Page 83 of Flight of Fate

“They are moving.”Kaira notes it first, even though I see it at the same time. The prisoners are moving.

At first, I believe it is merely to relieve discomfort from remaining in one position in the cold for too long, but then the guard comes in, a tall, bulky man who could be a Flame, judging by his build.

I don’t get to think on it more, because one of the prisoners shoots up, knocking the man out with a shove punch to the sternum, the force of which could stop hearts.

“Herinor.”Both Kaira and I think at the same time, and I’ve never been happier to see the morally questionable warrior.

“If he’s here, Silas should be here, too.”I don’t care if speaking my hope is foolish. Something is happening over there, and we need to help them before they are discovered.

The twigs slide along my shield as we sneak closer to the edge of the camp, observing the slow movements of Herinor as he frees his legs, then one of the other prisoners. By the time we make it to the thicket behind them, Herinor is carrying a prisoner who looks very much like an unconscious Silas, the other three beside him, and they are making for the near-invisible barrier of magic around the camp. The fear in mystomach spreads into my entire body at the thought that they are mere feet away from the magic and that we need to prepare for anything between a mild zing and a flesh-and-bone-splitting explosion of power.

“The shield could kill them,”I speak my concern into the mind link, leaving out the details. I have no idea how to prevent it, my powers not having recovered enough to tear through the shield, and if I touch it, I might alert whoever cast it, and I’m not sure any of us are in a condition to fight right now.

“I’m surprised none of the soldiers have noticed their man hasn’t returned from his check-in,”Kaira mumbles, her gaze darting back and forth between the fleeing prisoners and the soldiers lining up to get lunch.

“Perhaps they’re simply hungry.”It would be such a human thing to succumb to one’s appetite. When Ayna was still human, before the curse was broken, she’d needed food a lot more regularly, or she’d be even more easily provoked by my mere presence.

A pang of despair attempts to fill my chest, but I lock it down before I can spiral down it like a black feather on a stream of ink. I can’t go there—not until we’ve saved what’s left of my court—ofourcourt, whether Ayna is here to lead it at my side or not.

The glance Kaira gives me speaks volumes about how she believes Crows are no different when it comes to food.“How do we get them out?”

I hold my breath, watching the prisoners’ slow approach until a foot’s worth of branches is all that’s left separating us—that, and the shield they need to get through.

My gaze locks on Herinor’s as he halts to assess the barrier, and something like hope flickers across his dirt-and-blood-smeared features as he recognizes it’s not an enemy waiting in the shadows.

Myron,his lips form my name, but his gaze scans the thicket until he finds Kaira crouched at the base of a young fir. The expression forming on Herinor’s face is one I wish every person experiences once in their lives to understand the depths of feeling living within even the most enigmatic of creatures among us. Herinor’s lips twitch upward at the corners, completely ignoring the three humans to his left and right as he lifts his hand, reaching for the female I know he cares more deeply about than I’d ever believed him capable of.

“No!”Kaira’s shout rings through the mind link as she leaps to her feet, throwing out her hands to stop Herinor from carelessly touching the shield.

Too late.

A trickle of crimson runs down the shield where he’s pulling back his hand with a wince, examining the tips of his fingers while he’s struggling to balance Silas’s weight on his back.

“It will shred them to pieces,”Kaira squeaks in my head.“They’re trapped.”

The blood suspended midair is all the proof we need, yet, I refuse to accept it.“I’ve already lost my mate; I won’t lose anyone else.”

The humans’ mouths are moving, their eyes wide with fear as they watch the blood slowly slide toward the ground along the invisible wall. Apparently, the shield soundproofs the camp as much as it prevents people from passing through without permission.

Ignoring the cautioning voices screaming in my head, I pluck a pebble from the frozen earth and throw it at the shield—to find it crumble at the impact.

“Impenetrable from the inside and out,”I narrate, not even close to giving up while Herinor’s features set into a hard mask. The one of resignation I’ve seen so many times on him when he couldn’t take action due to the bargain with Ephegos.

“Perhaps for stone and flesh.”Kaira braces her feet apart, careful not to lose the cover of branches as she opens the mind link beyond the two of us, her entire body shaking as she throws her power beyond the barrier.“Herinor?”

Her voice is decimated to a whisper by the effort it takes to get through, but she does get through.

“Get the fuck out of here, Kaira,” is all Herinor spits at her even when his features soften for a beat before fear distorts them once more.

“Not a chance.”

While the part-Flame waves at the humans, the two men and one woman wait impatiently for something to happen that will get them out of there.

“No need to piss yourselves,”Herinor’s bodily voice slides through the mind link as he reassures what must be the last of the rebels in his own unique, charming way.“That’s my king and the female who likes to torment me with her hot and cold attitude.”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard him make such a specific statement about how he views Kaira, but the longing in his eyes as they lock on hers says more than words ever could.

“We don’t have much time,”I interrupt the moment before the humans can come up with questions.“If Kaira’s magic made it through the shield unharmed, chances are I could create a passage using my own powers.”

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