Page 24 of A Curse of Breath and Blood

He chuckled, shoulders bouncing as he shook his head. “It is not your time. The Trinity has other plans for you.”

“Please,” I begged, but Hadron did not oblige.

Taking a glowing ball of life from his shabby twill satchel, he placed it in my chest.Electricity radiated throughout every limb of my body. My lungs constricted.

“Breathe, Aelia.”

Surrounded by a white light, the magic worked its way through my blood, healing the torn flesh. A feverish heat brought sweat to my brow.

I shut my eyes.

Caiden’s voice pulled me back from the other side. “Breathe, Aelia. Fucking breathe. Trinity, help us.”

8AELIA

I openedmy eyes to find Caiden crouching over me, his muscled arms pressing on my chest. “Focus on me, Aelia.”

Despite my hazy vision, I tried to keep my eyes on Caiden—tried to focus on every piece of stubble on his olive skin, but the darkness crept in.

“Turn her over,” Amolie commanded.

Frigid air kissed the wound as they ripped the shirt from my back, sending a shiver down my spine.

Rubbing healing salve into the wound, Amolie clicked her tongue with worry. “That should hold her until we can get her to a proper healer.”

My eyes flickered open.

“Aelia, chew this.”

Something hard and chalky filled my mouth.

“It’s charcoal. It will help to clear the iron and ash from your blood.”

I nodded as best as I could.

“She can ride with me,” Caiden said, mounting his gray mare. Lucius and Roderick lifted my broken body onto the horse. Painripped through my every muscle as I lay against Caiden’s warm chest.

The charcoal worked its way through my system. I craned my neck to see the dismembered bodies of the Blood Riders and their mounts.

We rode into the Court of Sorrows territory, setting up camp along the river Nyrinx. Caiden and Roderick gently helped me off the horse.

“When did Gideon gain the Blood Riders?” I said, propping myself up against a rock.

Caiden did not look up from where he built a fire. “Lord Greaves gave them to him in exchange for a stewardship over Elyria.”

“I should’ve known.” I rested my hand on my chest. Elyria had been my home. The crown jewel of the Midlands. The breadbasket of Moriana. Gideon needed it to feed his growing army.

As for the new steward of Elyria, Lord Greaves had once been an advisor to my father, the owner of the largest private army in Moriana, including the Blood Riders—half men, half monsters bred from an elite line of sylph warriors and human mothers.

“What else has happened since I’ve been away?”

“Nothing good.” He sighed. “The Sylph Council is divided. It’s every lord for himself. Some have partnered with the elves, others with humans. Gideon is considered the unifier.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Things must really be bad if the sylphs are willing to partner with their former masters.”

Caiden took a seat in front of the fire. “The sylph and elven war ended five hundred years ago. Despite our long lives, sylphs have short memories.”

“I hope they remember the Treaty of the Three Faces,” I said, wrapping my arms around my knees, trying to hold on to any warmth. Humans partnered with the sylph during their rebellion,and, in return, the sylph pledged to protect the human kingdoms from invasion.

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