Behind him, Sergeant Neville holds the sword.
“Are you two all right?”
“We’re fine,” I tell him. “I have my dagger, and—”
“Soli! Sergeant!” Elianna whispers loudly, gesturing. “It’s Andras!”
With that, she nudges the side of the canvas back to show us Andras in close combat with two of the bounty hunters, daggers against daggers. Elianna immediately tries to form energy balls but hisses in angry frustration when her magic fails her. Just in case, I duck to get out of her way, but then I see another man sneaking up on the side of the wagon, all his attention on Andras.
I lean away, hopefully out of his line of sight, and look to Sergeant Neville to help, but he’s still at the rear of the wagon. I take a deep breath and signal to him and Elianna to be silent. When the man sidles within stabbing distance of Andras, I leap out of the wagon, the dagger clutched in my hand, and land on his back. We smash to the ground, me on top of him and my blade buried in his spine.
I’m afraid to move, afraid to let him up to kill Andras—or me—so I lie there, my forearm braced against his neck and my dagger still in his body. The spreading pool of blood on his shirt and beneath him, combined with his complete lack of movement, finally tells me he’s truly and completely dead.
“Soli!” A harsh voice. I ignore it.
I killed again.
“Soli!” A frantic voice. I ignore that one, too.
“Is he dead?” I croak, not looking up. If I look away from him, he might jump up off the ground, blade or no blade. “Is Andras okay?”
“Soli?”
This voice is gentler and gives me the courage to look up. Andras crouches next to me. Next to the … body. “He’s dead. I am fine. You saved my life. Please stand up now.”
“Is everybody safe?”
Kaelen kneels next to us and puts a hand on mine. “Solitude. My Solitude. Everyone is safe. Please. Come away from the body.”
I take a deep breath and blow it out, unclenching my fist fromaround the hilt of the dagger, suddenly not wanting to touch it. Then I take Kaelen’s hand and let him pull me up to stand. When he wraps his arms around me, right there in front of everyone, I almost break down.
But I don’t.
Not this time.
This time, I held my own in the battle, and I won’t let shock or adrenaline make me shaky. I won’t let everyone else see me unsteady on my feet.
I step away from him and scan the area, counting. The leader didn’t lie. There are twelve broken, bloody bodies scattered around our campsite.
“We killed them all?”
“We killed them all,” Trick says with grim satisfaction as he walks over from the other side of the fire. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Suddenly, I remember and whirl around. “Elianna?”
She’s fine, too, but there’s a scowl on her face. “Yes. Good. Fine.”
Sergeant Neville jumps out of the wagon and offers Elianna a hand. She takes it and climbs down.
“This is unfortunate. We can’t leave them here like this. It would be like building a giant red arrow that says:Dangerous people ahead, follow them,” the Air Touched says flatly.
“Most wouldn’t want to follow dangerous people,” Bern says, sheathing his sword. “Maybe it can serve as a warning?”
“No,” Kaelen says quietly. “She’s right. The Zhagarn and Fell won’t be impressed by a mere dozen dead bounty hunters. We should hide these bodies and the signs of the fight, as much as we can.”
“Their cage, too,” I spit out, glaring at the offensive thing with its shackles bolted to the frame.
“If we had time, we could break it down and burn it, but we should get back on the road as soon as possible,” Sergeant Neville says, brushing his hands off on his pants. His sword is already back in its sheath. I hope he cleaned that man’s blood off it.
