A fatal mistake—and one that would cost Kaseverythingif I couldn’t stop hernow!
With a curse, I sent a pulse through the Grandmother and burst into action. The forest exploded in a symphony of chaos as I sprinted, launching myself from the branch, heedless of the twenty-foot drop. I landed hard, knees buckling with the impact, but I rolled, beating Kas to the edge of the clearing by no more than half a foot.
She pulled up short, snarling in my face, her fury finding a new target inme,gleaming yellow canines a scant few inches from my throat.
Returning her snarl, I planted my hands on her beautiful, savage muzzle and shoved her back, wrapping my ki as deep inside her as I could get. Commanding her to leave! Flee, and not turn back foranything!
“Don’t shoot!” the captain shouted at my back. “Don’t shoot her!”
A flash of watery green sailed over my shoulder, striking the mighty trunk of the tree I’d been standing in. Showering us in bits of splintered wood.
“Shit, sorry!” Marco cursed.
Kas’ pupils dilated as I pushed again, pouring my terror into her. When she reeled back at last, I tisked, jerking my thumb toward safety.
Fur puffed up, she spun, leaping fifteen feet in a single bound, nothing more than a specter to the untrained eye as she disappeared into the shadows.
General Tilcot’s deep, booming voice broke the ensuing silence. “So, this deplorable creature is your wood’s menace, is it Jasper? You’ve been had by a girl with a pet lion!”
In spite of my proximity to General Tilcot and the fallen Trila-Glís staring at me with bulging blue eyes, it was Captain Rawlings’ inky gaze that snared my attention.
He took in every facet of my appearance—from the handmade boots and clothes, to the wild dark brown tangled mess my hair had become. His ki lurched in my chest, a foreign barb of power striking deep. Searching for me beneath the years of filth.
Amusement kissed the edge of my senses—and victory too—but there was… somethingelse. Something I wouldn’t have recognized but for my years tied to Kas.
It was hunger, yes. But this… it wasmore. And then my cheeks flushed with comprehension, and I snarled, trying to cut him off as I had all those years ago—but made no difference. Not to Captain Rawlings and the ki that was a match to my own. I could feel him just there, lurking. Waiting.
Claws itching with the urge to strike the gloat off his stupid face, I returned his smile—toothier, since we’d last met. He would regret challenging me. He’d regretallof it. For the captain had made a fatal error.
“Kill her, please,” Jasper breathed, peeking out from behind the captain’s shoulder, and before anyone could do the sensible thing and act on his request, I spun, retreating after Kas into the Grandmother’s bosom. Hounded by victory’s grin, I fled, though this time, it was not with terror nipping my flanks, but renewed purpose.
TheTrila-Glís.
She was here. Chained, weak, and tainted by the Elites, buthere. Bound for Liyas.
I sent a pulse through the forest as I sprinted.
A summoning beacon.
Chapter 6
The Glaith.
It always came back to that tainted, hated ore. The earth beneath me was sick with it, poisoned, and threatening to cut me off from the Grandmother and all of her power should I let it touch my skin.
Looming misty gray in the distance, the mountain mocked me. It was packed with enough Glaith that it would takedecadesof exposure to ki-wielders for me to tolerate setting foot there. But some things were important enough to draw even me from the forest—important enough to prevent me from going after Kas, though I ached to mend the harm I’d caused in sending her away.
There was but a single reason, however, thatIwould summon Belle.
The High Priestess. Sick with Glaith, fed upon by Elites, but headed for Liyas.
I scowled, picking at the raised edge of the brand.He’darranged this, of course. The High Priestess was bait, for why else would he draw me out? Why, after all this time, would he make a move using the most valuable Priestess alive if he wasn’t certain of the outcome? He couldneverhave me—not with the Grandmother at my back. We’d been in a bitter stalemate for five years, with no real victory on either side.
No. There was something else the captain wanted. Some part of his plot I couldn’t yet see.
With a sigh, I hunkered down against a tree, reaching across the distance for Kas’ beautiful, sullen ki. Concealed by elevation and shadows, I watched as two women shuffled into the clearing I’d chosen—a meeting place that straddled my territory and hers.
Where life met Glaith.
