Page 129 of Scorched Earth

She’d bet everything on the belief that if it came to it, the West would have the collective strength to force the Cel back, if not across the seas, then at least to Arinoquia.

But it was now very clear to her that she’d underestimated the Empire.

That she’d underestimatedhim.

We do not fall back.That was the Thirty-Seventh’s motto, and yet that was the very thing she was trusting them to do once this was over.

A hawk screamed overhead. Teriana’s eyes jerked skyward to find Astara circling above, the shape-shifter’s cries filled with anger and grief as she took in the scene. Teriana could only imagine how the Gamdeshian woman felt, knowing that she’d been duped by Marcus’s ploy in the harbor and that the northern bank had been lost as a result.

And Emrant, a city filled with innocent civilians, would be next.

Laughter from behind caught Teriana’s attention, and she turned her head to see the officers all filling their cups with drinks, toasting an easy victory, platters of food already filling the table of the pavilion. Nic was speaking excitedly with Felix, his face flushed with excitement, whatever frustration he’d felt about not knowing every step of the plan clearly erased by the glow of victory.

Marcus stood apart from the rest, and though there was a cup in his hand, he did not drink, only watched Astara circle, his face expressionless.

Teriana’s heart stuttered, and a fresh wave of adrenaline surged through her veins because every instinct in her body warned that what she’d just witnessed was the tip of the iceberg.

Warned that Marcus’s strategy had only just begun, and that shehad only his word and a hair ornament to support her faith that he’d know when to finish it.

With his face still tipped to the sky, Marcus said, “If Astara comes within range, shoot her down, else she’ll carry word of our victory here to Kaira, and I want their focus on Zimo.”

Nic moved to give the order to the Fifty-First surrounding their position, and several of the boys turned their eyes skyward, weapons at the ready.

Another gods-damn trick.

Teriana clenched her teeth, knowing damn well that if Marcus actually wanted Astara dead, there’d be archers hidden and watching for her. Knowing, with the same surety that the underworld would take her soul for her role in this, that Marcuswouldn’thave looked up at the sky as he gave the order to shoot her down, allowing the farseeing hawk to read his lips.

Nic watched Astara circle, hand shading his eyes against the sun. “Doesn’t look as though she’s going to come in range, sir. Orders?”

Face twisting in annoyance, Marcus drained his cup, then looked back up at the sky. “It’s of no consequence. Let her flap back to her mistress and tell Kaira of how easily the northern bank fell. If Kaira knows what’s good for her, she’ll surrender Emrant, else they’ll soon discover what it’s like to be under siege by the Empire.”

Was it a threat or a warning? Teriana’s blood chilled, every part of her hating the cold expression on Marcus’s face.

We do not fall back.

Then his face blanched, and Marcus screamed, “Shoot her!”

Teriana’s eyes shot skyward to find Astara dropping with deadly speed, talons outstretched.

Not for Marcus.

For her.

A weight struck Teriana’s side, all the air rushing out of her lungs as Quintus slammed her into the ground. An ear-piercing screech of talon against metal filled the air, then Quintus was twisting. Sun glinted off a blade. Blood splattered Teriana in the face. The hawk shrieked, wings pounded, wind sending feathers swirling.

And Astara was gone.

Quintus made anoofsound as he was yanked off her, then Marcus’s face was inches from hers, blue-grey eyes wide with panic. “Are you hurt? Do you need a medic?” Without waiting for an answer, he shouted, “Get Racker!”

Gasping for breath, Teriana managed to say, “I don’t need him. I’m…”

She trailed off as Marcus lifted her upright. His palms were hot through her clothing, his breath rapid as his eyes roved over her body, checking for injuries.

“I just had the wind knocked out of me.” Her braids made little clinks as her beads swung against the metal of his breastplate. It seemed both a lifetime and a heartbeat ago that he’d last touched her, and the world faded away as his eyes locked on hers, the emotionless commander gone and the man she loved once again before her.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and Teriana instinctively knew it wasn’t for Astara’s attack.

It was for everything else. What she knew. And what she didn’t.