Page 88 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

I hesitated for a heartbeat.

He could keep her safe.

I trusted that.

But the woman was mine.

Leaving her to her own devices… veil, it would kill me.

The fae woman I’d noticed dove into the water after Coarse, and a roar exploded through my chest.

I was engulfed a moment later, grabbing the woman. Her foot collided with my chest, but I ignored the painful impact as I threw her up onto the river’s bank before hauling myself out too.

Cree’s spear was already buried in her chest when I made it to my feet. The weapon pinned her to the ice while she took her last breaths. Though I knew she was a cultist, I didn’t recognize her, so there was no satisfaction in the kill.

“Two more headed into the city. One male, one female. Her hair was the same shade as yours,” Cree barked, the same way he would’ve if we were on the battlefield.

“Take the male,” I growled back, already sprinting toward the city. He stuck close to my heels, and I finally caught a glimpse of Ria’s hair as she and her ally parted ways.

He went around the city’s walls, and she headed inside.

I pushed myself harder, tapping into my magic to make the ice work beneath me. The distance between us shrank with every step, but I found myself reaching out to Gleam.

“Coarse has her?”

“Yes, and the other idorr and I killed another two cultists. We don’t see any other threats.”

“Is she conscious?”

“No. But she’s breathing, and Coarse doesn’t see any blood.”

At least she was alive.

“We’ll take her back to the idorr portion of the city while you deal with the other threats. She’ll be safe with us,” Gleam said.

The words didn’t bring me the relief they probably should have.

I was already having flashbacks to the moments she was with the raiders, when I knew her life was at risk and yet I couldn’t reach her.

“Thank you.” The words were hard to get out.

Ria wove behind a few buildings, and I cut down a street that would lead me to the same place her path would take her.

Toward the castle.

I threw every damn ounce of my energy into it as I ran, pushing myself harder and faster.

This wasn’t just one battle—this was the war, and if I could kill her, I could end it.

Or at least buy us enough time to find the rest of the damn cult.

I turned a corner and plowed right into her.

Ria didn’t scream—she threw a kick to my abdomen, and then tried to free herself from my arms the way she had a hundred times when we trained as children.

I turned her over as we slammed to the ground, so her front took the brunt of the impact.

With one sharp motion, she slammed a small, ice blade into the same place the other cultist had cut my side.

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