Page 121 of Bound By Roses

Oh, Gods. Are we too late?

I don’t even have time to ask before Ellis looks up and through the open grate. There’s people above them. Far too many people to be able to see all that clearly, and not a single one of them is dressed in silver.

‘This is perfect,’Ellis says, and by the blooming of pride I feel through the bond, I know Quinn has been watching this, too.

‘Can you fit through there?’I need the confirmation. If this goes wrong, it’ll be my fault. I can’t be the reason thousands of people die.

‘Oh, yeah. We can fit. Are there more?’

‘Yes. The path you’re on now arcs in a wide circle beneath the square. There’s six or seven other grates spread out along it. Do we have enough time?’

He cocks his head as if listening to something I can’t hear.‘Imelda’s giving a speech. The people seem calm, but they’re nervous. I don’t think they know what this is yet.’

I want to ask Quinn, but he’s in just as much danger as they are. I don’t even know if he’s made it to the palace yet. This is my decision. I pull in a breath and then make it.‘Pair up and spread out. The moment Imelda gives the order or you hear the Guardians draw their blades, go through the grates. Don’t wait for me. I’m sending the dragons now, but they’ll wait for you.’

‘Got it.’

I turn my attention to Merrick. “Go. Hang back on the rooftops and don’t be seen. Just get close enough to hear what’s happening. The moment you hear screams—fly.”

“Leadership suits you,” Merrick says as he stretches his wings and takes to the air. Ory and Wyatt follow close behind him. I can only hope that the three of them will be enough. Maybe Jade should go with them and leave Rhett to guide the people, but there’s no time to deviate from the plan now. Besides, there are at least two thousand people crammed into there and only two of them.

Rhett pulls Kaylee into a hug and I have to look away because I don’t want to see them say their goodbyes. Not because I don’t want to imagine the heartbreak she’ll feel if Rhett doesn’t make it back, but because it selfishly reminds me of how far away Quinn is from me now. I want so badly to reach out for him, to ask him to share his eyes with me so that I can make sure he’s safe, but I know why he won’t. We both have a duty, and right now, we need this boundary.

I look at Jade and find him still staring intently at the vision materialized in front of us. All we can see through the narrow bars above Ellis are multiple pairs of feet—some shoed and some bare—but I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. Somewhere up there is Imelda. Busy giving a speech about the Goddess Lunalissa and how this sacrifice will spell their salvation. I don’t need to hear it to know that’s what she’s saying. When the wolvesstopped driving prey to Lunae, Imelda will have told them that Lunalissa was angry about their murdered king and princess.

Jade’s hands ball into fists at his sides. He’s angry, but at what? I know he remembers Imelda’s cruelty and the suffering he endured all those years as a Marked. As thefirstMarked. He was just a boy when he was outcast and ridiculed. He had no one. Not even his kin until they, too, became Marked.

“I don’t want you to be a hero either, you know.” I don’t know why I say it. Maybe it’s the thought of that poor boy he once was or the broken man he is now. “Your job is to get the people out and then get yourself out. Don’t do what I know you’re thinking. This isn’t your chance to fight to the death so that you can escape the pain you’re feeling.”

I expect his anger to grow at my words, but instead he blows out a breath. “I’m no hero, Abby. I don’t think I ever was.”

I think that might just be the first time he’s said my name since the night he let his blood burn him from the inside out. Not once since our cursed bond broke, nor since he awoke as the person he is now. And the way he says my name sends a shiver running through me. There’s no malice in it, but it’s just as brutally honest as the words that accompany it. The same sentiment he’s been repeating over and over. That he’s the villain. That he’s bad and wrong and shouldn’t have come back as the broken creature he is.

But he’s wrong. Jade is a lot of things and has made a lot of wrong choices, but that doesn’t make him bad at his core. He learned from his mistakes and grew. He was willing to sacrifice himself so that I didn’t have to know the pain of what it would be like to live in this world without Quinn. Even if he doesn’t remember—I do.

I mean to tell him just that, but then it happens.

Screams fill my head as the wolves erupt from their grates and spill out amongst the people. I get flashes of silver and steelas Guardians raise their weapons. First in attack, and then in panic.

I try to focus on one set of eyes at a time, but it’s all too much. There are wolves everywhere and this is so much bigger than I imagined. What must be all of Lunae is crammed into the city’s heart, and many on the outer edge have already fallen. I can’t let myself think about whether or not attacking from the outside would have spared them, because people are already jumping or falling into the now open grates.

Through one set of eyes, I see Merrick flying overhead. He swoops low and grabs a Guardian by the head before lifting him into the air and twisting at a sharp angle. The body falls like it weighs a thousand pounds and lands atop a small cluster of Guardians with their backs pressed against each other as they defend themselves on all sides. I bet not a single one of them ever thought to look up.

I focus on another wolf because I don’t want to see that, but no matter which eyes I gaze through, all I see is death. Wolves tearing into throats, swords driving into defenceless people. Quinn tried to warn me, but this is so much worse than I ever imagined.

“They need you out there,” I say to Jade, but he’s already gone. I can just catch sight of Rhett behind him as they disappear over the trees, leaving me alone with Kaylee and Lana.

Sixteen pairs of eyes become fifteen and I can’t bring myself to check who we lost. I didn’t see it happen, but the missing connection is a heavy presence. I feel the tangled agony of rage and heartbreak through the bond and know Quinn is feeling this loss, too. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that we would all make it out of this, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon.

How many more lives need to be lost before this is over? After this battle, there’ll be another and another and another. This will never stop until Imelda and Void are dead.

“Stay here,” I tell Kaylee and then turn to Lana. “Keep her safe.”

“Where are you going?” Kaylee calls after me, but I’m pulling myself up into the horse’s saddle and driving my heels into its sides.

I answer her, though I know I’m far enough away now that she won’t hear me. “To finish this.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

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