Page 15

The carriages were so close. My moment was now.

The knot in my gut tightened. I brushed it away, giving my men a clear nod. No turning back.

Typhoon slipped out, his blade silently crossing a guard’s neck, making him a sacrificial lamb as Hurricane and I came from the other side, doing the same. Moses and Zuri advanced from the opposite side while Gage, Polly, and Dobbs approached from behind, eliminating more of his soldiers, stopping the horses and closing in around them.

It was a few seconds before the guards realized what was happening. Their comrades fell around them, and their warning resonated in the air like bells, screaming of an attack.

My gaze caught on one soldier lying on the street whose helmet had fallen off. Apprehension shot my attention to all the guards, and I picked up on more details. The men were not Indian; they looked to be from here.

Were these Emperor Batara’s men? Where were Tanvik’s soldiers? Why wouldn’t he bring his own? Leaders never left their land without their own troops.

I had no time to think, my sword clanking against three guards coming at me. Twirling and stabbing, my movements were ingrained in me. Master Yukimura’s lessons were as much a part of me as my cat was.

Gunfire popped in the air, accompanied by the clank of swords and screams of death. Blood sprayed across my face as I slipped closer to the carriage, the three men falling to the ground one by one, my blade dripping with the same red liquid.

“Captain!” Ty moved next to me, cutting through men blocking us from the treasure. “I got you. Go!” He nodded at the first carriage. We learned Tanvik always rode in the first one because so many leaders chose the last carriage; he liked deflecting.

Going for him first would stop his men. His life on the line would entice them to back off so we could take the treasure off their hands easier.

Darting to the carriage door, I ripped it open. A man sat inside dressed in a gold silk embroidered kurta and pants. His wide, fearful eyes met mine, sinking everything to the bottom of my gut.

Oh, fuck.

Although this man’s body type was similar to the president’s, his white beard was fake, and his youthful eyes and Asian features told me this was not the leader of India.

His features wouldn’t be noticed from a thousand yards away.

Deflection.

“No,” I whispered under my breath, already beelining for the carriage right behind while Cane dragged the young man from the first one. But holding a knife to his throat wouldn’t be the threat we thought it would.

Gage cleared the way to the second carriage. I yanked the door open and spotted the trunk Polly and Dobbs had noticed being loaded on.

Leaping inside, my hands shook because of what I already knew. I flung the top open, dread dropping on me like an anchor, rushing all the air from my lungs.

The box was empty.

My mind couldn’t accept what was right before me, that I could be tricked, my ego in denial of my folly. But it was all in front of me.

I hadn’t even doubted the intel we got about Tanvik’s arrival. He was rumored to have the gem, and bringing it to Batara for an alliance made sense. Everything had been laid before me, and I had gobbled it up, thinking I was getting the drop on them when it all had been a ploy. I was the one fooled. And I lead my crew straight into this ambush.

“This is a trap…” My voice came out softer than I wanted as my plan crumbled like my confidence. I was the best of the best. This wasn’t supposed to happen to me, and deep down, a nagging voice told me Croygen would have never let this happen.

Moving to the door, my only thought was getting my men out of there. “Gage… it’s a tra—” My words died on my tongue while I climbed out of the carriage, silence surrounding me. There were no sounds of battle, like everyone was frozen in place.

Gage held his knife to a soldier’s throat, but his attention was over my head. Twisting around, I followed his gaze to the top of the carriage.

A gasp got trapped in my lungs, acid torching up the back of my mouth.

Batara’s principal guard, Gou, stood on top. His curved katana dripped with blood. Gou was a fae who had no problem working for a human if the pay was right. He took a vow of silence a long time ago, but he needed no words. He was notorious for his skill with a blade, rumored to be an old twelfth-century samurai who slaughtered thousands without a thought.

But it wasn’t him that curdled terror and grief in my lungs.

Gripped by her neck, Ruby’s lifeless body dangled from his hand, her throat cut ear to ear, her dead eyes staring right into me. She was supposed to be safe. The job as scout was away from the fight, but Gou found her.

I swear I could hear her wonder how I let this happen to her. What kind of captain was I to not be there when she needed me? To let her die so brutally. Alone.

My heart screamed out her name, but only a whimper made it to my lips.