Page 79 of A Heart of Crimson Flames
“That’s a big ‘if.’ ”
A chorus of laughter circled up from below us and we all stilled to listen to the conversation.
“I knew you hadn’t forsaken the cause, Kian,” Rasil said. I leaned forward to see him clapping the man on the back.
“Who is that?” I whispered to Sadie.
She leaned in until her lips were an inch from my ear. “Navin’s traitor brother, Kian.”
“That’s Kian?” I balked. “He betrayed you again?”
Sadie let out a little growl beside me.
“I will always remain loyal to our brethren,” Kian said, his arrogant voice easily echoing up to the balcony.
“I’ll hold his arm while you stab him,” I whispered to Sadie.
Mina waved to me from the corner, catching my eyes as she signed, “Wait for it.”
My brows creased as I looked from her back to the people gathered below. Then my mouth fell open in silent shock. Was this what she had meant when she’d signed, “Leave it with me”? Her plan to get the Songkeepers to Highwick? Theold friendshe needed to speak to was Kian?
Blasts of power echoed from the distant reaches of the castle. I feared it was Nero tearing into everyone who hadn’t fled. How many more were still trapped? I wondered if Verena and her pack had made it out. Were the rest of our armies now dead in the castle? Had some managed to run? We had made a dozen different plans, but none of them involved Nero becoming a sorcerer. It was every Wolf for themself now.
We wouldn’t have long until Nero picked us all off. He was like a cat playing with its prey. I wondered if he did it onpurpose—felling us one at a time so that he could enjoy each of his kills. Maez’s tactics in the snow in Taigos had been to cut down her enemies in a single strike. But Nero seemed to delight too much in the killing to make it so quick.
We needed to get him into a more strategic position, one in which we could circle him from all sides, draw him out. Even then, it would probably be a death sentence, but with the element of surprise, maybe we could get close enough to ram him through with a sword. Or...
I shook Sadie’s arm. “Where’s the dragon?”
Her mouth tightened, the muscle in her jaw popping out at she shook her head. “A new monster was created—that’s how Nero took that dark magic,” she whispered. “The beast that was conjured from it chased our dragon into the night. I don’t know where she is.”
Her words flooded me with ice.No dragon. We were well and truly fucked.
“Quickly, brother,” Rasil said, cutting my attention back to the room below. “Teach us the song. How can we control these Wolves?”
“You mean besides with a juicy rabbit?” The group chuckled and waited as Kian leaned back in his chair, taking his time.
My heart thundered, thinking back to Briar. I wondered if I could just turn and bolt the way we came, but Grae held me tight, knowing my intentions.
“With haste, Kian,” Rasil growled and the rest of the Songkeepers hiding on the balcony stifled laughs.
“Perhaps I had underestimated him after all,” Sadie whispered to Navin.
“Maybe he needed us to sell the lie,” Navin replied.
“Well, it certainly worked,” Sadie muttered. “I almost killed him.”
When Kian finally began to sing, it wasn’t at all what I had expected... No, as I strained my ears to listen, the bodies around me started shaking with laughter.
I’d heard this song in the boisterous taverns of Allesdale. It was a lewd sea shanty. One that had even me blushing.
Kian’s song was cut off abruptly as Rasil’s fist collided with his face. Kian spat blood to the side, painting the wall scarlet.
“Was that not it?” he asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Maybe it was the one about the fairy and the giant?”
Rasil punched him again, whipping his head to the side like a limp doll.“Traitor.”
“If you’re trying to insult me, try another word. That only affects me when people I care about use it.” He paused to spit more blood onto the table. “People like Mina. She told me to contact you, that you’d be foolish and arrogant enough to take the bait—”
