Page 28 of A Dance With Fire
Ryker only prayed that she was worth it.
“Ryker!” Clay hissed. “Let’s go!”
Ryker forced his feet to move. He turned and ran to catch up with his brethren.
And in the distance, he could make out the shrill bark of a hound who had found its prey.
11
The Seer’s Sacrifice
Davina showed no fear, for she had lived a long time and had experienced many things, and nothing would ever be as terrifying as the madness that crawled through the remnants of her mind.
It was not the future she feared or even the unknown, but that her own madness would betray the Fae, would betray herself.
She’d seen glimpses of her future. A bloodied tongue stuck between teeth that refused to talk.
If she could do something for her kind, it would be this. Her only regret would be that she would cause Shula Azzarh heartbreak.
They had not been close, yet the call of Mana within their blood was too hard to ignore. They had not spoken, but they had been friends. And Davina’s death would be a mere chip away from Shula’s heart that she would need to lose in order to become who she was meant to be.
So Davina would sacrifice herself this night, and the next, and the next. She would submit her body to the emperor’s torture and when she died, her spirit would carry on.
This she knew with clarity.
The hounds were closing in on her. She could hear their paws pounding against the pavement as they picked up her scent. By the time they caught up to her, the Fae would be long gone. They’d make it to Uric and to the portal. To a new safe house.
And the Resistance would rise, and the Fae would be strong again.
Only if Shula accepted her fate.
The hounds were closer now, so she stopped just beneath the burning light of an oil lamp. With firm fingers, she twisted her hair back so they could see her ears. For she was Fae, and she had hidden them for far too long.
No more.
Barks permeated the air around her. Their beasts were hungry; they had not been fed in days. But she would not run from their teeth.
They burst from the darkness and circled around her. Futile, since she would not run.
The soldiers came a moment later. At the head of them, the Captain Brannon of the Emperor’s Royal Guard.
He held up a hand, stopping his soldiers from advancing, but not from pointing their iron-made weapons at her.
She could feel the buzzing from the weapons overtake her senses. Iron tended to do that to a Fae. Soon, she would be useless.
“Fae,” the captain spat as he stepped forward, pulling the helm from his head. “Where are the others?”
She inclined her head in his direction. “Captain Brannon.”
If he was surprised that she knew his name, he did not show it. “Where are the others?” he repeated, with far less patience than the first time.
Cruelty lived deep within this man. Davina had seen it; had seen the blood tainting his fingers and the joy he would get from it.
“Others who?” She cocked her head to the side, but they all knew she was not as ignorant as she appeared.
The captain unsheathed his sword and pointed it in her direction. The tip searing her neck with its proximity. A single swipe, and she’d be dead. But she knew she would not die here.
“You see my hounds?” The captain’s gaze swept across the beasts, snarling and growling at her. “I have not fed them for days. They are hungry for the flesh of a Fae.”
