Page 32 of Great Falls Protector
“Tye!’ I yell with all my might as I surge forward, shoving my way down to the arena through the two rows of spectators before me. “Tye, look out!” I shout again, stepping on royal feet and fingers with equal disregard. “Tye!”
My words drown beneath the crowd’s cheers and the sudden synchronized call of birds settling one by one on the flagpoles around the arena. Crows. Vultures. A pair of hawks.
I’m still five paces away when Tye releases the bar, offering a final airborne twist as he marks his landing.
Han draws back his throwing blade, the metal giving a final wink in the sunlight as he launches it at my mate.
My heart stops, my stomach clenching in horror. With no more time, I throw myself forward, rushing to get between a grinning triumphant Tye and the weapon flying toward his heart. Too far. I’m still too far, no matter how my flesh stretches forward. But I still try. Still press forward as if I can conquer time and distance and—and suddenly, I can.
Not with my body, but with magic, which shoots forward with all the desperation in my soul.
And not a shred of control.
6
River
Distant music and applause penetrated River’s haze as he opened his eyes. For a moment, he didn’t know where he was. All he saw were shifting green leaves etched in bright light. Sunbeams streaked through sudden gaps, making him throw a hand up to cover his eyes.
A mistake.
Pain stabbed the side of his chest and echoed dully inside his skull, making him gasp for breath. Blinking, he inhaled the forest air and nearly choked on the sudden bouquet of sensations, his nose—always sensitive—now able to tell the very earthworms apart from the wet ground they lived in.
Alive. Not only was River alive, but he felt as vibrant as he’d only ever felt in Leralynn’s company—which was ironic on all counts. Especially the fact that his blood was still leaking into the earth, slowly but unhindered.
Sitting up, River ripped open his shirt to stare at the stab wound that should have, by all rights, killed a man. He could still feel the knife sliding into his flesh and hitting his rib, the blade fortunately diverting into thick muscle. Even with no vital organs touched, in those last moments of consciousness, River had been certain the wound was fatal. Obviously, he’d been wrong. A mistake of surprise and pain.
Rubbing a bit of prickling burning on his sternum, River removed his outer coat, the pain along his side making him grit his teeth. In the distance, more applause sounded, enough to make him think the Prowess Trial opening exhibition had begun. He’d been out for some time, then. Two hours at least. Two hours since the fae named Owalin left him for dead.
Tearing off his shirt, River ripped the cloth into a set of long strips and wrapped the wound, pulling as tight as the bandages would go. The world flickered around the edges, stabs of pain shooting along his skin. But he was moving, breathing, thinking. That had to be enough. Climbing to his feet, he pulled his coat back on, taking time to do up all the buttons. He was still a commander, the Academy’s safety his obligation. That meant everyone from the guard to the royals needed to see him as alive and strong. In control.
In control of what?
River’s memory flickered, the attack once more replaying before his eyes. Owalin had certainly been fae, and there seemed to be at least one other immortal with him. Talking about a change of plans.
Plans—that could only mean one thing. An attack on the Academy, just as Leralynn and Coal had warned the Night Guard would try. The bastard in the dungeon had claimed the same. Except he’d claimed other things too. Including that Leralynn wasn’t who she claimed to be. Not a lady. Not even a human.
Fae. Zake claimed Leralynn was fae, just as Owalin was. Which was absurd. Had to be. Otherwise, it meant that Leralynn had been lying to River with every breath since the very beginning. That nothing between them had ever been real.
No, of course Leralynn was human. River would have seen through such lies. Leralynn was simply a brave, kind, beautiful woman who spoke to his soul but did not hear his own soul speaking back. She wasn’t Diana, and it was unfair to them both to continue a charade built on illusion. River needed to stop acting like a schoolboy moping over a woman when there were immortals likely to storm the Academy at any moment.
He needed to get to the arena, separate the royals throughout the Academy, add an extra detail of guards on each family. Not just the royals, he needed to have Leralynn—to haveeveryone—scatter while his guards checked each and every soul. While River interrogated Han.
Sage would protest the interruption of his precious opening ceremonies, and that was fine. River wouldn’t let the headmaster’s greed get in the way of people’s lives, no matter what the high-ranking bastard did to him afterward.
Holding on to the trees, River tightened his jaw and started toward the arena as quickly as he could, discovering that his body was more cooperative than he had any right to expect. Over the steady hum of pain, his muscles vibrated with a powerful energy he couldn’t explain, except feeling that it somehow came from the earth. And that it longed for the one person whom Riverreallyneeded to stop thinking about.
Exiting the tree line, River squinted in the bright midday sun, gathered himself, and broke into a stiff lope across the rippling green grounds toward the Academy’s stone buildings—and the vast wooden monstrosity rising above them. Pain haunted his every step, but he pushed it to a small place in the back of his mind, praying to all the stars that Owalin would just wait to enact his plan until River could warn the guards. Until they could make some semblance of a plan.
He stepped into the arena, momentarily blinded by the sun reflecting off the white sand, and quickly scanned for any signs of trouble. All seemed well—more than well. Sage must be beside himself with delight. The crowd was screaming and clapping, every face lit with joy, as Tyelor spun around the horizontal bar. The never-shy athlete had somehow managed to light the silk lacing streaming from him on fire, the flames following him through the air as—
As Leralynn ruthlessly shoved her way to the stage, stepping on and over people as if they mattered nothing, her face set in a harsh snarl.
A wave of confusion washed over River, the power that had been pulsing inside him since he awoke roaring into a blaze just as Lera extended her hands and…set the whole arena on fire.
7
Lera
