“No,” he said, “you have a choice. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself. You won’t make me watch.”
She saw the tears in his eyes and realized she was crying, too, when he swept a thumb over her cheek, smearing the wetness there. “Please.”
“I have a plan,” she said, trying to push as much conviction and confidence as possible into her words. “I need you to trust me.”
Believe me. I need you to believe me.She thought the words as a spell and held her breath. Chalia simmered in the back of her mind, rage and fear twisting through her, and Sofia did something she didn’t know she could do. She closed the door between them, shutting Chalia’s emotions on the other side. Her next breath felt hollow.
Fox stepped back, his hand dropping to his side reluctantly, and she turned away. The raw helplessness painted across his face pierced her heart like a blade.
Chief Commander Harlow watched the exchange with a look of disgust.
“And your parents?” he asked.
“I won’t surrender unless you release them.”
Harlow turned to the man closest to him, whispering somethingSofia couldn’t hear, but a moment later he stepped forward, a pair of iron cuffs in his hands.
“As I said, I can be merciful.”
“Let my parents go first.”
“And what guarantee do I have that you’ll follow through with your promise?”
“I always follow through on my promises,” she said.
“I’ll let your mother go. Once you’re cuffed, I’ll release your father.”
“And the others?”
“Once you’re kneeling at my feet, the others can leave.”
Sofia swallowed. She had lied to Fox. She didn’t have a plan. But she’d figure something out. She had to. She wouldn’t let Harlow win, but right now, she just needed the others to survive.
She took a step forward, even as Fox grabbed her, trying to pull her back.
“Please,” she said. His hand squeezed tightly around her arm. She almost thought he wouldn’t let her go, but then his hand dropped, and she moved forward quickly, not looking back. If she looked at him now, she might give in, let him grab her and run away.
Harlow waved, and the soldier next to her mother shoved her between the shoulder blades. She tumbled off the dragon’s back, falling to the ground in an awkward roll. She stood slowly, eyes going between Sofia and Harlow.
“Go to Fox,” she said, voice cracking. “He’ll take you both back.”
The soldier moved forward, and she felt her entire body seize up as the iron cuffs fell across her wrists, heavier than they looked.
Chalia let out a hiss behind her, and Harlow’s eyes snapped up, narrowing on the dragon.
“Kneel,” he said, eyes back on Sofia.
She felt Chalia pushing against her mind, the vague sense of the dragon screaming on the other side, trying to get her attention. But she couldn’t listen to her. Not now.
Her muscles felt so weak. It was easy to let her legs buckle. The soil was cold beneath her knees.
“Right where you belong, at last.” His fingers tangled in her hair,pulling it tightly and twisting her neck until she was looking up at him. “Seize the rest of them.”
Sofia tried to wrench away from him, a scream tearing from her in the same moment Chalia let out a roar. She couldn’t see behind her, Harlow’s hand like iron in her hair, hot pain searing her scalp.
“We had a deal!”
He leaned down, his breath hot against her skin. “I don’t make deals with rats.”
