I drop to her side and press my fingers to her neck. She’s freezing to the touch and her lips are blue. Her eyes flutter, but don’t open. “Thank the gods.” I let out a breath of relief when I feel a pulse.
“We need to get her warmed up, but we can’t do it too quickly.” I scoop her up in my arms. “Find Caiden. She’s going to need body heat. Someone get blankets. Anything warm.”
“What can I do?” Nate asks.
“Get a tent ready. Make sure it’s secure and get her fucking husband in there without his clothes on.”
Nate’s eyes widen, but he nods, then hurries in the direction of the camp.
I hate to say it, but I think Sabina made the right call trusting him. If he hadn’t noticed the footprints leading from the rear of her tent, then checked to see if she was inside, we may have gone until morning before realizing she was missing.
“Gods, Sabina. What were you doing out here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” My words come out in an angry staccato.
I pull her closer to me, hoping some of my body heat will help prevent her from dying. There’s a blue tint to her skin and she’s in just her underclothes. She’s not even wearing any slippers. Was she trying to die? Was being married to Caiden so bad she thought this was the only way out?
He probably told her if she killed herself, he’d kill her friends. Maybe she was trying to make it look like an accident. Rage flares in my chest, burning hot. Caiden doesn’t deserve her. I already knew that, but I’ve been trying so fucking hard to leave her alone. To honor the fact that she’s another man’s wife, but if she died and I never got to touch her face or taste her kiss or see her smile…
“Is she going to make it?” Ludis says.
I glare at him. “What do you care?”
“Sheismy sister.”
“You didn’t give a shit about her until she could help your ambition,” I bite out.
“True. But does it really matter what my motives are if I am interested in keeping her alive now? I’d think you, of all people, would see that sometimes letting someone live is necessary to your plans.”
“You’re not helping your situation,” I warn.
“But I am. Because I knowyouwant her alive.” He makes a show of looking around and I realize that it’s the two of us. The other guards are probably already at the camp. I’m moving quickly, but I don’t know if she’s got any other injuries, so I don’t risk running with her.
My voice comes out in a growl, “Ludis, I don’t need your shit right now.”
“But now is exactly the perfect time.”
“If I wasn’t holding her, I’d bash your head into a tree and leave you to bleed out.”
He laughs. It’s an unhinged, crazy sort of sound. It sets me on edge. “I know you would. Which is why I think we should work together.”
“I work for the empire.” I can see the camp. We’re so close.
“I know. But I don’t care about Pendralia. I only care about my crown. And once I have it, I no longer need their emperor. But I do need allies.”
“What you’re suggesting is treason,” I hiss.
“Good thing I know your loyalty is bought.”
“And you can’t afford it.”
Nate runs toward us. “I got a tent ready, but nobody can find the Emperor.”
“You can’t be serious. It’s the middle of the night. Where did he go?” The rest of the camp is scrambling. Guards and legionnaires running everywhere, checking everything. The calm of the earlier evening gone.
“Someone find him!” I shout.
“You two, check the carriages. You, ride to the nearest town. See if he went for a pint,” Nate calls.
We both know if he’s in town, it wasn’t for a pint. I touch her cheek again. She’s still like ice. If we don’t get her warm, she’s going to die.
