Page 147 of Across an Endless Sea

When Bree draws back, his lips are stained with my dust and his expression remains glazed over for a second before he recovers his composure. Then he stiffens, eyes narrowing. His nostrils flare once, and he takes a step back.

“We should get back to the—”

Whatever he was about to say is interrupted by the loudest boom I’ve ever heard. The entire street shakes. The impact is so strong that several roof tiles fall from above us, smashing into the alleyway in a hail of slate. Only Lore’s arm shooting out keeps me upright as the music screeches to a halt, replaced with a shocked silence broken only by the crying of children.

“What’s happening?” I demand, as Lore and Bree share a look.

Neither of them has a chance to reply. The night erupts around us. Screams and vicious snarls fill the alleyway seconds before a horde of Fomorians rushes past, headed straight towards the festival, belting war cries and brandishing huge weapons.

“The Palace,” Bree snaps. “Now.”

He doesn’t need to say more. In the next breath, I’m standing in my garden room. Alone.

Where are they? Why did they leave me?

I rush to the edge of the platform, searching the horizon.

When I see it, I nearly vomit.

A huge section of the inner wall is gone, collapsed. I can’t see much from this distance, but I can hear the chaos. My imagination happily fills in the details I’m missing.

The Fomorians have broken through into the inner city.

How? How could this happen?

Goddess, there arechildrendown there.

“Rose!”

Jaro’s voice, loud and clear, breaks through the horror a second before Lore reappears with Bree beside him. The wolf shifter bursts up the staircase with frenzied eyes, taking in my appearance, and then that of my two dust-covered companions with a kind of wide-eyed disbelief that freezes him in place, leaving Drystan to struggle past him.

“Where the fuck have you been?” the winter fae hisses, staring at the three of us. “I can smell the alcohol on her from here!”

“Nevermind that,” Bree hisses. “The inner city is under attack. Lore and I managed to collapse a few buildings and buy some civilians time to escape, but it’s going to be a bloodbath.”

“Florian and the knights are taking care of it,” Jaro retorts. “Where wassheduring all of this?”

“Relax, wolfie.” Lore rolls his eyes. “We got her out at the first hint of danger.”

“We were just having fun,” I protest. “It was nothing. Harmless.”

“You could’vedied.” Drystan rubs his temples. “Fomorians are swarming the inner city.”

“We have to get the people out of there.” I march to the stairs, only to be caught around my waist by Jaro.

“No. That’sFlorian’sjob,” he replies. “You should be halfway to Marlen by now.”

How can he even think about that at a time like this?

“But they’re going to die!”

“Our job is to round up the armies to break the siege,” Jaro says, though he looks just as torn as I feel. “Florian is the knight commander. He’s in charge of the defence of the city. You’re not a knight, or even a soldier.”

I glare at him, hating the helplessness gnawing at me.

“What’s the point of having all this fabled power if I can’t save them?” I demand, waving a hand at the burning city beneath us.

“You can either come with us calmly,” Drystan begins, his tone deathly quiet as he steps closer to me. “Or I can put you over my shoulder and carry you. But you are not going near that battle, Rhoswyn.”

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