Page 183 of A Warrior's Fate

Acting on impulse, she reached for their mask to remove it, to reveal them, but their eyes flared red—bright red—and something sharp pressed against her stomach. They’d been concealing another dagger. Wielded it against her easily.

They could’ve slain her this entire time and been gone in a blink.

Isla stepped back, keeping her blade in front of her. But before she could act or ask anything else, howls rang through the air along with the sounds of breaking doors.

Rhydian and Ameera.

The killer stiffened before turning towards the open basement door.

“Wait, no!” Isla reached out but they were quick in their escape.

She barely heard the stairs beneath their feet as they descended into the darkness. To the tunnel.

Rhydian and Ameera appeared minutes later when Isla was standing at the cusp of the stairs, contemplating her next move. As they crossed the threshold with snarls brandished on their snouts, they scoped the area. Rhydian halted first, then Ameera. They shared a glance, a secret communication before both came out of their shifts. The guard’s jaw was hanging open in astonishment as he looked over Isla, coated in blood. The dead rogue. The dead bak. The destroyed home.

Even Ameera seemed to wince at the sight of the beast, but she steeled her nerve to ask, “What, in the Goddess’s name, did you do?”

Isla didn’t have an answer. She tightened her hold on her blade and took a step down the staircase. “Come on.”

CHAPTER 38

“Hold on,” Rhydian voiced in protest, making Isla pause where she stood. “Seriously, what happened?”

She hissed out a breath, too shaky for her liking, making her too aware of the knot lingering in her chest, aware of how badly a part of her just wanted to crumble. In Kai’s arms, preferably.

Isla took a step back onto the main floor and turned, facing every horrifying moment laced in each broken and overturned piece of furniture.

She’d nearly died. Again.

But she wouldn’t let it overwhelm her. She pushed back against it. There was no time to waste doing so.

“Rogue,” Isla began rigidly, gesturing to the dead body. “There were two, but one ran away. The bak was in the basement that I’m pretty sure is more than just a basement. It almost killed me, but then whoever’s been going after me and Kai killed it…and I’m not too sure they’re going after us either.”

An amalgamation of fear and confusion passed over Rhydian and Ameera’s faces as they surveyed the room again. Seconds trickled by like hours as they got up to speed, and Isla was about to leave them up here when Ameera spoke.

Though she fought to keep her voice even, the ghost of a vein began throbbing in the older woman’s forehead. “I don’t know if I want to start with this—” She pointed at the bak before drawing her hand back hastily, almost skittish. As if she were wary she’d somehow will it back to life. “Or that bastard getting near you again.” Icy rage lingered in her voice, and Isla swore her eyes and markings nearly sparked alight.

She understood the anger, felt it simmering within herself. A piece of her had wanted nothing more than to drive that knife straight through the killer’s heart and never look back.

“Where did they go?” the general inquired.

“Down there.” Isla nodded to the basement. “There’s a tunnel they probably escaped through. I want to check it out.”

“I hope you mean so we can find the killer and drag them to the city so Kai can rip them apart like they deserve,” Ameera said.

“As nice as that sounds, I want to talk to them first. I think—I think they’re trying to warn us, to help us.”

“Help?” Ameera was aghast. Even Rhydian went wide-eyed. “They killed Alpha Kyran and Jaden. Tried to kill Kai, kill you.”

“I know. Believe me, I know. But they could’ve just killed me now, and they didn’t. They saved me from the bak, gave me this, and—” Isla looked down at her forearm, the symbols scribbled there.

“It’s probably them gloating.”

“Humor me,” Isla gritted out, and she wondered what had shifted in her face, her demeanor that had her opposition stepping back. That even had Rhydian raising his brows and bowing slightly. Instinctually. “I want to look at that tunnel, and you can either come with me or stay here.”

For a moment, all either of them did was blink. Technically, Isla, still a warrior, not a crowned luna, was ranked under the general, and that nagging fear of offending a superior itched at her.

But Ameera’s tone had softened as she said, “Let’s go then.” She scaled the room to look down into the inky darkness herself. “Dawn’s going to break in a few hours, and if Kai hasn’t already locked the territory down and sent out a search team for you or taken to the streets himself, he’s about to.”

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