But none of it mattered. All I could hear was the bond. It was struggling inside of me and her fear hit me like a physical blow. I growled low in my throat.
“She’s close.”
Enka, Krusk, and Dristan flanked me as the other clan members fanned through the hall. The coven swept behind them, magick swirling in glittering formation. My claws were already flared.
I didn’t even try to stop it—not now. Not when she was, myheart stuttered. She wasn’t in here. It’d been another glamor.
I heard her whimper. It was quiet—barely a breath. But I heard it and felt it.
I sprinted down the hall, and up the stairs, two at a time. Through another screen of glamor that tried to twist the hallway sideways.
The coven didn’t hesitate from where they were running up behind me, blasting through it and ripping it down.
“Hanna!” I roared, and my heart leaped when a faint, hoarse cry answered. I slammed into the east wing door hard enough to rip it from its hinges. It crashed into the opposite wall, but then... I saw her.
She was suspended in midair, wrapped in a cocoon of layered glamor that shimmered sickly. Her feet dangled inches above the ground, her hair hung limp and damp with sweat, and her skin was pale. Too pale. Her eyes were half-open but unfocused with her pupils blown wide.
She was shaking, fighting the spell but failing. Something inside of me tore wide open, and my vision went white around the edges.
She wasn’t unconscious, but she wasn’t fully awake either. Corwin stood in front of her, adjusting the cuffs of his designer jacket as if preparing for a business meeting while Hanna’s parents stood to the side.
They looked bored.Bored.Her mother checked her watch while her father picked lint from his sleeve.
I saw red. Actual red. My breath roared in my ears. Corwin perked up when he noticed the noise.
“Oh,” he said. “Finally.” Then he actually smiled. That curl of his lips was what sealed his fate.
“Well, well,” he drawled, stepping aside as if showing off Hanna’s limp body like a prize. “The orc scum finally arrives. Took you long enough. I was beginning to think your…pet frogwould arrive first.”
My claws extended fully with an audible click and Enka cursed behind me.
“Sav—” he started, but I was already stepping forward.
Corwin didn’t stop talking becauseof course he didn’t.
“You know, this really is inconvenient,” he sighed. “Your little runaway witch caused more trouble than she’s worth. But my parents—and hers—want the merger finalized. And to finalize it, I need the assets.”
I blinked, thrown off by one word.
“Assets,” I hissed, which only made him smirk wider.
Her mother finally spoke, voice monotone. “My mother-in-law left the business to Hanna. Full control, full fortune and full patent rights.”
My stomach dropped, because Hanna didn’t know that. Shehadn’tknown this entire time.
Her father added, “Unfortunately, our daughter inherited a business mind as soft as her sentimentality. She ran away. It’s ridiculous and childish. So we’ve had to bring her home.”
Home.He actually used that word.The rage cracked the air around me like a lightning strike.
Corwin continued, “Once she signs the marriage contract and the merger goes through, we can salvage the brand. And if she refuses—well…” He shrugged and gestured to the glamor cocoon.
The spell pulsed, tightening around her ribs. She let out a small, broken sound. That was when something inside of me detonated.
Krusk whispered behind me, “Savla—”
Too late.
I moved fast. Faster than even the other orcs expected.
