“Give me my sling.”
She fumbled at his belt, hands shaking, and pressed the strap into his palm.
“Viktor—”
“Down,” he rasped.
She slid low against Ruby’s flank just as he twisted, shoulders screaming in protest.
The sling whirred—then loosed.
The stone struck true.
The rider toppled from his saddle with a brutal crack.
Viktor doubled over with a roar.
The sound ripped raw from his chest. Pain lit his shoulders like fire reborn, every muscle seared as if he’d thrown his own skin against the stone.
Amerei reached for him, frantic, but Ruby’s gallop jolted her back. Viktor’s cry tore through her, louder than the thunder of hooves. He clutched his shoulder, every line of him wracked with agony.
“Viktor—stop! You’ll tear yourself apart!”
Her voice cracked, useless against his pain.
His face wrenched, but his eyes burned past it.
“Not yet.”
He hauled himself upright in the saddle, breath tearing from his chest, and seized Ruby’s reins with one scorched hand. The horse veered hard at his pull, racing off the path.
A massive tree lay toppled ahead, its roots clawing skyward, trunk thick enough to shield an army. Viktor’s jaw locked againstthe fire ripping through him as he forced Ruby behind it—the world narrowing to one command:Get her safe.
Only when the shadows swallowed them did they swing down, Viktor crumbling to his knees, his whole body shivering.
Amerei’s hands hovered uselessly over him as he slumped against the bark. His skin was fever-hot beneath the torn tunic, every breath a jagged wound in her chest.
“Viktor—please—”
He cut her off with a broken gasp, head jerking toward the road.
“Rider.”
Amerei froze.
Hoofbeats thundered nearer—closing fast.
She scrambled to lift him, to drag him deeper into cover, but Viktor’s hand seized hers and pressed something hard into her palm.
Her heart plummeted.
The sling.
“I can’t,” she choked, staring at it as if it were a serpent. “I don’t even know—”
“You can.”
His voice was raw steel, shaking but unbending.
