‘That fucking wolf has got to?—’
Pablo roared, leaping high into the shadows, sailing past Matthias. He threw me behind him, shielding me. For a moment, my brows furrowed, when a flash of silver and a man’s scream told me Pablo had found a figure neither of us had noticed. As he dragged the thrashing man down, snarling as his teeth tore apart the intruder’s throat, shouts erupted from the library. Asher cried for Matthias.
‘What…what’s happening?’ I asked, my blood suddenly chilled.
The bells of the tower crashed frantically. Cries engulfed the calm as a window smashed and blurred figures, clad completely in black, rolled in.
‘We’re under attack,’ Matthias said darkly, clutching my wrist tightly. ‘And I don’t know if it’s Romero or the empress.’
CHAPTER 24
There’s little evidence the so-called Midnight Insurgence has any affiliation with disgraced King Raul of Asmar. Their aims however – sharing the Vyrium to help the common man – align with those bringing forth Raul’s humiliation. We’ll monitor the terrorists closely. Should we suspect influence from Asmar, his rule shall cede with immediate effect.
— THE ALLIANCE’S VERDICT AGAINST KING RAUL ELMSWOOD OF ASMAR
‘Stay here.’ Matthias spun around, dragging me into a corner where two towering oak shelves met.
‘No,’ I said, placing my hands against his chest, shoving him back as books tumbled somewhere beyond with a mighty crash. ‘I’m not standing here like a damn doll.’
Matthias’s jaw ticked and he sighed heavily. Taking a dagger from his boot, he placed it in my trembling hands. Pablo snarled, bounding towards the battle, when Matthias called him back.
‘I haven’t got my sword, but this is the finest Vyrium. Use it to stay safe. Stay by her, okay?’
My eyes widened as Pablo nuzzled Matthias’s hip and placed himself before me.
‘I’ll try and get a sword to you,’ he said.
I clutched the dagger as a muted scream rose somewhere in the midst of the library.
‘As much as I appreciate the trust, it’s not a good idea.’
Matthias placed a searing kiss on my lips. ‘Gods, woman. You’ll be the absolute death of me.’
‘Give me a bloody sword and I might be.’
He placed his hand on Pablo’s head before tearing away, leaving me with the wolf and the still-twitching intruder at my feet.
My breathing hitched painfully at the chaos. The silver threads hid, lurking behind the ever-eager violet. Biting the inside of my cheek, I focused on the pain and not the onslaught of screams, scraping metal, the thunder of boots. For a few frantic heartbeats, I cursed my sight. Nothing came into focus, and I wasn’t prepared to admit the fear pounding through my veins. Orange flames rose over the tops of tall shelves. I stared at the inferno, praying to Evella they were the evidence of Glesni’s second gift and not the assassins laying waste to the library. Pablo nudged my hip as if to assure me of his presence. Clutching the dagger in my sweat-slicked palm, I raised it before me.
A cry, high and pained, rent the air.
‘Skye?’ I stared, wide-eyed, as one of the huge tables rose to the ceiling before crashing onto a hazy mass of black. Glesni was certainly awake then, but the cry. Had it been Skye? Gods, what if she was hurt?
I stood, bouncing from one foot to the other, imagined catastrophes flooding my mind, while fear writhed with theincreasingly restless threads of purple. Was the sound of fighting coming from outside? How bad was this attack? It was all I could do to halt myself screaming my frustration into the world.
Pablo tugged my skirt, before laying his amber gaze firmly on me.
‘I know,’ I said, my voice far too high. ‘But what use am I?’
Pablo barked, and set his teeth into the hem of my skirt pulling again. He was right. How could we stand here, hiding in the shadows, when those we loved were being attacked? I grabbed the scruff of his neck and Pab lopped to the end of the shelf where we’d been hiding.
I rounded the corner, cursing as I slammed straight into not one, but two intruders. One lurched, and I pitched the dagger out, hitting nothing but air. Snarling, Pablo leapt onto the attacker’s chest, sending him sprawling. Their sword clattered against the parquet. I hissed as the glint of an unseen blade skimmed my hip, crashing my spine into a bookcase to avoid the sting of steel. The damned glasses slipped through my fingers. What little sight I had was now well and truly gone. Grabbing a book from the shelf, I hurled it in the direction of the attacker, striking them on the shoulder. They didn’t give me a moment to breathe. I ducked as their sword swung back in line with my neck. They swore, grappling with the sword now embedded in the shelf. Pablo growled by my side, before the sharp edge of a sword was thrust through my assailant’s chest. The threads battered my chest as the sword was removed with a sickening crunch. The figure crumpled to the floor, and relief tamped down the edge of my fear as Matthias shoved a blood-soaked sword into my hand.
‘What did I say about swords?’ I cried, searching his body, checking the blood smearing his shirt wasn’t his.
He pulled me close, laying a hard kiss on my cheek.
‘And what did I say about staying safe?’ He stroked Pablo’s head, who was already growling, pressed to my hip. ‘If you’re going to be out here, you’ll need this. Don’t fucking die on me.’
