Instead, he turned south.
To the city gate.
To the moat.
Cassandra scrambled backward,her feet slipping on the edge of the stone bridge. The waters of the moat were smooth onyx glass beneath her.
She knew they wouldn’t be for long.
The Brethren—fuck, she didn’t even know his name, couldn’t curse it to the High Gods—was a solid wall at her back, gripping her shoulders and inching her forward.
“Someone should’ve done this weeks ago,” he snarled into her ear. “The Koenig is too honorable to do it himself. He hews to the old ways. Not to mention, I think he actuallywantsto cut you down himself.”
“You’d better let him,” Cassandra growled, fighting against the ice-cold fear paralyzing her limbs. “If he finds out that you?—”
He slapped a hand over her mouth. “Quiet, little pixie. They’ll find you faster if they hear you. They’re most active at night.” He uncovered her mouth and placed his hands upon her back.
Then shoved her off the bridge.
Her body shut down when she plunged into the frigid water. She could no longer tell which way was up or down, could barely move her limbs. And she swore her wings were working against her, dragging her further into the depths.
She scrambled upward, aiming for the faint glow of the city lights above her. Breaching the surface, she hauled in a razor-sharp breath, then clenched her chattering teeth, treading as quietly as possible to stay afloat.
A loud clang thundered through the night—the iron portcullis falling into place. The Brethren saluted her through it, then turned and wandered back into the city.
Fuckingbastard. If she left this moat intact, she would skin him ali?—
A splash echoed to her left.
She whimpered. The wall of the moat was less than fifty feet in front of her. So close, yet so far.
She swiveled her head, then tried not to piss herself as a brown-and-green-scaled back crested the surface on the other side of the bridge.
It was moving.
Fast.
Far faster than she was capable of. Her heart stuttered and her lungs seized.
She took a nanosecond to calm herself—she wouldnotgo out like this. A snack for some mindless creature in the middle of fucking nowhere.
She hurled herself forward, arms flailing and legs kicking. Making an obscene amount of noise, but she didn’t care. The creature had already homed in on her.
She needed tomove. Her shoulders burned as she pulled her heavy wings through the water. If she could just make it to the wall?—
Another wave crashed to her right and a second pair of reptilian eyes blinked above the surface.
Adrenaline flooded her veins in a tingling rush, and she surged forward.
Something brushed her foot and she screamed, swallowing a mouthful of brackish water. But she didn’t pause, didn’t turn, didn’t look back.
She pushed harder, limbs straining, teeth gritted. Her vision was blurry, and she could barely feel her frost-bitten fingers and toes as she dragged them through the water.
One thought and one thought only blared through her mind.
Survive. Survive. Survive.
After what felt like an eternity, her hand cracked against stone, and she bleated a relieved cry.
