Page 37 of Of Stars and Lightning
Bows.
Taut and ready.
Anxiety gripped her throat. "They want to kill me?”
“Us, I think. But everyone wants to kill me beyond these walls.”
He brought his arm overhead, shielding them from the threats above with his Ward. Sol traced the violet veins with her gaze and sank deeper into the saddle.
The soldiers watched them with razor focus as they trotted by, some stoic, but most scowling. They had almost cleared them, almost reached the front of the gate, when one of them said, “Maybe she's not his whore, but he’s hers...like his father was to Irene.” Sol shut her eyes and dug her fingers into Lilah’s mane.
Cas pulled them to a stop.
She didn’t have to know the full story to know that the sentence was likely that soldier’s last.
“You might want to keep facing forward, Princess.”
Sol clenched her jaw, recognizing the threat in his tone. “And miss the show?”
Cas dropped the Ward.
Instantly, they were surrounded by Shadows, wild and angry, snaking through her hair, leaving her in shivers as they spiraled into the air. They lingered for a moment before thrusting left, where the soldier didn’t have so much as a second to scream before the tendrils wrapped around him and lifted him into the air.
“Cas!” Nina jumped off Kahaida and ran to his side. She shook him by the leg, her expression mortified. “Cas, the King will kill you.”
The soldier yelled and struggled while the men around him gaped, some scattering without hesitation.
“He can get in line.”
Sol really should have listened to him when he advised her not to look.
A blood-chilling crack resonated throughout the Dunes as the Shadows coiled around the soldier like snakes, his body falling limp and swelling with blood. The darkness released him only for a Ward to catch the body halfway. It fell on it, then sliced throughit—in pieces.
“Gods damn it, Casimir,” Nina breathed, holding a hand to her forehead.
Without another word, Cas hauled Lilah forward, making Sol jolt with the sudden force. She tried to keep herself together, trying not to hurl her entire insides as the image of the splattering flesh replayed in her mind.
A Ward enveloped them both as Lilah gained speed.
“I do hope you really are who we think you are, Princess,” Cas said from behind her. He tightened the hand that held the reins around her, bringing them closer. “Because if not, both you and I are dead.”
Twelve
THE UNSETTLED
IT WAS THEstrangest feeling.Like separating into billions of particles and then slamming back together, or a jolt of lightning racing through every nerve and inch of skin. It left Sol dizzy and covered with the sensation of crawling static.
They stumbled into cold air, and not the damp chill of Spring. It was a dry cold, one that immediately set her teeth chattering. She swayed with Lilah’s gallop, almost toppling over with nausea. As if sensing it, Lilah halted with a stomp. Sol hopped off and vomited into a cluster of bushes.
“Took you long enough.” Sawyer stood a few paces ahead, leaning on Fey. She buckled a heavy-looking fur coat over her leathers. “A few more minutes and I would’ve left you all for a hot bath.”
Sol coughed and braced her hands on her knees with a groan.
“The enchantments have that effect the first few times,” Sawyer offered.
Sol turned to find Nina and Alix galloping through the open wall, materializing from thin air, both engulfed in a wind of fury.
“You idiot.” Nina stopped right next to Cas and slapped him. “We are in Rimemere for five minutes and you’ve already murdered someone.”
