Page 61 of Ember and Eclipse
Devdan leaned his neck to the side, and Cassius walked around his genuflected form. Pressing the blade to his neck, he made the swiftest and shallowest of cuts there. Devdan grunted, muscles in his neck straining.
Whatever was occurring hurt far more than that one scratch.
Within seconds, Cassius and Devdan clasped forearms as the leader pulled him up. “They’ll be here soon. You’re going to have to—”
The distinct sound of metal through bone was too close. The leader looked down at his chest, where the head of an arrow protruded through the center. He raised his hands to touch it, disbelief then a deep sorrow overtaking his features. “Leia…” he mumbled.
“Cassius,” Devdan uttered, catching the pack leader as his knees gave out.
But he was already gone.
Rel looked for the archer, but she knew who it would be. The Imperator had an affinity for any weaponry and was skilled in most. When she was younger, before they knew she had magic, she and the princess had spent hours watching him perfect his aim and technique with the bow.
“A disloyal hound is of no use to me,” the Imperator spat. And then he aimed again.
She pushed Devdan, sending them both stumbling sideways before he lifted her up and put his body between her and the Imperator. His hiss of pain let her know that the arrow had hit him, but not anywhere vital. Asear had probably pulled it at the last moment, wanting to avoid the possibility of hitting her. He carried her to the other side of Athena’s altar, putting the thick stone between them and Asear.
“The entire pack and probably other kingsguard are going to be here or are already,” Devdan said, glancing at his bloody arm. “Whatever happens, you make it out of here.”
“We fight,” Rel said through gritted teeth.
“We fight,” Devdan agreed, “but don’t bother trying to prevent what’s about to happen to me. Just make it out.”
Orders were barked out, and the echoing heavy footfalls filled the space.
Devdan stood up, offering her his hand one last time.
She took it without hesitation.
He looked down at her, brushing his knuckles against her cheek in a whisper of a touch. “I wish I had more time with you. I wish I could have explained everything. Perhaps in another life…”
The same wish welled in her, unexplainable and instant, her heart burning with its truth.
“If you can’t run, then you burn this entire fucking place down,” he finished.
She didn’t have the heart to tell him that her magic didn’t respond to her, not even now when they were so close to death.
“A witch and a witch hunter traitor,” someone said from right on the other side of the altar. “Sounds like the start of a really bad joke.”
Devdan kept himself between her and their opponents as they rounded the altar. He raised his other hand up as if in surrender, and she followed suit.
“Giving up already? Coward,” the gruff-looking Lunae spat.
Rel searched for the Imperator. He was leaning against a column, his arms crossed as if this was all just a play at the theater. In his mind, he’d already won. But his glare was on their hands.
“Let’s not sully the temple any more than we already have,” Devdan said easily.
The other Lunae snorted. “Since when have you been a pious man?” He tilted his head, and Rel followed his line of sight. Five other Lunae came for them. Almost in sync, they each marked the pack leader’s dead body and then the swipe of blood on Devdan’s neck.
Despite Asear being the one to have killed Cassius, they’d still put the blame on Devdan.
“Careful with the witch, she’s not to be hurt,” Asear commanded.
Devdan squeezed her hand a moment before they were pulled apart.
Two seized her after ripping her knives away and dragged her toward the outer columns of the temple. When they exited, Devdan and the four other Lunae in front of her continued, but she was pulled to a halt. Asear stepped before her, his violent desires shaping his face into something unrecognizable. “Hold her still,” he said to the Lunae restraining her.
He placed witchsilver around her neck, its design a collar. She fought back wildly until the brute holding her squeezed her so hard that her ribs cracked with the pressure. “If you want to act like a wild animal,” Asear said as he locked the burning material in place, “then I’ll collar you like one.”
