Page 21 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
Uncle Maksim barely gave me a grim nod before he rushed out of the garden, disappearing down the steps leading to the dock.
Closing it had been part of my father’s plan, after all. I was simply expediting the process. Even so, I still couldn’t look at him, knowing I’d only find disappointment there.
Fine.
I could live with it.
“Leave it to The Huntress to cause a scene,” Fabrian slurred, the fast alcohol finally slowing his words.
I barely slashed a look his way before focusing all my attention on Evie. I still doubted every move and every word, but I couldn’t stop now.
“Stop this,” Evie pleaded as whispers erupted from the crowd, her voice desperate.
Not angry.
Not surprised.
Not heartbroken.
Desperate.
“You stop this,” I said. “What’s going–”
I never got to finish.
In the whirlwind of emotions, I barely noticed the whispers from the crowd turning into frightened gasps.
Stopping a Clan wedding wasn’t that unheard of. Queen Thalia, of the Morgana Clan, had halted her nephew’s marriage because the bride’s promised dowry was three mirrors short.
But this was worse.
Unimaginably worse.
My gaze darted to the end of the aisle.
No power in this world could stop my knees from shaking as the courtyard darkened.
At the end of the aisle, cloaked in vicious shadows and carrying glinting weapons, were the monsters whispered about through all of Malhaven.
Dozens upon dozens of them stood in a perfect, menacing unison, their sneers a silent threat.
Their black leather armors sucked in the light around us, though they were draped in gold.
Weapons, too many to count. Jagged, vicious things, created to maim, rip, and pierce in effective, gruesome ways.
I sucked in a breath as my terrified gaze fell onto their weapon hilts.
The rumors were true, but even the most gruesome ones fell short.
Blood–realblood–slithered through their transparent hilts, like it was alive, impatient,waitingfor its next offering.
The Blood Brotherhood Clan had found us–and they’d come to enact their revenge.
Chapter
Five
THE COMMANDER
