Page 245 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
My powers had never done this, either.
Ryker waited patiently as I gulped down air. Sweet, fresh, crisp air.
His thumb kept caressing the back of my neck, soothing. I wanted to kiss the daylights out of him.
But he said we needed to hurry.
“Alright.” I forced myself onto my elbows and we both pretended I did it on my own and not propped up by him. “I’m listening.”
“We didn’t lose anyone, but most are injured.” As his jaw ticked, ash fell from his earlobes and his temples. He was as coated in the filth as I was. “I closed their wounds as best I could, but I can’t pull the ash out of them, they need healers.”
I pulled in a sharp breath. That ash had smelled like rotten flesh. If it got into their blood.
“You need to hurry back to the fortress, the wolves will carry you there. Vylkor knows a different path, away from the trolls,” he said. “The ones who were not harmed are checking every single crevice for those monsters. They’ll stay at the passage’s entry in the crater to guard it after they’re done.”
“What about you?”
“I need to leave.”
“Now?” My hand reached out to the back of his neck, as if I could keep him near me through sheer force of will.
“Yes,” he said and sounded guilty. “I need to reach Calyx by nightfall and bring back reinforcements to guard this side of the passage. The passage has defended itself and us for centuries, but today has proven we can’t rely solely on its magic. Not anymore.”
I almost asked to go with him.
The words had already formed on the tip of my tongue, before I closed my mouth.
I couldn’t match his speed. I would only slow him down and time was not on our side.
“Allie.” He took both of my hands in his and kissed them. “I’ll be back in two days, I promise. Can I trust you to defend Solkar’s Reach if needed?”
In the beat of silence that passed, a frown contorted his face.
“Honestly?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m offended you even had to ask.” I cupped his cheeks with my palms ignoring the grit, and brought our foreheads together, the first timeIdid it. He relaxed against me with a heavy sigh. “Of course I will. You just focus on coming back alive, we’ll deal with the rest. If not, I’m going into the crypt and telling your mother you don’t keep your promises.”
A laugh bubbled in his throat as his eyes softened. “I promise I’ll be back.”
He kissed my forehead once more, almost making me melt.
“You need to go before the sun clears the horizon,” he whispered. “The passage should be clear.”
The thought of going back inside sent shivers down my spine. But it didn’t frighten me as much as his final warning.
“Be careful, Allie. Those masked monsters didn’t get into the passage by themselves. Someone who’d already entered the crater before had to give them access. Trust nobody.”
Chapter
Fifty-Eight
ALLIE
The heavy leather satchel bounced against my hip as I hurried from room to room.
Mrs. Thornbrew had given me all the concoctions, herbs, and gauze she had left in her medicinal pantry, before rushing through the fortress alongside me and the healers.
