Page 84 of Devil In Boots

Connor flicked his chin at Vale, telling him to get me up as he yanked Katrina to her feet. Vale hauled me up, getting another guard on the opposite side to take my sword, which felt like he had sliced off a piece of my body. It had only been separated from me a few times. And those people had come to regret it.

Vale and the other guard started to drag me toward their horses, nausea swimming in my head. “Sooo, Vale, ol’ pal… heard you get a little chatty with women you want to impress after a night at the pub.”

“What?” His back went stiff. “How the fuck do you know my name?”

“Don’t feel bad. Most get played by her.”

Vale’s shoulders tightened, his eyes shooting to the other guard, then back to me, understanding exactly who I was referring to.

“She’s a devious one. I just wonder how your boss will feel when he learns it was because of you we knew how to get into the pri—”

I saw it coming, almost daring him to shut me up.

The handle of his gun hit the back of my head, spreading blackness through my vision like an ink spill, and I sank gladly into oblivion.

Escaping the pain.

Fleeing the truth.

Dodging the guilt.

We lost the only cure for Annabeth, and Katrina would suffer from a broken promise.

Once again, someone I loved was going to die… because I failed to keep them safe.

My lids blinked open, my brain taking several moments to process. I was slumped against a wall, my chin tucked into my chest, the cold stone aching every muscle as if it had been in this position for a while. My pants were still wet with blood, and my leg throbbed, the muscles knitting back together. Fuck, it hurt. I longed to shut my eyes again and sleep until I was fully healed, but I knew I couldn’t let myself.

Trying to lift my head, pain shot up the back of my skull, pushing bile up my throat with a groan. Flinching, I closed my eyes, trying to remember where the hell I was.

“Croygen?” A soft voice sank into my ears, filling my body with the need to open my eyes. To go to her. Katrina.

She was the lifeline pulling me out of the darkness, reminding me of every single detail of what happened. How the necromancers attacked us, the soldiers coming, and Vale knocking me out.

“Kat,” I grunted, trying to move toward her voice before I even knew where she was, but my body wouldn’t budge. The sound of metal clanging drew my lids fully open, my gaze going to the cuffs around my wrists, keeping me prisoner to the wall.

“You all right?” Her voice drew my attention across the room, seeing her outline against the opposite wall. “Your leg?”

“It’s healing.” Though it felt different, like the necromancer’s blade marked me, like a wounded deer, so they could come back for me. Peering around at the space, shoving that chilling thought back, I noticed the stone walls, ceiling, and floor, the barred metal door locking us in. It was a cell, but somehow I knew it wasn’t in that newer prison. It felt quieter, older, more part of an ancient castle. “You okay?”

My vision was sharpening, and the firebulbs in the passage were giving the room a little distinction. I recognized Kat’s figure in the dim light. She had manacles around her wrists, which sat in her lap, legs folded, with her back pressed against the wall. Her bright cat eyes cut through the dark, spearing my chest.

“Fine.” She tipped her head back into the wall, her regard going off to the side.

“When a woman saysfine… that means she’s not.”

Cat eyes met mine; the connection buzzed between us, and I knew she felt as I did.

We failed. We had lost the nectar before, but there was something about this time that made it feel real.

Final.

Swallowing, I still spouted the lie we both needed to hear. “We won’t give up. We’ll find it.”

“Yeah.” She bobbed her head, yet it was not with hope. “It called to them. I could feel it.”

“Have to admit, fighting necromancers was not on my bingo card.”

Kat huffed at my joke, a tiny laugh which was half a cry, her head falling down, her loose hair curtaining her face.