Page 78 of The Omega Thief

Raz frowned. But he’d expected nothing less.

“But if I see so much as a tuft of fur, there won’t be just one cage erected in the palace courtyard. I’ll start with your thief and your grandmother and work my way through them. Understand?”

Raz nodded once. He was going to die, and Markell needed to make a spectacle of it. And somehow, Raz had to stop his wolf from interfering. He could stop the immediate healing, but if his wolf thought his life was threatened, Raz might not be able to hold him back.

Markell smiled. “I understand after a few days of thirst that won’t be easy, but blood loss will make your wolf as weak as you, so I’m not worried.”

It was a struggle to keep his wolf caged. The first few hits were easy, but as the blades pierced his skin over and over, it became harder. But by that time, he was hoisted into the traitor’s gate, it didn’t matter. He would hold out as long as he could. He knew his bonded just needed time. Attiker was clever, and he would do his best to give him as much time as he could. It didn’t matter if he died.

Just as long as Attiker was free.

Attikerstruggled,butAshwas firm. “You can’t get any of them free if you’re held yourself.” And Attiker finally got it.

He nodded and turned, running for the side gates. Knew that with the spectacle, no one would care about commoners slipping away. He was disgusting, but could hardly complain when he’d seen…

No. He had to stop. Think. Raz needed him to get it together. Ash carried on, and he followed. After a moment, Ash bent and swung Carry into his arms. He’d seen her struggle to keep up with his pace. They ran, not into the city, which would be crawling with Abergenny soldiers, but to the port. Attiker knew that was their best place to hide, and Ash eventually stopped outside a warehouse.

Attiker frowned. He recognized where they were. “Are you mad?” They’d be as likely to get their throats cut, but Ash knocked on the door, and in another moment, they were inside.

Attiker hadn’t been surprised that many times in his life, but standing in front of Veda, the princess of Rajpur, holding hands with Draul Eryken, the rebel leader of the Anti-Shifter Alliance, would definitely do that.

Attiker gaped at Veda and Draul. “What in seven hells—”

But Veda shrugged and, much to his astonishment, Draul Eryken, who was responsible for the revolution in many of the five kingdoms, blushed. Actually blushed.

“I’m sorry,” Veda said. “I had no idea I would be seen.”

“You saved my life,” Attiker said. And she had. Whatever came afterwards.

“And we just need to work out how to save your prince’s.” Ash stepped forward. “By now, they will know you’re missing, which puts everyone else in danger.”

The pain in Attiker’s chest was so sharp it was almost like someone had reached in and clutched his heart. “What’s the plan?”

Veda wrinkled her nose and shoved him to a dark area of the warehouse where there was a privy of sorts. A bowl of water, cold, but he didn’t care. Ash followed him a moment later with some clothes and helped him scrub the goose fat off his back. When he was mostly clean, Veda beckoned him to an upturned barrel they were using as a table, and she poured him a beer, which he immediately recognized as one Bartholomew served in the Salamander. He took a sip gratefully and tried to shove his guilt down.

He gazed at Veda, then at Draul, and raised his eyebrow. Veda rolled her eyes. “Draul thought he could pass through our borders without me knowing.”

Draul huffed. “One minute, I was leading twenty of us into Cadmeera, and the next, I was flat on my back with a blade at my throat. You can imagine my surprise when I saw her.”

Ash chuckled. “Prince and a thief, now a princess and a rebel leader.”

Attiker sobered. He hoped. Goddess, he hoped there was still a prince and a thief. Draul drew out a parchment map and spread it out, using the beer jugs to hold it down. “I have forces already causing disruption in the main city. We’ve arranged for outlying squabbles to force troops to respond.”

“To split Markell’s men up,” Attiker guessed, and Veda continued.

“We have the Rajpuran special forces here.” She pointed to the Cadmeeran side of the Dijon Mountain pass. “They can be here in less than two bells once I send a bird.”

Attiker’s eyebrows shot up. “And your brother—”

“Knows that Rajpur will be next on the list of conquests. We’re an easy target after the war and the last crop failure.”

Attiker allowed himself a little hope. The Rajpuran special forces were legendary. And if there had been more of them, he wasn’t certain Cadmeera would have won the war.

“I’ve got ears in the palace,” Draul said. “We’re going to start a fight in the city, big enough to get the troops down here. That’s when the Cadmeera troops will take the palace back. I have contacts ready to warn the loyal sergeants. My worry—” Draul stopped as a young lad came running from the back.

“Message, Draul, from the palace scouts.”

“What?” Draul waved a hand when the lad hesitated, glancing at Attiker. “Speak freely.”

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