Page 238 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue

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I pleaded for it to any god who could hear me in this gods-forsaken wound in the ground.

Then light flared up ahead.

For a moment, I thought I’d imagined it, horrified and desperate.

But it was the purple pulse which had tried to protect me before. The one I’d touched under the crypt. Even under piles of deathly ash, I recognized it.

Once, it had filled me with dread.

Now it brought hope.

Nadya didn’t react. She couldn’t see it. Perhaps a small mercy; the shock of it wouldn’t have helped now.

I silently thanked the crater and sped up toward it.

But the light rushed our way.

It didn’t stop.

It snaked under my feet and kept on going.

Just as I turned, the light swelled.

In it, I saw the outline of a masked figure hunting us.

Chapter

Fifty-Five

ALLIE

Ipushed Nadya to the side, like Ryker had done to me, and attacked.

The figure moved faster than I anticipated, his sword aimed straight for my neck.

But now I had the advantage–I could see him.

I crouched low, dagger heading straight for his legs. But a second sword came down upon me, missing my hand by a hair, embedding itself deep in the ash.

The purple light might have given me my vision back, pulsing right underneath his feet, but he had two sharp swords to make up the difference.

It tilted its head, the movement wrong.

Too jittery, too sudden.

Assessing.

Then its other sword slashed down toward me.

I brought my dagger up just in time to greet it in a sharp clang. The shock jolted up my arm.

Shaking, the figure lifted its other sword.

I fell down onto my back, throwing him off balance, even as his sword came dangerously close to my face.

With the sudden momentum, I kicked him straight in the chest, sending him flying back.

Behind me, Nadya moaned, trying to walk.

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