Chapter 26
I can’t catch my breath, but I force my head up. What I see nearly makes my heart stop. Elowen is behind the man with something in her hands; I can’t see what. She hits him with it. I’m already moving when he whirls around. All the pain fades away as adrenaline courses through me; he will not hurt Elowen or Auri. I push myself to my feet. The world tilts around me for a moment, but I blink and move. I don’t have either of my daggers, but that doesn’t stop me. I shove Elowen out of the way and plow into him, knocking both of us to the ground. He grunts, and I follow the fall with a punch to his jaw. I jump to my feet and stomp on his hand, making him release his knife. I lunge for it and snag it, but he kicks it out of my hand before I can use it. I scramble after it, but he grabs me by the hair again, yanking me backwards. It feels like he pulled my hair out by the roots. His arm is around my neck before I realize what’s happening. I elbow him, but he only tightens his hold. My vision goes blurry as I try to pull his arm away from my throat. But he’s just too strong for me. Oneminute, the world goes hazy; the next, the pressure is gone and I can breathe. I bend over and gasp for air. I’m aware of a battle going on behind me, but it takes a moment for my vision to come back. When I turn around, it’s to watch Rauk brutally end the life of the man that was attacking me. He whirls towards me and is at my side in two steps. “Where’s Auri?”
My voice doesn’t work yet, so I just point. He’s in front of the wardrobe a moment later, yanking the door open. She screams, and it reverberates through the room. “It’s me,” Rauk says in a low voice.
“Rauk!”
He lifts her into his arms and then spins around. He’s at Elowen’s side a moment later, helping her to her feet. He pulls her close, and there’s silence except for Auri’s quiet crying. “You’re okay,” Rauk says in a low voice. I watch the three of them from where I am on my hands and knees, and relief crashes through me. They’re all alive. Rauk turns suddenly, and his eyes meet mine. I push myself to my feet.
Elowen turns to me. “Harper, get over here,” she says in a shaky voice.
I stand there a moment, unsure. Rauk makes the decision for me. He walks over to me, bringing Elowen with him and Auri, who he’s still carrying. He wraps a powerful arm around me and pulls me into their circle. My heart is still hammering out a panicked rhythm, and I try to catch my breath. Elowen puts her hand on my cheek. “Are you okay, Harper? He got you pretty good.”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?” Rauk asks. I turn to look at him and find his head only a few inches from mine.
“Yeah.” I put my hand on Auri’s back. She hasn’t lifted her face from where it’s buried in Rauk’s neck. “You okay, Kiddo?” My voice is still hoarse from nearly being strangled to death.
“Yes,” she sniffles. “Are you?”
“Yeah. We’re all safe. That’s what counts.”
The sound of footsteps outside the room brings our happy reunion to a swift end. Rauk whirls around and wordlessly shifts Auri into my arms. I don’t even think about it as I take her from him. “Stay here,” he says quietly near my ear. And then he’s gone, like a shadow in the night. I stay still, trying to listen. When I hear low voices, I relax. Rauk comes back into the room a moment later. In the light of the fire, I can see Thorne is with him as well as another guy. I think maybe it’s the guy I first saw with Thorne the day I walked into the center of town. “I know,” Rauk says as he strides towards us and reaches for Auri, but she points to her chair.
“You don’t need to carry me.” Her voice is soft, but there’s a little bit of her attitude and that gives me hope.
“Not in here, not until we remove the bodies,” Rauk says briskly.
“Rauk, you have to go,” the one guy I don’t know says.
“I’m not leaving,” Rauk snaps.
“What’s going on?” I insert myself into the conversation. I don’t care about butting in. We all almost died; I don’t care about politics right now.
Thorne turns to me. “The break-in at the wall was just adistraction; they wanted to come here.” I face Rauk as my stomach twists. My eyes land on Auri, but I don’t say the words out loud. I can’t see Rauk’s face in the dark, but I can only imagine the violence on his face right now. This was a coordinated attack to get to Auri. I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn’t been here, if Rauk hadn’t gotten here when he did, if...I push those thoughts away. I don’t have to ask why. If they took Auri, they have all the leverage they need over Rauk to do anything they need him to do...anything. My stomach twists, and I feel like I might throw up.Was that why Rauk was keeping Auri hidden?
Thorne faces Rauk. “They’ll keep coming.”
“And we’ll be ready for them,” Rauk says in response.
Thorne shakes his head. “Rauk, this is your family we’re talking about.” He lowers his voice. “Take them and get out while you can. Get them to safety.”
“No,” Rauk says fiercely. He steps closer to Thorne, putting him chest to chest with him. “I will not leave my kingdom to fight on their own; don’t ask me to do that.”
Thorne puts his hand on Rauk’s shoulder. “I know, but this is your family, Brother. They will just keep coming. We can only hold them off for so long.” A tense silence falls, and I try to follow the conversation.
I look between the three warriors. “You don’t think you can hold them?”
Thorne turns to me. “Tonight’s attack was both Northerners and our enemies from the South. They came together.”
I stare at him as dread pools in my stomach. “Can’t your spiritdragons hold them off?”
“One army? Yes. Two?” He shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“Red and I can join the fight.”
“No,” Rauk says harshly.
