“Ambush Master, your skill is truly unparalleled,” one breathed.
Another whispered low, “Without tack, carting a prisoner, no less.”
Blake paid them no mind.
His warm hands spanned my waist again as I swung my leg over and he handed me off to the leader, my skirts settling back at my ankles.
The Ambush Master vaulted off himself and, before I knew it, had me by the arm again.
Several of the men looped a harness around Flame’s neck. She snarled and tossed her head, tried to shake them off. There was a great deal of shouting, one of the men tripping backward. She snapped at him with her enormous jaws, thrashing wildly. Claws scraped against stone as the handlers struggled to drag her away while she roared and fought.
Kingsolver chuffed, then let out a deep, steadying growl.
Flame froze mid-struggle, her ears twitching. She turned toward him, chest still heaving, but the wildness in her golden eyes calmed.
Kingsolver let out another soft rumble.
And just like that, Flame subsided. She took a long look at us, and when my eyes met hers, I felt awe. Flame was terrifying, but the power in her spirit and body was immeasurable. With an angry huff, she allowed herself to be taken away with Kingsolver by her side.
Blake drew one of the many knives from his belt.
“Going to gut me already?” I said, my voice sharp to hide my anxiety.
His mouth twitched as he came closer. “Hold still.”
The blade flashed once, and the bonds at my wrists fell away.
My arms sagged with relief. I let my knees buckle a little, falling forward against him. His hands caught my elbows. I used the moment to slip my fingers into his pocket, removing the only thing I found there, a small coin. He didn’t notice.
“Sorry,” I said, making my voice breathy and low.
He pushed lightly at my shoulder to spin me toward the entryway.
I followed, hiding the coin in my sleeve. I didn’t know what it was, but anything was better than nothing. I had to escape somehow.
He pushed me through narrow corridors lit by faint lanterns, toward a stairwell. The lower we went, the more the air grew damp, the stone walls reeking of iron and mold.
We stopped at a row of empty cells, though the corridor went on into another, darker stairwell at the end of the hall. I was already shivering from the clammy cold. Blake reached for a ring of keys and slid one into the iron lattice gate.
He turned me to face him in the doorway, reaching for the dagger’s sheath at my belt, although he’d already pocketed the blade. The space for my ribbons was equally empty and I thought of them, likely in shreds beside Edith’s unmoving body.
A pang of grief and loss rolled through my chest as I thought of Edith, as I felt how truly helpless I was. I barely noticed him locking the grate behind me.
The cell was small. Bare stone walls, a low wooden bed with a thin woven mat, a threadbare blanket. No window. No way out.
I turned, fists clenched. “What happens now? How long do I stay here?”
“Until tomorrow,” Blake said. I felt a moment of relief, just one night. But then he continued, “You’ll be participating in the Bonding.”
I darted to the metal bars, my hands gripping them.
“That’s a death sentence.” Anger and terror warred within me.
He shrugged, leaning against the stone wall behind him.
“That’s up to you.” He crossed his arms against his chest. “If you don’t manage to Bond, then hypothetically, yes.”
“Hypothetically,” I laughed, fury racing up my spine. “Azures don’t Bond! I’m just a yin.Let me out of here!”
