Page 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ryker

After everything we’d endured, I couldn’t let her go already. When I enfolded Ellery in my arms, my power swelled as it continued to entwine with hers.

Unable to resist, I clasped her cheeks and kissed her. Ever since I’d seen Samael standing in the doorway of the tavern, telling me I had to go with him, I’d feared for her. Now she was in my arms again, and while shit was still awful, it was also better.

After seeing this sea of prisoners, I’d worried we’d never have a moment like this again. While we were far from free, as my lips found hers and the strength of our love flowed between us, I knew nothing but death could tear us apart.

I wanted to stand there and kiss her forever, but death would come a lot sooner if I did. They were coming.

When I broke the kiss, the white glow had faded from Ellery’s eyes, and they’d shifted back to their beautiful, cyan color. The blue-green of them searched my face in wonder.

“I love you,” she whispered.

I kissed her forehead, held her close, and studied the hilltop as more of the guards running across it slammed shields into the earth. Some of the shields had holes in them, and archers had taken positions behind the holes.

Ivan didn’t just have the metalsmiths working on these chains; they’d also devised contingency plans in case things went wrong. I didn’t kid myself into thinking Ivan was behind this plan; this was all my father.

My father hadn’t expected me to turn on Ivan; I’d guarantee he was probably apoplectic right now and possibly frothing at the mouth, but he’d contemplated how to destroy me if necessary. And this was part of that plan.

The thunderous boom of another cannon was followed by the tortured screams of those who couldn’t escape its destruction. Smoke coiled into the air from the empty cannon as another fired.

“We have to go,” I said. “We have to get to the Revenant Woods. We’ll be able to open a portal there.”

Ellery’s hand slid into mine as she turned to Scarlet and Ruby. “Stay close.”

“We will.”

“Do you still have the keys?”

Ruby held up a set of keys before slipping them into her pocket. “I’ll keep them safe.”

Ellery nodded as I waved my hand before me to create a vortex of wind. When a tornado appeared before us, Ellery waved her other hand, and another materialized.

I frowned when I noticed the unnatural bend in her arm and the awkward movement of her fingers. “What happened to your arm?”

“It’s healing.”

“What happened?”

“I displeased a guard.”

I shifted my attention back to the cannons. If I could, I’d slaughter every last one of them.

“We have to go,” Ellery said as she tugged at my hand.

I tore myself away from my delightful thoughts of murder as more tornadoes sprang up around us. We weren’t the only ones who could control air, as the women surrounding us also brought forth vortexes to help keep us protected while we ran.

Ruby and Scarlet sprinted beside Ellery while we raced toward the Revenant Woods. As we ran across the field, more cannons rolled into place, and more archers lined the hill crest.

They had no problem firing off more cannons and releasing another wave of arrows on those below. However, they kept those weapons aimed away from the last place they’d seen Ellery. Without the glow surrounding her, they had no idea where she was and couldn’t risk killing her.

They’d stop at nothing to get their hands on her, but she was useless to them dead. Fifty feet ahead, another cannonball ripped through the crowd, decimating those unfortunate enough to be in its way.

Right now, we were safe from their fire. That wouldn’t last as we sprinted straight at it.

I ignored the throbbing in my leg and side as we ran. Without our lightning shining around us, the crowd was slower to get out of our way, but we pushed through them the best we could.

We skirted the bodies of fallen guards and their mounts as more cannon fire rocked the day. Screams rebounded around us; the stench of blood and excrement filled the air.

The clear blue sky turned into a hazy gray as smoke choked it and cannons roared. My lungs burned from the smoke permeating the field.

I kept waiting for them to stop firing now that they had no idea where Ellery had gone, but they must have decided to draw her out by destroying everyone they could.

I didn’t know if they assumed she’d somehow survive, or if my father was too livid to care anymore and was ordering death delivered to all those he deemed of no value.

We had to get out of here.

The closer we got to the Revenant Woods, the more our progress slowed. The crowd was thick through here, but it wasn’t just them who hindered us; it was also the fallen bodies of the innocents.

Many retracted their tornadoes, and Ellery and I did too. Whipping up the bodies of the dead and turning them into weapons by flinging them around wasn’t the best way to stay safe. It was also what nightmares were made of.

Horror and tears filled Ellery’s eyes as we picked our way over tattered limbs and broken bodies. Her hand trembled in mine.

“This isn’t your fault,” I told her.

Her attention remained focused on the bloody field. I’d seen this and worse during the Ghoul War, but Ellery had never experienced such a massacre, and I’d hoped to keep her from ever doing so.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans in store for her.

“Ellery.” Her dazed eyes met mine. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” she whispered.

“No,” Ruby said. “No, it isn’t. This is the fault of monsters .”

“They’re here because?—”

“Because of monsters,” Ruby interrupted as she seized Ellery’s arm. “Don’t you ever doubt that, Ellery Rose Marian. Ever. ”

Ellery stared at her for a minute before nodding. I had no doubt she’d continue to beat herself up over this, but I suspected Ruby would get through to her far more than I ever could.

I gave Ruby a grateful nod when she released Ellery’s arm. Concern radiated from the woman’s eyes, but she lifted her chin and slid her arm around Scarlet’s waist as we crossed the carnage.

Without the tornadoes, the crowd bumped and jostled against us as another cannon blast took out a group only ten feet away. Fuck. They’re getting too close.

I searched for the Revenant Woods, but smoke had swallowed them. I had no idea how far we were from the safety of those trees.