I stopped, throwing my hands in the air as she continued on. “What the fuck is going on? You suddenly can figure out how to get to Earth? And then when it doesn’t work, your hand glows, and then, boom, we’re back? What am I supposed to make of all this?”
With a growl, I jogged to catch up to her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around. Her face was wet, and she swiped at her tears. My anger instantly dissipated.
Fuck, I was such an asshole.
“What is it, bruja?” I asked softly as I reached up with my free hand to wipe her tears.
She glanced over my shoulder at Amari, and my stomach dropped. Whatever it was, he knew. He kept it from me.
My anger was back.
I turned and pinned him with a glare. “What’s going on here? Someone needs to tell me right now before I lose my shit.” I didn’t like secrets, especially from people I loved and who I thought loved me.
Which really made me a fucking hypocrite.
Amari ran a hand over his close-cropped curls. “You’re already losing your shit. You need to calm the fuck down.”
My nostrils flared, and I could smell Samara’s fear. But was it because of how I was acting or because of her secret?
I was getting nowhere fast, so I took off toward my village, leaving Amari and Samara behind me. My footfalls slammed against the ground, each step a tiny explosion of anger and frustration.
The silence between us stretched as we walked and made me more irritated, if that was even possible.
Finally, I couldn’t contain myself any longer, and I spun and glared at both of them. My finger jabbed into the air toward Samara, then Amari.
“You’ve been lying to me this whole time! Both of you. And I’m done asking nicely. Now tell me?—”
The sharp crack of a twig snapping silenced me mid-sentence. My head whipped toward the sound, every muscle in my body going rigid.
Without a word, we moved behind the nearest trees, not that the trunks gave us that much cover. My hand drifted to the dagger at my hip, and I caught Amari doing the same out of the corner of my eye. Samara stood frozen behind the tree next to mine, her bag clutched tight against her chest like a shield.
The footsteps grew closer.
“Just guards from your village.” Amari stepped out from behind his tree with his hands in the air. “It’s?—”
He didn’t have time to tell them it was us before arrows started whizzing past his head. One hit him in the forearm, and he let out a pained scream.
Amari didn’t scream.
“Stay there,” I mouthed to Samara, who had drawn a knife.
I dashed out from my hiding spot but was too fast for the arrows as I went from tree to tree, each time taking inventory. There were at least a dozen men—my father’s men.
“It’s me! Valentino!” I looked over at Amari, lying on the ground, writhing in pain as he held his arm where he’d yanked out the arrow. “We’re going home.”
“Surrender, and no one else will get hurt.”
Whoever had spoken better enjoy their last words; they would soon have their throat ripped out. But I complied because I could move fast enough if needed.
“The princess needs to surrender too.”
Another throat to be ripped out. My list was going to grow longer if these guards weren’t careful.
“The princess?” I feigned confusion and didn’t dare look at the tree she was hidden behind.
“The council has a bounty on both of you. Luckily, your father is paying us more.”
I narrowed my eyes, not trusting these men. “You’re going to take me to my father’s estate?”
