Page 88 of Vows Forged in Blood

My mate is in danger.

MY mate is in danger.

The words will not stop echoing in my head, drowning out everything else in the world. I clench the parchment in my fist, seeing Kilgren’s words behind my lids as I squeeze my eyes shut and try to breathe:

Oh great High General,

I have your mate, evidenced by the lock of hair and drop of her blood enclosed with this missive. If you want to see her alive again, you will come to the Obsidian Plain and surrender to me. If I do not receive a response within a day, I will send her back to you piece by piece.

Your move, Princeling—though I do believe this is checkmate.

Kilgren Skov, Kinsblood Slayer, Chieftain of the Revenants

I know how this ends. I know that I will go to the Obsidian Plain and surrender to Kilgren’s forces. I know that his army will murder mine without mercy. I know that they will sweep through the whole of Braxhelm, leaving devastation in their wake. I know that he will not let Dahlia go. I know he will hurt her to hurt me.

And yet.

I cannot forsake my mate, no matter what the cost, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against us. Perhaps I can find a way to…I clutch at my chest at the mere thought, but force it to life: perhaps I can find a way to kill her before Kilgren can torture her. After that, I will spend my last days on this earth finding a way to tear him apart before joining her on the other side.

Decision made, I meet Elias’ eyes. His are bleak, his jaw clenched tightly.

“I will not ask you to follow me in this, brother. Go to Enid. Get your mate and Arwen to safety on the islands,” I say, plans and backup plans sifting through my mind. “Evacuate as many as you can there, use the academy grounds and surrounding islands to house them. Any civilians who wish to stay and fight may do so. Make Fiona leave Astoria’s Keep. I know she’ll try to stay and help, but I need her to go. Gather the rest of the army at the port to make our final stand. I have faith in you to lead them in my absence. I will try to stop this before it starts somehow but…I will surrender to him, Elias. You know I must.”

“I know,” he says quietly, pain clear in his voice and sending a stab of it through me. He strides over and pulls me into a bone-crushing hug. “I love you, brother. Go save our Lady Dahlia. I know you’ll find a way.” We both know the odds of thathappening aren’t good. I can only hope that we give everyone else enough warning that we can save as many as possible. They can survive for years on the islands if they can keep the Revenants from crossing the channel. Sebastian will figure out what to do from there, I have all the faith in the world in my brother. Elias and I pull away and our gazes hold for a long moment, hundreds of years of love and friendship flowing between us. He nods and my throat burns.

I quickly write out a response to Kilgren and send it back with the raven that delivered his message, my heart clenching painfully as I resign myself to the fate I’ve brought down on us all. I write out several more to Sebastian and the other generals, another quick note to Fiona. Part of me even has half a mind to write one to Ahmed, consisting of only two words of course:fuck you, but I refrain. I seal all the letters and send them off with Elias, watching my oldest friend leave me for the last time.

Somehow in the blink of an hour, hours have passed and I know it’s time to go. I pin the wolf broach that Dahlia gave me to my chest, put on my armor, strap Night’s Fury to my back, and make my way to the stable. Both of the brothers are in a frenzy, feeling the pain and fear and panic of both me and Dahlia. The squire quickly gets Xanthus ready, and I try to calm Xerxes, though I know it’s useless. I can practically hear his thoughts as he meets my gaze:just try to go without me, you fucking bastard.

“Will that devil let me ride him?” a voice asks from the doorway. I turn to find Takara wearing battle gear, her long black hair tied back in elaborate warrior braids.

“You should have left with Elias.”

“She is my Lady,” she says, shoving her shoulders back, her voice harder than I’ve ever heard it. “She is myfriend,” she adds. “I go where she goes, and if that’s into the seven hells themselves, so be it.” Xerxes stills, seeming to calm a bit andTakara takes that as permission to approach him. She speaks directly to the horse when she says, “will you take me to her?”

The big bastard snorts and stomps at the ground in what appears to be affirmation. Takara turns to me and arches a brow in challenge. I roll my eyes.

“Fucking hells,” I mutter, but turn to the squire. “Get me his saddle as well.”

“With haste,” Takara says, stepping away so that I can get the damned horse ready to go as quickly as possible, “the others are waiting for us.”

“Others?” I ask, freezing my movements for a heartbeat.

I told Elias to tell the men they were free to go to their families or fall back to the port. I know there will be no battle, no chance for us to win this at the Plain, so there is no reason to doom any others to immediate death.

Takara grins a smug grin, fangs glinting in the light. I remember when she was first turned, she had aspirations of joining the army to avenge her family—those had quickly disappeared because she didn’t particularly like being dirty and bloody, but now I can see that initial fire that had surprised me all those years ago and made me give her a chance to begin with. She has a warrior’s heart, despite what she might believe.

We mount the horses and as soon as we start down the hill from the cabin I see a massive group waiting at the edge of camp. My heart twists, love and respect for these soldiers flooding me. I do not wish them to go down this path that leads to nothing but pain and death, but I cannot lie that it touches me that they want to follow me.

I spur Xanthus into a gallop, riding through the camp and to the front of the gathered soldiers. I look at them all, so ready to die beside me this day.

“You’re sure?” I ask them all.

Malcom, at the front of the group with his Clayburn sword strapped to his back, nods. “We follow you, High General, no matter where the path leads. We fight for you. We fight for Lady Dahlia.” I want to tell them that there will be no fight, that they are riding into surrender and massacre, but I know that they know it already. I shift my gaze down the line, over Cyrus and Viktor, Braddock and Singh and Wesley and Nova, over so many others that I know are there not only out of loyalty to me, but out of love for my mate.

A pounding of hooves draws my attention and I tense when Elias breaks from the group on Orion’s back.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demand, furious. I know all too well the terror he must be feeling at the potential threat to his mate. He needs to go to her. He needs time with her, no matter how short it may be.

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