In the end, only one of us could win.
If one of us had to break, it wasn’t going to be me.
21
Rain rolled in after high sun, drowning all light beneath the towering canopy. The typical summertime weather only seemed to enhance my dark mood. Two days of vicious, biting back and forth with Sylaira had left me with a massive headache. The comfortable bed in Stadur was a distant memory at this point, and nights on the ground were a cruel reminder of my duty to the crown.
My temples throbbed as I tugged on the reins and slowed the cart. Ilae settled on a branch high above as I leaped from the driver’s seat. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
“As if I could,” Sylaira scoffed, shaking her arm for added emphasis.
I might have tied a rope around her wrist and to one of the rings typically used to secure supplies in the cart. If only to snatch a modicum of control back to keep myself from unraveling,to exert some power over her when she always knew how to slash the deepest wound with her words.
“But thank you for leaving me out here to get soakedagain!” she called out as I stomped into the treeline to relieve myself.
We hadn’t passed a single soul in hours. And Sylaira had—thank the fucking Goddess—kept her hood up, concealing her eye color. The dark indigo cloak I wore over my leathers disguised my identity too. With my crew around, no one dared approach us.
But alone, in a desolate stretch of forest road?
I wasn’t taking any chances.
The rain picked up, pelting my head. A thick mist rolled in with it. Overhead, birds went silent. Chittering creatures did too as they sought shelter.
I buttoned my pants, then tightened my sword belt.
“Don’t move or I’ll put an arrow straight through your spine,” a masculine voice carved through the deluge, so fucking sure he’d already won.
A grin rose to my lips. Finally, someone I could actually hurt. Someone to slake this rage on with successive, brutal strikes.
“I don’t want any trouble.” That was a blatant lie. I raised my hands, all the while diving into the well of my magic and readying it for battle.
“That’s more like it. Now turn slowly toward me.”
I did, attention flicking in all directions while I kept my head lower than necessary. Besides the one with a bow trained on me, four others waited at varying degrees in the distance.
“Toss over your coin purse,” the male ordered.
“I’m afraid I don’t have it on me,” I said.
“Where is it?” a different one demanded.
“Back in my cart,” I replied, tone even. There was nothingthese would-be robbers could do to me. The moment they tried, I would issue a Command and slaughter them all.
“Oh good. The others can get it too while they grab the Seer.”
Red misted my vision.
I drew a dagger from my thigh holster and lunged. The sharp edge sank into the neck of the bow-wielder like sinew was nothing more than smoke. A strangled cry tore out of him, and he slapped a hand over the gush of blood as he collapsed to the ground. I was already spinning, white leaking from my fingertips and rising to shield myself from the next attack.
Sylaira’s shriek pierced the air.
Something primal exploded inside me. The need to protect. The need to slaughter.
No one can take her from me.
I sprinted toward the road, eating up the ground to the cart. A white wall bellied behind me, forcing further distance from the three remaining attackers. I needed to corral them until I knew how many others were with my mate.
“Get your fucking hands off me!” Sylaira shouted. I broke through the treeline a heartbeat later, finding one male towering over her in the back of the cart. Ilae screeched and swooped for the one holding the horses. One reared, spooked by the chaos. That momentary distraction was enough for a third to appear in my periphery and launch himself at my legs.
