She let out a wail, both of us falling back before we lunged for each other again.
As it had been with Aron, Hanna and I knew each other’s moves. We were taught together, fought together, were pitted against each other.
She darted for me, and I jumped to the side, smashing my boot into her ribs. Tumbling to the ground, she rolled over and stood back up. Hanna had always been a good fighter. Quick. But I was faster. Before she could fully get to her feet, my fist connected with her throat, her head whipping back. Gagging and coughing, she collapsed into the wall, trying to recapture her breath.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” I put my hands up, my body still crouched, ready to defend myself if I needed to.
“Shut up,” she croaked, her voice struggling to make it out of her throat. “Don’t talk to me like we’re friends.”
“Hanna.” She was the one person besides Caden I considered a true friend. “You don’t know the full truth. Istvan is lying to you. What you think?—”
“Caden was right. You have been brainwashed.” She snarled, leaping for me. “You are nothing but a fae puppet!”
Moving faster than she could react, my arm struck out like a whip, dropping her. Her spine cracked against the cobble, knocking the wind out of her. She gulped for air as I pressed my boot on her chest, warning her to stay down.
“Like I said: I don’twantto hurt you.” I leaned over her. “But you know Ican.”
Her eyes went wide, sliding over my shoulder. I had been too focused on her to notice.
Rookie mistake.
My spine stiffened, feeling a presence when a muzzle of a gun pressed into the base of my neck.
“Release her now.” A man’s voice spoke into my ear, a hand latching on to my hip to keep me from spinning around.
It was instant. A reaction deep in my heart. My lids shut briefly, grief billowing in my soul like a storm, frozen in pain and sorrow. His voice was as familiar to me as my own. His smell, his touch, the feel of him near me.
“Caden.” My voice came out soft, tainted with grief.
“I saidlet her go.” He gripped me tighter, pressing the gun harder into my head as if my saying his name stirred hatred in him.
Dropping my boot from Hanna, she climbed up to her feet, hacking and spitting, her lids narrowed on me with disgust.
“Go tell Father we have her,” Caden ordered her.
“Wow, Istvan is here? I feel special,” I mocked.
Hanna glared at me.
“That’s an order, private.” Caden ignored me, speaking to Hanna. “Go!”
Hanna dipped her head, giving me one last scowl before darting down the passage.
“She’s already in the field?” I watched her turn the corner. “My class wasn’t graduating for another year.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve had to accelerate the program. Everyone capable of fighting is now on the field,” he hissed into my ear.Capableof fighting andableto fight fae were two different things. I knew Istvan didn’t care if they weren’t ready. He needed bodies, which was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
“She’s not ready. None of you are,” I said truthfully. They would all die. They weren’t prepared for what really was out here.
“Father sees the threat is bigger than we first thought... because ofyou.”
“Then maybe you should be thanking me? At least a round of drinks on the house?”
His fingers pinched into my hip harder; a small, frustrated groan bubbled in his throat. I knew that sound. It was when he was irritatedwith me, but at the same time, he wanted to laugh at my crazy shenanigans. The two sides of him at war.
“Brex,” he muttered, torment in his voice. His head tipped into the back of mine, and he took a deep breath of my hair, sighing again. Drawing me into him, he pressed our bodies together. For one moment, it was like we were back in the place where it was justus. No fae side or human side. No right or wrong. Best friends. Two people secretly in love with each other. Everything about him was so familiar. He was like an old sweater I held on to because it was so comfortable, taking me back to a time I was innocent. Happy. A life when everything was simple, and we were each other’s world. Children who couldn’t imagine their bond would ever change or break.
“Don’t do this, Caden,” I whispered. “Please. You aren’t like him. You aren’t your father.”
