Page 114 of The Enemy's Daughter

“Let me go,” Tristan shouts. He sounds so far away. “Get off me, Ryland. I have to get to her.”

Ryland wrestles Tristan to the ground, his face a mask of tension as he fights to keep Tristan down.

“Last chance,” Vador yells to Gerald. “Release the doctor unharmed or die like a dog.”

Gerald is so wounded I’m not sure how he remains on his feet. Out of the seven men who originally halted our escape, only he and two others look alive. One huddles beside Henshaw, clutching an arrow in his shoulder, while Henshaw kneels, paralyzed with fear. The other holds a knife to Liam’s bloodied neck.

Gerald pants, wincing in pain. “Just your men? Then you’ll leave?”

“Just our men,” Vador confirms.

I get flashes and sparks of Tristan’s rage. The distance between us is too much for more. My stomach cramps as I begin to feel the effects of the poison working through my body. Already the stinging and burning from the arrow is turning into a numbness that’s dripping down my arms.

I feel the instant Tristan stops fighting to get to me and focuses on taking the poison instead. To do something—anything—to save me. But it doesn’t work.

The elite guard is keeping him from me. They want me to die.

“Three seconds,” Vador warns.

With fury on his face, Gerald waves for the lone man with Henshaw to send him over to the trees. It takes effort to get Henshaw to his feet, but once he starts moving, he breaks into a run and doesn’t stop until he disappears.

“You’ve got your men. Now get out of here!” Gerald screams, only his voice comes out wrong, more of a squeal. His lips look blue, and it’s evident he’s struggling to breathe. He slumps a little, thenfalls all the way, landing facedown on the ground.

Samuel must have poisoned him, too. I turn away, unable to watch. With three arrows, it’s triple the dose of what I have, but I’m still going to share his fate.

Screams erupt from the remaining people, the neighbors and clan soldiers.

“They’re going to kill us.”

“Fight or we’re all going to die.”

“No!” Vador shouts and steps out from the trees, boldly revealing himself. “We did not come to massacre you. We only came for our kidnapped men. Remember, it wasn’t us who killed your Saraf. It was this man.” He points to Gerald now lying dead on the ground. “But I propose that your new Saraf of the Five Clans, Liam, leader of Cohdor, meet with me, the acting mayor of Kingsland. We can talk and explore a truce. It’s long past time.”

The lone man with the knife to Liam’s neck slinks back, releasing him. Liam grunts and pushes to his feet. One of his shoulders hangs lower than the other, and pain creases his face as he limps on his bleeding leg.

Liam is Saraf. It’s happening.

“He’s not our Saraf. He’s a traitor!” someone shouts.

“Seven witnesses saw him release the prisoners.”

“Burn him too.”

I try to shout my objection, but nobody hears me or cares. My gaze flits over the people, the mob calling for his death. He can’t die too. Not only is he innocent, but Liam needs to be Saraf. He’s the clans’ only hope for peace. For change. I glance down at the arrow that’s leaching the life from me at a devastating speed.

I’m already gone. I’m already gone. I’m already gone.

We can’tbothdie.

It’s like I’m standing on a cliff, staring down at the water a hundred feet below. My knees shake. My throat and eyes burn. And even though my courage never arrives enough to steal away my fear, I know what I have to do.

“You’re right,” I shout, and this time I gain everyone’s attention. “I betrayed you to the Kingsland by setting the prisoners free. But it was only me. I acted alone. Liam tried to stop me.”

Liam’s eyes fill with fierce devastation at my confession, but even he knows it’s the truth.

“She confessed. Burn her,” someone yells.

My breath punches from my lungs. What have I done? A ringing fills my ears. My vision turns into a dark tunnel. The poison is wreaking havoc in my body, and I embrace it. Will it to work faster.

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