Page 113 of A Dawn Of Blood

“It’ll point to Dryvein,” de Groot says, “because he’s back to being by his father’s side.”

“Why aren’t we being attacked then?” I counter.

“Maybe they’re making sure to thoroughly plan things out,” Lorcan chips in, “which is whatweshould be doing as well.”

“Exactly,” Nuala agrees. “We’ve already lost the element of surprise, Anna. Now we don’t even have the sword.”

I grit my teeth. “Which is why we should be asking ourselves whether we should be attacking in the first place.”

“Really?” Nuala asks with a drawl.

I look around the table only to see everyone mirror her attitude. And it’s the last thing I want to do right now — to embark on a mission to kill Baldur when chances are it will mean having to fight Cain as well…

The very thought is making me physically sick. But the way they’re all looking at me right now, I know they only have one thing on their minds — the shadowcurse and the fact that he’s almost managed to use it to conquer the world.

So I force myself to shove my personal feelings aside. I shake my head. “No, you’re right. We don’t have a lot of time. We should be attacking as soon as possible.”

There’s a murmur of approval around the table.

I inhale deeply. “Alright, let’s rethink things. We don’t have the sword anymore, but we do still have the fragment. And I’m a shadow wielder now. So, Nimueh…”

“Yes?”

“If I try to kill him by simultaneously using the fragment, the shadows and my Aurora powers…”

She thinks for a second. “It could work.”

We all exchange a glance, reluctance in everyone’s eyes.

“Well?” Nuala asks.

One by one, I watch people nod.

She gives a slow, pensive nod as well. Then she claps her hands and says, “I guess we’re going back to the capital then. Dryden—”

It’s a sudden sound — an explosion — that interrupts her and makes everyone jump to their feet and turn in its direction.

The wall opposite the archway, where now there’s a hole that definitely wasn’t there a moment ago.

“What the hell is going on?” I hear Nuala hiss under her breath.

My wolf knows. “It’s him,” I whisper, but the silence is so loud, I know everyone’s heard me.

And I know everyone knows exactly who I’m talking about — the man we were just hatching plans to kill.

“Are you sure?” Lorcan mutters.

I grit my teeth. “As sure as I can be.”

But the next moment, when he actually shows himself…

And it’s neither him as I knew him centuries ago nor him as I saw him after he got awoken…

The shock is great enough that it makes me doubt my own sanity.

Chapter 78

Iwatch him jump through the hole in the wall and land deftly on his feet, straightening and dusting his shirt off with this smirk dancing on his lips.

---