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Jude

I never wanted your son, and I don’t want him now. I’ve done my best to toughen him up, but I think it’s no use. If you’re so worried, come raise him yourself.

Letter from Jack Maddox to The Sly Fox Tavern, year 34 of the curse

I heard screams from the distance.

At my side, Liam froze, his mouth agape as he whirled on me, a question burning in his eyes.

Another round of shouts was carried on an angry western wind. Screams of pain and fear.

An ambush, by the sounds of it. I surmised they were about a mile away.

“Do we…do we do something?” Liam asked, his hand moving hesitantly to his belt. He kept a thin blade there, but I doubted he knew how to properly wield it. Every time he so much as touched the weapon, he grimaced.

“No,” I murmured, considering. “We continue.”

My scar pulsated angrily, the muscles of my chest spasming.

It didn’t matter what my body or my instincts were urging me to do—whoever it was out there, they were on their own.

I had to find Kiara, and Mena was still a ways away, given the casual pace we traveled. I wouldn’t dare push Liam to go faster, and I was thinking of ways to secure horses.

Liam opened his mouth, but an ear-shattering screech cut him off. The unholy noise resonated, seeming to shake the tiny grains of soil under my boots.

“You can just sit there and ignore that?” He clenched his hands and scowled. An expression that was far too similar to his sister’s. Gods, the longer I spent in Liam’s company, the more he reminded me of her. Although, he tended to speak of books rather than weapons to fill the silence.

It made me miss Kiara even more.

“If we help them, we risk getting caught.” Or worse.

“Kiara would help,” Liam protested, crossing his arms.

“And she would likely get herself killed,” I volleyed back, crossing my arms in return. “What if we walk into a fight, and the king’s men are the cause? What good will we be to Kiara if we’re in shackles?”

A spark of white flashed across both of my eyes, sending me a step forward.

“You all right?” Liam asked when I groaned, rubbing at my eyes like it would take away the stinging.

“Fine,” I grated, but I was far from fine. When I managed to peel open both lids, the forest around us had changed. Everything had changed.

Rather than shadowy outlines, my left eye took in all the many curves and shapes of the world. They were covered in a blanket of gold, slightly blurry, glittering like gems. It was bright and clear and stunning in a way that reminded me of a dream.

Raina’s divinity.

“Commander?” Liam prodded.

“I told you, I’m fine.” I didn’t mean to snap at him. I was merely on unsteady ground, lost to my power. This new sight would’ve sent me to my knees weeks ago, but I’d grown used to the peculiar, and instead of falling to the ground in fear, I merely dug my nails into the flesh of my palms. Pain was good. Pain steadied.

“It could be her down there.” Liam threaded his fingers through his mop of curls, his indecision evident. “I want to at least check it out. We don’t have to show ourselves.” His stare morphed to steel, hardened further by stubborn determination. “I’m going with or without you.”

So brave. So reckless. Such a Frey.

I massaged my pounding temples, considering.

Logically, the odds of it being her were next to none. But Liam had been right about one thing… she would have dived into the chaos headfirst, and while a month ago I would’ve scoffed and resumed my journey, I couldn’t do so now.

And my magic…it had flared to life so suddenly, seconds after the screams.

I used to not believe in the absurdity of coincidences, but many things had occurred in such a short time, unimaginable things, and I couldn’t turn my back on the impossible any longer.

“We’ll check it out,” I conceded, and instantly, my vision settled, the flashes of white calming until only the gold remained. They were satisfied by my answer. “ But we stay hidden, and the second I say we turn back, you listen.”

The Freys would be the death of me.