Page 16 of Land of Monsters

“For once, I didn’t want to hide behind my parents or have Uncle Lars start an international war because of me. I murdered the guy. Me. Neither my brother nor anyone in my family was going to suffer because of me.”

“Instead you disappear? Come on a suicide mission with me?” I barked, my head shaking. “You think you’re being selfless? That your family is better off not knowing where you are?”

“No,” she shouted back. “But is yours?”

I stepped back as if she hit me, her words slapping my face when I realized the hypocrisy of my own censure. Was I any different?

“I had no other choice,” I muttered low. “You do.”

“No other choice?” She swung her arms out. “Everything is a choice. And youchoseto be here. To pick revenge over your friends.”

“Don’t make this about me!” I dug my index finger into my chest, then turned it on her. “I told you what I was doing, what my plan was. I never lied to you. If anything, I tried to deter you at every turn. You still decided to follow me. Lie to me!”

She folded her arms, her ponytail whipping over her arm as she turned her head away from me, drawing my attention to the band around her finger. Dirt clumped the red stone ring, the same color as her eyes when she shifted. I suddenly had aflashback, seeing the same stone ring on all the dark dwellers when I met them.

A family emblem, stating exactly who she was the whole time. All it did was remind me where she really belonged.

“We are heading to Bra?ov tomorrow.” I copied her stance, firmly stating my decision.

“What?” Her head snapped back. “Why?”

“It’s the best place to find a phone. Contact your family and have someone come get you.”

“No!” she yelled. “You can’t just force me—”

“I should’ve forced you the first time around!”

“No!”

“You’re going home. End of discuss—”

A squawk impaled the sky, a dark form gliding overhead, catching my complete attention. Intuition walked over my chest like death, the brown-winged bird of prey circling the sky right above me and Raven.

“Fuck.” Horror cascaded on me like a tsunami when my gaze fully caught on the bird above, recognizing it as more than the average hawk. “Nyx,” I whispered.

“Who? What?” Raven reacted to my fear, her head snapping up to the bird.

“We need to find Iacob now!” I belted, turning for the main area.

“Ash!” Raven grabbed for my arm. “What’s going on?”

I looked at her, a lump forming in my throat.

“They’ve found us.”

Chapter 4

Raven

?

They’ve found us.

The phrase rebounded in my head as I watched him speed toward the main dome. Instinct had me tearing after him, the cry of the bird from above seeming to tell the world where we were. It looked just like the one at the fortress, the one circling the marketplace. Prince Iain’s pet.

Alarm bells clanged through the encampment while the spells shouting of the intruders entered the sacred space. Dozens of inhabitants spewed from the food tent and more peeked out of their homes, confusion and fear streaking their expressions.

“Iacob!” Ash’s voice howled, sprinting for the man who stood in the middle of the camp, frantically addressing Vlad, Dubthach, and a handful of others who stood around him. “Iacob!”

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