Page 97 of Heirs of the Cursed

Toward the city.

Anywherethey could find refuge.

The sight of it all made fear prop her feet in place, feeling the floor imprisoning her and her body refusing to react.

Bassel rushed in front of Darcia and almost tripped over his own feet as he saw her. “Darcia!”

“Bas! What’s happening?”

“The soldiers . . . They’re attacking Dawnfall!”

“What?” Darcia shouted, her heart pounding in her chest.

“They’re pulling everyone out of their homes, searching everywhere . . . They believe that the Two Bloods have lied and that one of the women among them is the cursed princess.”

Darcia felt dizzy with realization.

Harg had warned her. He’d wanted to keep her away from the horror that loomed in the city because of those who wielded swords and wore royal crests. He’d known what was going to happen and was willing to carry out a massacre against innocents just to find the king’s enemies.

She had to do something.

“I’m going to find Caeli and Sadira,” she informed him in a frenzy. “The children are in the central tent, take them to their parents!”

“Are you crazy? They’re taking every woman your age as a prisoner!”

“I’m not leaving them to their fate.”

Bassel tried to stop her, but Darcia was already running.

Darcia gasped for air. She moved forward in despair, her throat burning and her lungs throbbing for relief. She didn’t stop; she couldn’t. She had to get to the main streets of Dawnfall before Harg committed some atrocity . . .

She ignored the pain in her feet, the branches that bumped against her legs slightly tearing the bottom of her dress. Nothing mattered to her at that moment as she just kept running. But Darcia had no plan. She couldn’t take on the Royal Army and the Chaser by herself. She wasn’t a warrior.

Her legs protested in effort as she collided with several roots sticking out of the ground. And when she spotted the first buildings connecting Dawnfall to the edge of the forest, her heart skipped a beat.

Someone grabbed her before she could go any further.

“Have you lost your mind?”

Darcia stifled the scream that rose in her throat upon meeting the Midnight Thief’s eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

“Not going headlong into danger for one,” Alasdair said, raising a brown eyebrow.

“Let me go,” she ordered.

“I won’t let you do anything stupid.”

“You either let go of me or you can say goodbye to your future children,” Darcia threatened.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

She looked at him with unflappable seriousness. “My girlfriend is out there!”

When Darcia stepped forward, the thief didn’t profess a final warning. He grabbed her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her to stop her from going where she needed to be—where her soul was asking her to go.

“Let go of me!” she grunted as she tried to break free from his grip. “Alasdair, let go of me!”

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