Page 30 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
I acted.
Nobody messed with my family.
Through the marble curves, I fired an arrow straight at her pretty dark hair. It grazed her blunt bangs and cut them off at the middle. She flinched back, confused and scared.
I cocked another arrow.
That had only been a warning.
My second shot would hit her in her pretty little black eyes.
But instead of striking, Dax’s fierce eyes followed the arrow’s trajectory and found me instantly. He narrowed his gaze and pointed his makeshift weapon atme.
“She’s mine,” he mouthed. “Go. Save them.”
Teeth clenched, I forced my grip to slacken on the bow. If we hadn’t been in the middle of the massacre, I would have shaken some sense into him–and given him the earful he deserved.
Fighting with the Blood Brotherhood wasnotour priority right now.
Sparringwith them was insane.
The screams from beyond the maze turned to howls.
I had to save them.
I was one good leap away from the first hedge–but if one of those poisoned tips so much as nicked my shin, I wouldn’t be of use to anyone.
The blasted arrows were hitting the statue like they were following me.
Perhaps I could use that to my advantage.
With my entire body screaming at me to stay put, I leaned my body toward Lunara’s magnificent head and I flicked my leg to the side, wide enough that what was left of my dress billowed toward the statue’s legs.
The arrows followed instantly, like a magnet.
Too many of them shredded the silk before I bolted.
But bolt I did.
I propelled myself with all my strength, one hand grasping my bow like my life depended on it–which it did–and the other reaching out for the maze entrance column. The skin of my palms stung and scraped against the ancient grooves as I swung my body and slammed the inside side of the hedge.
My vision still swam with dark spots when I dove underneath one of the stone benches placed throughout the maze. When we were young and Clan life still only meant going to ceremonies and weird parties where the adults suddenly seemed super serious, my cousins and I used to play hide and seek here and we always–always–used to hide underneath these benches, our giggles giving us away more often than not.
Now I was hiding under one of these benches, hip tilted painfully toward the marble to not touch the fatal arrows strung to my waist, bow clutched so tightly to my chest, the edges dug into my clavicle, trying to keep my breathing in check in case the attackers were hunting us down on foot.
I tried to quiet my lungs and heart and listened to the hiss of the arrows as they tore through the hedge leaves, sizzling everything in their path.
But none of them ricocheted off the low bench. Which meant the hedges were too tall to get the right angle. As long as I stayed low to the ground, I had better chances to be safe.
I tried not to think about why so many arrows were followingme.
Horrifying–but it could be useful.
If I could draw them away from–
I turned my head toward the pathway between the hedges and my entire body seized.
Fallen against the underside of the hedge wasTantheIssa.
