Page 103 of The Iron Flower

Fear lances down my spine.

What is she talking about?

“You’re going to leave my sister alone,” Rafe’s authoritative voice booms out. “Or you’ll have to deal with every last one of us.”

“Silence!” a deep voice just past the border commands.

I gasp as a line of rune-tattooed Amaz soldiers on horseback emerge from the border of dark forest and move straight through the suspended border-runes, as if the runes are as insubstantial as smoke. All of them, save one, are heavily armed with rune-marked weapons and dressed in crimson military tunics emblazoned with glowing scarlet runes, dark winter cloaks lined with black fur secured over their shoulders. All have black runes tattooed on their faces.

But the similarities end there.

Some possess the jewel-toned features of the Urisk, while others have the deep brown skin of the southern Ishkartan. A few are pale and blonde like the northern Issani, and one Amaz soldier has emerald-patterned Smaragdalfar skin and green hair. Another bears the ivory hair and silver eyes of the Alfsigr Elves.

Amaz archers appear high in the branches of trees just behind the borderline, rune-arrows nocked in their bows, and a few of the women on horseback hold rune-spears aloft.

All of the weapons are trained on me.

My heart beats so hard it hurts, and I hear Diana begin to growl outside the shield as a young, hazel-skinned woman with black hair and pointed ears rides out ahead of the rest, a rune-axe in her hand. She appears to be the one in command, the other Amaz women’s eyes now set on her.

The hazel-skinned woman points an accusing finger at me and pins stern eyes on Commander Vin. “The granddaughter of the Black Witch is poised to cross over into Amaz land. You will explain yourselfnow, Kam Vin.”

“The girl is shielded,” Commander Vin points out sharply as she faces down the Amaz and the gray-clad sorceresses. “Stand down, all of you, and we will discuss the situation.”

“Order the Lupines to stand down first,” the taller, gray-clad sorceress coldly replies. “Especially the one threatening to attack us from behind.”

Jarod doesn’t move. His amber eyes glow, and his lips pull back to expose formidable teeth.

“No one tells us to stand down,” Diana snarls at the sorceress. “Our father is an alpha. Onlyhecommands us.”

“Then we respectfully ask the children of Gunther Ulrich to withdraw,” the sorceress rejoins with calm diplomacy. “We have no argument with the Lupines. We wish only to kill the girl.”

Terror leaps in my chest as Yvan grips my arm, his fire power mounting. Diana takes a menacing step toward the gray-clad Vu Trin, her lips pulling back into a snarl. “Make one move for Elloren Gardner, and I will rip your throat out!”

It’s at that moment, amid my own debilitating fear, that I find my voice. “We need to speak to Freyja!” I choke out, rising to my feet.

Everyone turns to look at me with surprise.

The lean, hazel-skinned woman lowers her rune-axe a fraction and narrows her eyes at me. “I am Freyja.”

“We were told to seek you out,” I explain breathlessly. “Marina...the Selkie...she needs your help.”

“TheSelkie?”

Marina slowly raises herself from the ground, teetering a bit as she struggles to find her balance. She reaches up and pulls her hood down, freeing her glittering silver hair.

A collective gasp goes up.

“Is this the groundskeeper’s Selkie?” Commander Vin asks, incredulous.

Diana lets out a deep rumble of a growl. “She does notbelongto him!”

Commander Vin rounds on her sister. “Did you know of this, Ni?”

Ni Vin’s face remains impassive. “I chose to overlook it.”

“Youchoseto overlook it?” Commander Vin’s voice is steady, but it holds a knife edge of anger. “Is there anythingelseyou might have chosen to overlook?”

“Who sent you to find me?” Freyja demands of me.

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