Page 54 of Hopeless Sacrifice
“Going there without our army is suicide.” Darrio’s voice interrupts my thoughts, reminding me of what Ryder told me just hours ago.
“You’re right. You should stay with our soldiers.” Stay here. Away from me and away from the danger. “Ryder and I will find him. We’ll taunt him and we’ll bring him here on our terms.”
“That sounds like an awful plan. Dax and I should at least go with you.” Darrio’s hard gaze holds mine, waiting for me to relent.
My head tilts to the side, in a challenging way.
“Show of hands who thinks Darrio should follow me to attack Tristan?” I don’t even look away as I wait for the show of hands that I know will not raise.
Darrio’s lips thin as he looks to Daxdyn and then to Ryder.
“Perfect,” a smile perches on my lips, “let’s go, Ryder.”
I can’t bring myself to look at him as I stride out the door, pushing past a soldier on my way.
Ryder’s boots stomp after me and I don’t pause for him to catch up.
“You know this is a shitty idea, right?”
He protests, but he also knows my reasons.
“Do you have a better idea?”
His silence makes my heart thunder to life with anxiety and adrenaline.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“Nope. For once you get to know what it feels like.”
“Know whatwhatfeels like?”
A smile tilts my lips as I grip his forearm. Realization crosses his features just before I tear us away.
It feels good to give him a taste of his own medicine.
So good that my smile is plastered wide across my face when we land. He stumbles out of my grip, barely righting himself just before his face meets the muddy shore.
“Yeah, that feels like shit.” He coughs hard like he can’t catch his breath and it only makes my smile grow impossibly larger.
Cold water laps against my boots and the sky looks stormier here. The smoke overtakes the heavens, clouding them with pollution. It’s darker here and I start to wonder if I really met Tristan at nightfall or if the sky was just overrun with the darkness of the smoke.
Ryder’s fingers skim down the inside of my wrist.
“Should we start at the castle?” He looks out into the heart of the smoky city.
An eerie silence lingers in the air. No mortals or creatures are seen. Everything is unnaturally quiet.
“No.”
“No?”
The hair on my arms stand as a crawling feeling creeps down my spine.
“No, they’re here.”
The gray foam of the sea clings to my boots and my gaze follows the waves out, trailing carefully over the ocean.
White eyes blink back at me. My gaze strains to focus on the white among the dark sea. Slick blue skulls bob within the deep waves. Thousands of them dot the ocean, peppering it with ominous creatures who watch our every move.
Dread drags through my chest as I start to speak.
“I take it back, let’s get to the castle.”
In a flash, Ryder’s magic mingles with mine, ripping me away from the dangerous shores of Juvar.
