Page 66 of A Kiss of Embers
Seraphina,her brother Eben’s voice entered her mind, and even a more startling realization…he was close.
Where are you?she asked as she held up her blow-dart gun. If she created a distraction with her magic, perhaps she could swoop in and run off with Bastien without being discovered.
Near the Glades, he answered.We followed you, and now we’re waiting on your command.
A relieved breath trembled from her lips, and she braced herself against the nearby tree to keep from collapsing to the ground.There is a man…
Father mentioned as much.
They are planning to hang him. What can you do?
She almost saw the shrug in his voice.Light the forest on fire?
Alarm bolted through her chest, and she nearly dropped her dart gun when her fingers fumbled with the weapon.Not so close to the Glades. You might activate the volcano. How many men did you bring?
Eben chuckled through the gem.A small army. I’m almost disappointed they haven’t seen us yet. If we had discovered this path years ago, we would have already secured the Glades for ourselves.
But Seraphina didn’t want to hoard the Glades. She’d always wanted to share it. But she would take what they could get. But first…Bastien.
Suddenly, Eben swore through the gem bond.
What is it?she cried out through the connection.
Zephyr.
Seraphina ran her fingers through her hair as stress ate away at her. If Zephyr was here, then she might as well kiss Bastien goodbye. But she refused to give up. Not unless he was cold and dead in her arms.
Icy dread climbed up her legs when her attention darted toward the scaffolding just as three men dragged Bastien out of the prison with his arms tied behind his back and a gag secured around his mouth.
The three men shoved him forward, and without the use of his arms, Bastien stumbled and crashed to the ground. Gasps surrounded them, followed by several cries of injustice. But those cries quickly quieted with one warning look from a man carrying a cane, who she assumed was Cranky Cricket.
Angry heat coursed through her when she spotted the bruise on Bastien’s jaw and the blood staining his shirt. What other injuries were hidden beneath his clothing?
She barely managed to tamp down her fire before it set the area around her ablaze. Instead, she focused on what shecoulddo rather than the things she couldn’t control as she scanned the area around the scaffolding. Giving away her position seemed like the only plausible action. But she couldn’t help Bastien if she was dead.
She glanced above her to find another vantage point but froze when she spotted a familiar face in the boughs to her right, barely concealed by the foliage. Ashryn held a bow pointed toward the scaffolding, but instead of a slack string, she pulled her string taut as if the effort of holding the bow in such a position didn’t faze her muscles in the slightest.
Quickly, Seraphina loaded an empty dart into her gun and blew through the mouthpiece. The dart whizzed through the air and embedded itself into the tree trunk nearest the other woman’s face. Ashryn jumped as she glanced at the dart and then down toward where Seraphina stood on the ground.
Ashryn’s eyes widened momentarily before she nodded in acknowledgment. Seraphina nodded back. They were on the same team. For once.
And if she were honest, she wondered who Ashryn meant that arrow for.
The three guards dragged Bastien up the steps and toward the waiting noose. He fought against them and managed to land a kick to one of their stomachs, but in a swift motion, they captured his head with the noose and pulled tight.
Alarm shot through her at seeing him in such a vulnerable situation. She stepped forward, but the slight shake of Ashryn’s head held her back. Only then did she allow her gaze to follow the arrow’s path, and she realized it was pointed at Bastien. Or rather, just barely above his head.
Was she planning on snapping the rope with her arrow? Could her aim possibly be true enough to hit the rope without killing Bastien?
She didn’t want to find out.
What choice did she have?
Bastien glared at the audience, shouting grumbled words muffled through his gag. Another wave of rage coursed through her. How dare they silence him before they planned to hang him! Even criminals deserved their last words. But it seemed Cranky Cricket didn’t want anyone to know what he had to say.
The archers pulled back their arrows. Premature grief rained down on her head. And judging by the defeated look already in Ashryn’s eyes, she likely didn’t think Bastien could pull through this time. But the woman was going to try anyway.
Seraphina could take on a half-dozen patrol guards on her own. But not a half-dozen guards plus a hundred more regular villagers.
