Page 5 of The Dead Saint

She didn’t need to speak the word for him to hear it. It filled the air around them all. He saw it on her face, the moment of realization. A tall man on a black horse, wearing black armor, black gloves, with the bone-white skull of a monstrous wolf.

The Wolf.

The monster who wanted her.

Revenant jerked her to a halt several feet away, out of reach from his horse’s sharp bite. Nox shifted beneath him, turning to look at the pair who’d dared to come so close.

Adrian didn’t speak—waiting, watching the woman. She hadn’t looked at him again, her eyes elsewhere, searching for a way out. But there wasn’t one. Everywhere she looked, there was fire and death.

“The vessel.” Revenant tugged at her sleeve, pulling it back to reveal a tattoo. Black ink crawled up her arm and disappeared beneath the fabric at her shoulder.

She tried to pull free, twisting in Revenant’s grasp, but the man tightened his grip until she cried out and her knees buckled.

“Enough,” Adrian said.

His voice was soft, but every single man in the square turned their attention to the three standing together. He could feel their curiosity, even their bitterness at not being the ones to find the woman. But Adrian knew Revenant didn’t want or need favors from Prince Eine. Those gifts were wasted on such a creature.

Revenant’s brows lifted slightly at Adrian’s command. It was more emotion than the man generally showed, but he quickly smoothed his expression, easing his grip on the woman’s wrist.

“Are you the vessel?” Adrian asked, studying her.

She shook her head, glancing at him and away, searching for an escape. She was tense, poised to run, stubbornness plain in her features and the way she held herself. A flicker of humor shot through him. She was afraid, that was clear, but that she held on to her anger.

“Do you know who I am?”

She nodded once.

Adrian raised an eyebrow, waiting to see if she would say more. When she didn’t, he looked to Revenant.“Was anyone else with her?”

“Lane had her. I killed him.”

Adrian swore internally. Lane had crossed Revenant a month ago, leaving the man in a difficult position during a battle. Revenant had promised to repay him for that favor, and he’d finally had the opportunity. But that was something Adrian would address when there was no one else to overhear.

“Give her to me,” he said.

Revenant shoved the woman toward the horse. Nox snorted and stamped in warning at the sudden movement.

She caught her balance and flashed Revenant a glare. Her gaze came back to Adrian before shifting away, still searching for a way out.

Adrian held out a gloved hand, palm tingling, wondering if she’d bolt or stand her ground. He waited for her to accept his offer, but she silently refused. Nox sidestepped beneath him, uneasy with his rider’s sudden tension.

“You ride with me or them,” Adrian said.

The woman glanced at the men who’d been staring and then over her shoulder to where Revenant stood with that dead-flat expression he’d perfected. He bared his blackened teeth in a snarl, and the woman paled.

“You’re an animal to them. They will not hesitate to kill you.”

It was a lie. Anyone who touched this woman would die. But she didn’t need to know that.

“And you won’t?” she asked, meeting his gaze with a challenge.

Revenant stepped forward and shoved her once more, sending her stumbling into Adrian’s grasp. Before she could twist away or cry out, he had a hold of her, pulling her up into the saddle. He shifted, his arms a cage around her, as she settled on his lap. The scent of smoke and singed hair came with her, and below that, the copper stink of blood and fear. She sat ridged in an effort not to touch him, breathing heavily.

“Make sure there are no survivors,” Adrian said with a nod to Revenant and the others.

They brought their right fist to their hearts in acknowledgment and a salute as he turned Nox toward the main gate. The woman shifted, leaning forward as much as possible, slipping as the horse walked.

“Do you want to fall and be trampled?”

---