Page 109 of Stars May Burn

I cleared a patch of the flagstone floor of glass, as best as I could in the utter darkness, and sat back down, bringing my knees to my face and rocking backward and forward. I didn’t let my mind stray to what Father might do next, I just thought of Kasten, his rare smile that was often only for me, his kindness, his bravery and ability to keep going despite overwhelming odds. The two times we had kissed, and the countless times we had touched. I borrowed his determination and hoped I would survive this so I could see him again.

KASTEN

Five hours, they had held her prisoner. Five hours, I hadn’t been fast enough. And five hours that were the worst of my life. If she didn’t make it because of my ineptness, if she had suffered greatly, I would never forgive myself.

Halfield Manor had been empty of all but a sick Irabel and servants. The trail was cold. I’d briefly thought of taking Irabel hostage to barter an exchange, but leaving her here undefended proved that Sir Halfield didn’t care what I did to her. That man was as despicable as Lord Lyrason.

Princess Annabelle was back at the palace. One of my men was attempting to subtly locate her and ask for her send the device to Highfair, in person if necessary. There was nothing to do but wait while my scouts combed the city for any sign of her. Wait and wait, taking no care for Lord Lyrason’s halfsouls. Wait for Annabelle to reappear with the device as each hour passed in agony, and I thought of every horrible thing that might have happened to her while I sat on my backside.

I hadn’t slept for two days, but there was no chance of that now.

The moment I heard the door open, I leaped from my chair. Annabelle wore a heavy black cloak covering her face, the end of her crossbow poking from the bottom. She briefly took in the room before pulling her scarf from her lower face.

I grabbed the pyramid from her hand. “Didn’t they tell you my wife’s been kidnapped? What took you so long?”

She frowned at me. “It was risky enough for you to contact me. I had to arrange a cover story in order to sneak out. I wasn’t planning on leaving for another hour.”

I carefully put Sophie’s hair in the device, and it whizzed, opening up and turning blue. The pendulum swung west. “You should have just given my man the device.”

Annabelle folded her arms. “Absolutely not. Not when I still don’t know if I can trust you. Where that device goes, I go.”

“Fine.” I didn’t care what she did anymore as long as she didn’t get in my way. Every part of me was focused on Sophie and how I had failed to protect her.

Annabelle folded her arms. “A thank you, yet again, would be more appropriate.”

I ignored her. Sir Tristan already had seven men fully armed with devices and ready to accompany with us. It was already approaching eleven. So much time wasted. “We leave now.”

I set out at a firm jog; I didn’t care if that meant Annabelle fell behind. She shouldn’t be here anyway. This was nothing to do with her anymore, and her lack of fitness was not going to be what kept me from Sophie. The streetlamps here were kryalcomy, and the road was clean and clear, allowing us to move easier than downtown where we normally fought halfsouls.

Meena snapped her arm out and grabbed my sleeve, jerking me to a halt.

I frowned and turned to her. Her hand was over her detector, pressing against her ear to block out sound. “Do you hear that?” she whispered.

I held out a hand to halt the party and dull the noise of our footsteps and panting breaths while Annabelle watched in confusion. There was no chance I was explaining our devices to her.

“I don’t hear anything,” the princess said before I hushed her.

A small keening moan sounded over the detector, so faint, I could barely hear it. I glanced at Meena. “Ignore it. Sophie is our only priority tonight. We’re not here to hunt halfsouls.”

Meena kept frowning. “I understand, General, but it’s getting louder.”

I started running, moving quicker than before to make up for lost time. “It doesn’t matter. We need to rescue my wife as fast as possible.” I held up the pyramidal device to make sure we were still going the correct way.

The dull thud of our boots and the panting of my breath hid the whine of the detector for the length of the street, but then it grew far louder, and I was sure I could hear a second moan half a tone below the first.

“What are they doing here?” Meena murmured. “We’re on the other side of the river from downtown. They’ve never been up here before.”

“Don’t get distracted,” I snapped. I didn’t have the time and patience for this. Nothing was going to get between me and Sophie. I picked up speed.

A low throbbing drone sounded on the detector. The signal for help. It had to be coming from my scouts.

I hesitated. There were men on standby in Highfair who could go to their aid. But what if the reason we could hear halfsouls even on this side of the river was because there were so many of them? What if Lord Lyrason had released eighteen remaining Red Men all at once? What if my men were overwhelmed?

I swore again. Nothing—not even this—would keep me from Sophie.

I turned to my soldiers. “Three of you on the left, go and investigate that signal and aid the scouts. Try and keep the halfsouls from following us if you can. The rest of you will stay focused on rescuing Lady Batton. I will hear no more objections even if the entire city is overrun with halfsouls. Now move.”

Annabelle had the sense not to question what was happening, but freed a crossbow bolt and ran with it in her hand, her eyes scanning the shadowed doorways and tops of the walls as we passed.

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