I didn’t have time to react before Darcke had the heir against a tree, his sword at his throat. Geord’s second paled, but unlike how Darcke would have reacted if I were the one with blood pooling around the blade at my neck, he took a step back.
“That’ll be difficult if your head is no longer attached to your body,” Darcke said.
I should have stopped him, but watching Geord squirm was too satisfying. And Darcke was still trembling from held-back fury, so perhaps taking it out on Geord would help soothe some of it before it distracted us when we found our enemies.
“You wouldn’t,” Geord spat, but the shaking in his voice didn’t make it sound very convincing.
“No?” Darcke’s lips lifted on one side, and I could taste his temptation to spill this man’s blood. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. And no one is here to stop me.”
“Enough.” Ivren was clever enough not to touch my second. “Geord, we’re on the same fucking side.”
“But they’re?—”
“I said enough,” Ivren ordered, and to my surprise Geord snapped his lips shut. My brother’s friend shot me a look before he continued. “We’reallon the same side. Let’s not forget that.”
“And what side is that?” Darcke asked, head tilted.
“The one that wants us all alive so that we can meet the gods,” Ivren said.
“Darcke,” I warned when a growl rumbled in his chest.
This had been entertaining, but if I was going to find a way for Darcke to escape the king, him killing one of the heirs wasn’t going to help. I couldn’t have him risking anything right now.
Ivren’s worried expression cemented my thoughts, and I grimaced when the others shifted uncomfortably. I guessed my second turning on one of us—even if that one was Geord—hadn’t instilled much confidence as we faced off with our enemies.
Darcke turned my way, that dangerous smile still lifting his features. “Are you on this carrion feeder’s side, heir?”
For a second, I wasn’t sure if he meant Ivren or Geord, but then Geord yelped as the sword pressed harder against his bobbing throat. I shook my head, trying to communicate through the bond but getting nowhere, since Darcke was so focused on deciding whether it was worth pissing me off to slit Geord’s throat.
“But Ivren is right,” I said quietly. “We need to stay together for now.”
Darcke’s mouth opened and closed, and while I’d known he’d be disappointed in me, it was like taking a punch to the gut when he pushed off Geord and turned his back as he continued our trek through the forest.
“You all right?” Ivren tapped Viljan’s arm for him to stay. “I didn’t mean to anger him. I—” Ivren settled his features into a mask of neutrality as he waved for Ottoh and Vero to go on—to follow Stefen and Rakkel, who’d fallen in step with Darcke.
“You can go now,” Ivren snarled when Geord lingered, his face almost as red as the blood trickling down his throat as he furiously whispered something to his second. “You’ve done enough.”
I kept my head turned away when Geord stomped off. With everything going on, it was difficult to separate myemotions from Darcke’s, and the urge to strangle the Palsjo heir was so intense I swayed.
“Maybe we should have let Darcke kill him,” Viljan muttered when Geord made a threatening gesture, his finger sliding over his throat. “I fucking hate that guy.”
“No one likes him.” Ivren fingered his hilt. “But we might need him. For now.”
“Why?” I asked.
Ivren tilted his head to the others. “One moment.”
I thrummed my fingers against my thighs as we waited for them to get out of earshot.
“What did you mean, we might need him?” I asked, urgency skittering over my skin. Despite Darcke being annoyed with me—again—we were in enemy territory, and our bond didn’t want us separated.Ididn’t want us separated.
“You know what we talked about last night?” Ivren asked.
“Yes.” The others were almost out of sight now too. “Go on.”
Ivren noted the foot I was tapping against the ground, and he started walking toward where the others broke through the bushes, his voice a whisper. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, and I might have an idea. But it’s dangerous, and unfortunately it requires us to work with Geord.”
“As if he would help us.” I used my sword to cut through an especially thorny bush, my eyes trained on the back of Darcke’s head. It was impressive how his blond strands flitting around his face betrayed his irritation, and I almost smiled when Ottoh halted because Darcke came too close.
