Page 35 of Broken Fate
“I—I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, trying to process all I’d just been told.
“We watched you during your mating ceremony,” Kiel said. “We saw you try to resist, even if for your own motives. That’s why we came to rescue you. Because you wanted tochoose.”
I bit my lip, then glanced at Clive. “Sorry for interrupting that, by the way. You never did tell me how the rest of it went. What happened to your mate?”
Half of Clive’s mouth turned upward in a wry smile that never reached his eyes. “It was canceled. Arcadus said everyone should return for the next solstice.”
“Oh. I’m sorry you never got a mate.”
He shrugged. “I mean, now that you know the truth, you can understand why I’m not shattered over it.”
“Yeahhh,” I said slowly, dragging the word out. “I guess.”
Kiel leaned forward, taking over the conversation again. “Now, you know the truth.”
“I suppose I do,” I said. “But—”
The door opened, and a walking corpse stumbled in. His face was white as a sheet, half of his torso covered in blood. I gasped when I recognized the man who’d been standing guard outside my room.
He slumped over the table, blood pouring from his mouth.
“Attack!”Kiel bellowed, rising to his feet.
I dove to the side as he hauled the dead shifter over the table and then, with a mighty heave, flung the solid wood table at the door, upending it and blocking anyone from entering.
Andi, meanwhile, had turned away. She grabbed one of the torches on the wall and twisted. A section of wall next to her swung inward.
“Let’s go!” she shouted, gesturing for me to enter.
I rushed into the secret passage as shouts from the hallway followed the clashing of weapons. Above them rang a familiar voice bellowing orders.
Somehow, Andracis and his men had found us after all.
Chapter Eighteen
Behind us, the table shattered as someone kicked it in.
“Kiel!” I screamed as he was tossed backward, a foot-long splinter of table embedded in his shoulder.
Rushing out of the passageway, I grabbed his other arm and started hauling him away, just as Arcadian guardsmen started to push their way through the broken remains of the table.
A spear came toward my face but was intercepted inches short by a gleaming blade. Andi swept through the room like a woman possessed. Her sword sliced up and then left, opening the face of the nearest guard.
Dropping low, she kicked out with a foot, angling her blade upward. The guard lost his balance and fell, impaling his neck on the tip of the blade. Andi was already moving as blood squirted freely from the mortal wound. She picked up a chunk of the table as she moved, tossing it at the next nearest guard.
Instinctively, the soldier brought his weapon up to a block—and Andi calmly used the opening to drive the point of her sword into his exposed knee and out the other side. She pulled back, stood, and whipped the sword around in an arc, nearly decapitating the guard as he bent over in agony.
“Go!” she shouted as I hauled Kiel to his feet.
“I’m fine,” he growled at me, reaching up and yanking the splinter free. Flipping it around, he hurled it like a javelin through the open door. Someone yelped in surprise as it clanged off a metal arm. “Let’s go!”
With Andi guarding our rear, we raced into the secret hallway. The door closed behind us automatically, but it would only take Andracis and his men seconds to get through.
“This way,” Kiel said, taking a left.
“Wait,” I said, slowing but not stopping. “Where’s Clive?”
“Up here,” he called, emerging from the dark passageway with two other sword-armed shifters.
