Page 109 of Staff of Nightfall

They left the town behind. Farmers watched in confusion and irritation as they cut across fields and leapt over low stone walls. But for whatever reason—perhaps their clothes marked them as nobles, or the farmers thought with sorcerers on the loose it was better to ignore strangers—no one tried to stop them. The air cooled and smelled of salty sea air. The pull of their bond strengthened, but she forced her feet to slow.

“We’re getting close,” she said.

Dresden grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. “How close do you think we are?”

She tugged on her hair. “It’s difficult to explain, and it’s inexact. I know he’s that way,” she pointed toward the trees on the other side of an apple orchard just ahead of them. “I don’t know how much past the orchard. Could be a couple feet. Could be ten paces.”

Dresden pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. We need to go slowly. I want to rush in, too, but our best bet is to surprise them, and to do that, they can’t hear or see us coming.” He pointed to the hedge circling the orchard. “We should keep to the outside of the hedge, stay low, instead of cutting across the orchard. If we can, we need to get Regulusbeforeconfronting the sorcerer and Carrick. That will make our chances better and prevent the possibility of them hurting Regulus and making you both useless.”

His bluntness made her wince, but she nodded. “Once Regulus is free, we need to prioritize Kirven. So long as he’s alive, we can’t kill Nolan. And the best way of stopping Kirven is to get his staff.”

“Good thinking.” Dresden sighed. “That will have to do. There are too many variables with all this magic involved. No point in making a plan that might fall apart.”

They crept along the outside edge of the hedge at a maddeningly slow pace. They were so close to Regulus it made her skin tingle. But that also meant they were close to Kirven and Nolan. And that made her stomach churn, which reminded her she hadn’t eaten breakfast. The gnawing in her stomach added to her nervous energy as they darted across the empty space between the hedge and the trees, as quickly and quietly as possible. She led the way toward Regulus through the trees. She wanted to hurry but forced herself to move slowly, watching the ground to avoid any dead leaves that looked crunchy or sticks that might snap and give their approach away.

“—honestly, I should be torturingyoufor letting Gawain escape!” Kirven spat. Adelaide dropped into a crouch and moved away from his voice and closer to where she sensed Regulus.

“Then get it over with,” Nolan said. Adelaide’s breath caught as grief and anger slammed into her at the sound of his voice. “You’re the one who said you could easily take care of Adelaide if she was there. Besides, if you had taken your shot faster, she wouldn’t have had time to raise that barrier.” Nolan groaned.You deserve that and more, Adelaide thought as she edged toward an opening in the trees.

“And if we had just killed her, she definitely wouldn’t have been able to.”

Nolan grunted. “Not the agreement.”

“If she gets in my way again, I’m killing her,” Kirven said, his words heated.

Adelaide and Dresden crouched behind a couple of trees. Regulus sat chained to an oak tree that looked like it had been through a fire. His head rested against the black tree trunk. A blue gag pulled against his mouth and his eyes were closed. Dried blood stained his right arm and the chains binding it and covered his legs, his neck, his torso, even his face. She leaned against the tree, light-headedness making her vision black out until her head cleared. Oddly, the Staff of Nightfall lay in the grass at Regulus’ feet. Kirven sat several paces away, his back toward them. But Nolan stood across from Kirven. If they left the cover of the trees, he would see them.

“Didn’t you already try that at the palace?” Nolan clenched and unclenched his fist, his face red. “You couldn’t even manage it then. And we should have takenher.What was the point of taking Hargreaves? You made a mistake—” Nolan screamed and doubled over. Adelaide ran out of the trees, Dresden close on her heels. She slid across the grass to the side of the oak furthest from Kirven and Nolan. The air reeked of Regulus’ blood.

Chains. How to break chains? Fire? No. Cut through them with a magic blade? It might work. She looked at the chains around Regulus’ chest, then at the shackles around his wrists. Which should she try to remove first? Both needed to come off, but the moment they did, they would make noise. Nolan had stopped screaming. She risked leaning out around the tree. Nolan stomped away from Kirven, his back to them. Good. The Staff of Nightfall lay on the grass, so close. Staff first, or Regulus first? Regulus first.

She moved closer to Regulus and touched his shoulder. His eyes snapped open, full of silent pleas for mercy that made her heart bleed. He relaxed when his eyes met hers, the terror in his expression replaced with joy. She smiled and held a finger to her lips, then untied the gag. He moved his jaw as she dropped the rag to the ground. She leaned close and murmured in his ear, “I thought we agreed no more splitting up.”

“I’m glad to see you,” he whispered, “but you shouldn’t have come.”

“You would have come for me.” She pressed her hand to the side of his face, against the blood caked over his jawline. “Together, remember?”

He glanced toward Kirven and Carrick. “Alright, but we need to hurry.”

“Hey.” Dresden crouched next to her. His face tinged with green as he looked at Regulus, but he shook his head and looked in control again. Regulus looked exceedingly displeased to see Dresden. “Isn’t that the staff? Should we take it?”

“What are you doing here?” Regulus hissed. “This is magic and immortals. They could kill you.”

Oh.She hadn’t even stopped to think of that when Dresden followed her. She had been too focused on Regulus. Too focused on herself.

Dresden grinned, but it was full of sorrow and pain. “Somebody had to watch your girl’s back with you off getting captured.”

An idea occurred to Adelaide. She had no idea how to break the staff, or if she even possessed the power to do so. But they could at least ensure Kirven didn’t have a chance to use it against them—and keep Dresden safe. “Dresden, you should take the staff and run.” She glanced toward Kirven and Nolan. They still weren’t looking. She kept her voice low. “Take it far from here.”

“It’s a good idea.” Despite his hushed tone, Regulus’ words held urgency.

Dresden shook his head. “And leave you two?”

She placed a hand on Dresden’s arm. “I can’t lose anyone else.”

“I won’t abandon my brother,” Dresden whispered fiercely.

“Look at me.” Weariness laced Regulus’ voice. “I won’t let this happen to you. I can’t let Carrick hurt you again.”

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