Every single man freezes, bodies still as death.
They begin to jerk, limbs stiff and erratic. The stench of burning metal permeates the air. Their mouths gape open as they scream, the sound cutting off like a severed cord.
One by one, the would-be rapists pitch forward and hit the ground.
Thunder still rumbles, but I can’t hear it over Mayah’s wails.
Mayah.
She’s sobbing, tears streaming down her battered face.
My heart beats in my throat. A soul-crushing panic batters my conscience.
My knees hit the ground, and I reach for her.
Mayah recoils from me, nearly tumbling backward, but the roots hold her in place, thorns digging even deeper into her skin.
“Skies, Mayah,” I whisper brokenly. Guilt ravages my every sense.
How did this happen? How did Sulon lie?
Lightning strike me, does my truthwielding not work onanyone?
I reach out slowly again, wary of spooking her, and cradle her face. “What did they do to you?”
“Youdid this to me,” she hisses, voice thick with tears. She jerks away from my touch. “You left me with them. Did you know he’d try to—”
A sob tears from her and pierces my chest.
“I swear I didn’t. He said he’d keep wat—”
“You left me here alone!” she screams. “Bound and helpless! A Tundrayni woman withsixArbinji soldiers!” Fresh sobs burst from her lips, and she curls inward, shoulders shaking.
Remorse strangles my lungs.
“Fuck, Mayah. I—”
I unsheathe my dagger and cut through the roots binding her wrists and ankles. She winces as the thorns are pulled from her skin, leaving behind bright red wounds that make me wish I’d killed the men slower. One more swipe of the dagger and the rope binding her hands falls to the ground.
She stares at her wrists, red and bruised beneath the iron bracelets still encasing them. Violent shudders rack her body as she cries harder. Skies, I want to wrap her in my arms and take away her fear and pain, fold it into myself so she might never experience it again.
“Mayah…” My hand hovers over her shoulder. I want to comfort her, but she’s in shock. I’m not certain she’ll welcome my touch.
When she snatches the dagger from my hand, I let her take it.
Anything to make her feel safe again after what nearly happened to her.
“Off, off, I want themoff,” she pants. “I can still feel his hands.” She jams the sharp blade between her skin and the iron cuff.
“Wait, I have the key—”
“Don’t touch me!” she shouts, scrambling out of my reach. She works the blade deeper into her flesh, blood welling from the new wound.
“Mayah,stop,let me—”
Her hand shakes.
One hard yank and—
