We’ll watch over them.” He didn’t doubt that we’d follow them. Follow her.
He was right.
I dismounted, gathered the reins for three horses, and stepped past the barrier.
For an instant, nothing happened, then a thousand knives cut into my flesh at the same time. Each blade dipped in acid.
A harsh groan escaped my throat before the pain stole my voice.
Over the course of my life, I’d broken multiple bones and suffered deep stab wounds. Those injuries were gentle kisses compared to this. My chest exploded. There was no other way to describe my ribs expanding against an immovable band. The bones shattered with exertion. The resulting shards sliced deep into my organs.
I stared at the gray sky and prayed for death.
Slowly, the pain receded, leaving me panting on the forest floor.
A face appeared a few inches above me. “Do you feel stronger?”
“Give him some space, Flynn.”
Flynn stuck out his lower lip and refused to move, as if proximity would earn him an answer. “Do you?”
I blinked. Slowly. I breathed in frigid air, warming it in my lungs. I flexed my fingers. And I nodded.
My body might feel weak, but the power that lived in my veins was stronger than ever. With no effort, I collected enough snow to create a leopard, then watched as it slunk through the trees.
“Impressive.” Teal helped me sit.
I stared across the border at Grayson. “They’re right. Someone bound our powers.”
His face was a stony mask as he led Caspian across theborder into Rymar. His face remained stony as he writhed on the ground. Somehow, it became even stonier when the pain passed and he realized we were right. His powers were stronger.
We gave him a few minutes to recover and followed him without comment when he mounted Caspian and pursued Haven’s fading footprints.
Chapter
Forty-Six
HAVEN
“Seven days without a problem. She shows up, and we’re attacked.” Remy’s voice was loud enough to rise above the pounding of the horses’ hooves and the relentless wind.
My name is Haven, and I can hear you.He undoubtedly knew that. Asshole.
“Coincidence.”
