Keeping my voice low, I rasped, “What happens when they take us to their leader?”
The look he shot me was bone-chilling. “We’ll wish we shared Conrad’s fate.”
Fighting would have meant instant death, whereas this option offered the chance for escape. That’s what Aric had said, and the second it’d come out of his mouth, I’d latched onto it—thatchanceof survival.I was with two powerful Princepes and two incredibly trained fighters.Anyonewould have latched onto that chance. But now, Aric was suggesting that either that chance was long gone, or had never even existed in the first place.
Aric isn’t Harthon.
Harthon’s figuring a way out of this right now.
If he was even awake.
Dread would have flooded me if it wasn’t already leaking out of my pores.
But dread wasn’t all I felt. The knowledge nestled beside my heart was flaring, the gentle warmth such a jarring contrast to my fear that the sensations made me nauseous. I didn’t know where the Horrads had taken us or how long we’d traveled for, but one thing was clear.
We were closer to the path into the Domus. Much closer. Not that it meant a damn thing when they were going to slaughter us before we even saw its walls.
Apparently, the shred of themagvisinside me hadn’t gotten the message about our dire circumstances.
Or maybe…it did?
Desperate for something, I tugged at that curious thread. These recent weeks had made it clear the ball of heat wasn’t an ignorant bystander in my life. It reacted in real-time. It wouldn’t make any sense for it to suddenly be blind to our situation.
And yet it was pulsing brightly, like it was—I don’t know—optimistic? Encouraging? Happy with our progress?
Which also made no sense, because Aric was no closer to freeing himself, Harthon hadn’t escaped, and the Horrads were beginning to turn their burlap-covered heads in our direction. The group by the river dispersed, revealing that the buckets they’d been filling were now full. To my right, burly bodies that’d been dissecting a tree dropped their axes.
They’d stopped here to gather resources, and now they were done.
“Aric?” I hissed.
A stifled grunt was his only answer. His forearms shook harder as his pace increased. Whereas before he’d shown controlled urgency, his movements were becoming frenzied.
Aric was panicking.
Then, all at once, he stopped.
My heart stuttered before kicking into a thunderous rhythm.
My eyes followed his to the two Horrads approaching us, limbs thick beneath their haggard clothing. They were something from a nightmare: silent, masked strangers bearing down on us, powerful intent in every step, while we sat entirely at their mercy.
With their faces masked, my imagination ran wild, conjuring toothless monsters who wished to swallow us whole, faces without skin, the black eyes of soulless spirits. Harthon had said they were once regular citizens of First, but I wondered if any humanity remained.
They halted above us, their terrible odor as choking as a noose. I readied myself for pain. A kick in the head, a broken nose, maybe. I clamped my jaw shut so they wouldn’t see it shake.
You’ve been hurt before. Your body will heal,I told myself. Again and again, louder and louder, until it was all I heard against the drumbeat of my pulse.
All that bravado vanished in a single, pathetic second when they crouched before me, Aric forgotten. One of them cocked their head, and my lungs refused to work. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but silently quake.
One of them lifted a hand, and I recoiled with a jerk. An image of Jac’s headless body flashed through my mind.
They’re going to take your eyes.
A whimper clawed its way from my mouth.
Please, please, please.I begged the knowledge in my chest, the Domus’ walls, whatever people prayed to.
A finger landed on my cheek, below my left eye. Its owner turned to their companion, who nodded. The hand pulled away. Wooden daggers were drawn.
