Page 88 of The Cruel Dawn
I hop down from the inn, my back and hips screaming. I point to the only buildings that have escaped my flames.
“Prince Wake,” I say to the woman. “Is he in one of these buildings?”
She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t release her arrow, either.
“Answer me,” I shout.
I can sense her fear as she says, “No, he’s on the perimeter. In the camp.”
“Are you lying to me?” I ask. “If you are, I will kill you, and then I’ll find your kin and kill them, too. I will burn your hometown to the ground. So I ask again: are you lying to me?”
“I’m telling the truth, Lady.” She nods so hard and fast that I won’t have to break her neck—she may do that herself.
I beckon her to me, and even that simple gesture is painful.
She obeys. She’s about Philia’s age, and the protection she wears is not made for a woman—the armor barely accommodates her breasts and digs into her hips. She glows a dark amber, and her thrumming heart inches closer to death.
“Your name is Grace Hallum, yes?” I ask, swiping at the blood trickling down my tender cheek.
“Yes, Lady,” she says, her head dipping.
I scowl at my blood on my fingers, shimmering ruby red with life against the crusting brown blood of the mortals I’ve slain today. I hold out my stained hand. “Nice to meet you, Grace.”
She kisses my hand. Immediately, her amber glow transforms into a vibrant blue. Her chestnut hair shines like the picture of health.
“You were about to make the worst decision of your life,” I say. “It would’ve also been thelastdecision you would’ve ever made. But you learned, Grace Hallum, and you chose wisely. Remember, though: some gifts can be rescinded.”
I squeeze her hand and release her. I nod toward the broken gates where hungry beasts have already begun scavenging the pile of corpses. “Tell my friends out there that they can come in now.”
“Yes, Lady.”
I limp toward that perimeter camp with my bruised back to her.
Grace Hallum’s feet pound the dirt as she runs toward freedom.
23
Elyn, Philia, Jadon, and Separi join me in the burning town.
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Elyn hands me the bag holding theLibrum Esoterica, then places her palms on both of my shoulders. She breathes deep, then moves her hands to my hips, and finally to my back. That sensation of crawling ants travels all around my body until there’s no place left for them to go.
I take a deep breath and sling the bag over my left shoulder, which cries out in agony, as a flash of pain makes my legs quiver. I squint at Elyn and gasp, “You missed a spot.”
“No, Kai. That entire arm…” She shakes her head and whispers, “You aren’t well.”
I try to smile, but she doesn’t blink. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I swallow and blink away the tears welling in my eyes. “Yeah. I understand.”
As Elyn brushes ash off my armor, I stare at the charred inn, the guardhouse, and those creaky houses that ought to be demolished. I’m hardly in better shape.
“We need to hurry,” Elyn says.Because I’m falling apart.
I look over to Philia. “You should’ve stayed back at the—”
“No,” the redhead says. “We’re so close now. I’m not leaving without Livvy. She’s here.” I follow her eyes to my bag, where theLibrum Esoterica, the key to Olivia’s freedom, is stowed. Philia is at her most desperate, and I hope she chooses wisely.
I hope she proves me wrong.
