Page 110 of Of Nine So Bold

Ozias grunted in agreement.

“Casimir,” I asked softly, “are you okay?”

His attention flicked to me, his expression still tight with what definitely looked like rage. “Areyou?”

I hesitated, and before I could answer, he made an irritated noise, seemingly aimed at himself. “Apologies. I am fine.” He paused. “Hungry,” he added in a lower voice. “But fine.”

I nodded, trying for a reassuring smile that didn’t flash too much of my fangs.

But gods, hungry barely covered it. Every last bit of my energy had been taken by that spell.

“IfIgnatius is correct about where the gateway lets out,” Byron said like the words were being dragged from him, “thenwhen we emerge, we will be trapped between the Wall of Erenelle and hundreds of miles of potentially hostile Aneiran territory in any other direction.”

Niko nodded. “It’s too risky to run. All of… whatever that was… aside, we really do need to stop the queen. If there is even achancesomething in Erenelle could help us do that and keep—” he twitched his head toward me ever so slightly. “—safe, then we need to take it, right?”

Scowls crossed Ozias and Roan’s faces, but Clay just shook his head. “No.Hellno. We donotneed to be trusting these fucking?—”

“Niko’s right,” Dex cut in, looking vaguely ill. “Byron too.”

Clay gaped at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me. These are the same bastards who tried to kill you. Oz and the pair of us too. Deter Ensid would sell out ababyif it gave him a scrap of greater power. And now the scholar who wasn’t fond of dwarves thinkswe’rethe saviors of the world?” He shook his head incredulously. “The last thing we need is to walk our happy asses back into their fucked-up nation and bring Gwyn?—”

Lars slapped a hand over his brother’s mouth with a frantic look.

Clay blanched. “Oh, shit,” he mumbled behind Lars’s palm.

“The last thing we needis to panic,” Dex replied firmly. “Right now we have limited supplies, no backup, and no way out. Once we get through the gateway, only one of those issues is solved, but not the others.” He sighed. “I’m not saying we need to believe what Ignatius said, but if stopping inside the border of Erenelle helps us address our problems, we need to do it.At least briefly,” he stressed when Ozias started to growl in protest. “But we stay alert, and we never let down our guard, got it?”

Ozias looked away, but Lars and the others nodded.

I did the same, and Dex gave me a pained look. “If I had a way to keep you out of danger…” His mouth tightened as he left the rest unsaid.

“Your Highness,” Duke Ensid called imperiously. “What of our bargain?”

“Pound of gold to whoever stabs that fucker,” Clay muttered when Lars uncovered his mouth.

Casimir said nothing, striding toward the duke and the other giants.

I fidgeted nervously as I followed him—and then cursed myself silently for the slip of self-control. I couldn’t show tension. Not with that tyrant watching us.

But gods, I could see the problems with this plan. Going to Erenelle aside, if the duke went through the gateway first, he could destroy it before we had a chance to cross.

And then we’d be trapped. Again.

“I would see my people unbound immediately,” the duke said without preamble, extending his wrist when Casimir came closer.

“Of course,” my vampire agreed, but he didn’t move, his eyes twitching to Dex and the others.

“I will remain with our Zeniryan friends until they are ready to cross,” Ignatius announced suddenly. “For the good of Erenelle.”

The duke turned a surprised and indignant look on the scholar. Ignatius met his eyes flatly.

Relief tangled with worry inside me. From what I could tell, the duke needed Ignatius. Desperation coupled with the duke’s supercilious attitude and abuse of authority should have long ago pushed these people to riot. But Ignatius’s respected position and calming influence had helped mitigate those pressures and gave validity to Duke Ensid’s contemptible “rulership.”

The man would be an absolute fool to risk losing Ignatius, not until he had the crown firmly on his head—which meant he probably wasn’t going to destroy the gateway and trap us here if the scholar stayed until everyone else was free.

“Our people would be better served by you crossing first,” the duke countered. “In case anything endangers the other end of the gateway. We wouldn’t want it to destabilize and leave anyone behind, after all.”

I bit back a growl as my vampire side wanted to lash out. That was very nearly a confirmation of what I’d feared he would try.

---