It all has me on edge, and I’m nervous what might tip me over it and break my restraint, putting all of our lives in peril.
Nerian didn’t bring any guards with us, or even Balor, on this little excursion. Which tells me the king believes he could take us all if we attacked him. And that makes my heart sink. Our odds of success are stacked against us so blatantly, I can barely hold back my panic.
One night at a time. One step closer to finding a weakness, or an opportunity, that bolsters our chances.
My gloved hands squeeze the reins mercilessly as I grasp at control.
Emmanuel pulls up beside me. “Relax, Veya,” he whispers, and I peer over at him from beneath my hood.
“Your fluency in body language is annoying, Em.”
He shrugs. “Part of the job.”
Charlotte comes up on my other side. “The cellar better be worth this pointless, freezingactivity.” Her teeth chatter as she rolls her eyes at Nerian’s back.
I huff at her and look back at Emmanuel. “Remind me to tell you about a letter I found in Nerian’s office,” I say to him, and his eyes blow wide. “You’re going to want to check the Southern Continent border on the other side of the easternmountains when we get home. I think we’ve got unwanted company in our lands.”
“You went sneaking into offices?” he hisses under his breath.
“Not the point.”
“Itisthe point,” he says, steering his horse closer to mine like the action might morph his opinion into fact.
I sigh at him. “You were out sneaking, too, when Second and I left.”
His gaze narrows on me. “Part. Of. The. Job.”
Nerian’s horse halts ahead, and our focus whips front. He turns in his saddle, his red eyes burning through the snowfall. “Just around the bend now, weapons ready,” he calls jovially. “Why don’t you come by my side, Veya?”
Begrudgingly, I nudge my horse forward, joining the king with Second and Emmanuel on my flanks.
“Now, no cheating,” Nerian drawls. “The rules are simple. You can’t leave your horse, no snapping. Your limitations are human for this hunt. Let’s see if we can still make a kill, huh?” He taps his bow and pulls an arrow from his quiver. “I’ll get the competition going.”
The king kicks his horse into a gallop toward the edge of the tree line. “Follow me!” he calls behind him before disappearing into the storm.
“What the fuck is this, Del?” I whisper, trying to rally any sort of strategy.
His amethyst eyes dart to me. “I honestly have no idea.”
“Fuck,” Second snarls, and we all trot forward to find Nerian.
We emerge into a meadow, and I know for certain there are no deer here.
The cottage in the center of the clearing is on fire, engulfed in flames, and the family that was sleeping within itswalls is running for their lives into the trees as Nerian chases them around, taunting.
“On my mark!” he calls. “Pick your target. First one back with a kill wins!”
“Oh my gods,” Charlotte says, the light from the blaze twinkling the tears in her eyes.
Del’s horse prances nervously beside me. “Fuck,” he spews and races to the tree line after a woman in her nightdress.
“That’s it, Deleos!” Nerian praises, and the king takes off after a man running in the opposite direction with a child in his arms.
We have seconds to make a decision. To dosomething.
My eyes find a young boy running after his mother.
“I’ll get the boy out,” I tell Second and Emmanuel.
