She didn’t have time to worry about it.
She turned to August. “Are you hiding, or are you helping?”
“Helping,” he said immediately.
She pointed to the warriors behind him. “Tell them to get behind the Ruined. Every one of them needs to be wearing their red jackets if they don’t want to accidentally lose their heads. Including you.”
He nodded and turned to shout orders to the warriors. He faced her again and opened his mouth, but his eyes widened as he caught sight of something behind her. He grabbed Em around the waist and pulled her out of the way just in time for a flaming arrow to soar past her head. It landed on the cabin’s porch. Em sucked in a breath and threw August a grateful look.
She extracted herself from his grasp and stomped out the arrow. “Come on,” she said, grabbing his arm and running to the warriors.
In seconds, the warriors were in red and had their weapons drawn. A wall of Ruined stood at the top of the hill, Olivia and Aren at the center. Ivanna stood next to them, her hair blowing in the powerful wind she had created to fan the flames.
Several soldiers raced up the hill, shooting past the Ruined. Jacobo whirled around, fury burned across his features. He pointed at the flames and they slowly moved across the grass before sputtering out. His knees buckled beneath him.
Em raced to the soldiers, yelling for the warriors to follow her. Screams echoed through the night, and she suspected they weren’t those of the Ruined. She knew the screams of a man getting his body twisted by Olivia.
At least ten men charged toward them, the pins on their chest glinting. Em gripped her sword a little tighter. Hunters. She’d killed plenty of them.
Iria and the other warriors pushed themselves in front of Em and August. Metal clinked as swords met. A warrior screamed as a hunter drove his sword into her gut.
Em didn’t see Cas.
She shouldn’t have been looking for Cas. She had more important things to consider at the moment. Like not dying.
A soldier pushed past Iria and lunged at Em, using both hands to draw his sword back as he prepared to strike. She raised her boot and kicked him firmly in the stomach. He grunted and stumbled backward. Iria caught his shoulder and thrust her blade into his back.
Beside her, August grunted as he ducked a swinging sword. Em put a hand on his back, keeping him down as she jammed her sword into the soldier’s stomach.
“Thank you,” August said breathlessly as he straightened.
Em whirled around, blade raised, but there was nothing but red around her. Everyone in blue was dead in the dirt. A warrior extracted his sword from a Lera soldier, scrunching his face at the blood smeared across the blade.
Em turned to the hill, to where about twenty Ruined still stood side by side. There were no more soldiers getting through.
A few of the Ruined slumped to the ground, breathing heavily from their magic use. Jacobo was flat on his back, arms spread wide, a crazed smile on his face.
“Send more next time!” he yelled. “That was too easy!”
Relief washed over Em. They hadn’t lost any Ruined, as far as she could tell. She strode forward, to where Aren and Olivia stood shoulder to shoulder, focused on the scene in front of them. She reached the top of the hill and followed their gaze. August stopped beside her.
The bodies of Lera soldiers littered the bottom of the hill. No, parts of soldiers. Pieces of them were strewn everywhere. Torches were discarded on the ground, burning through the grass. Abandoned swords glinted in the flames. Bile rose in her throat as she scanned the mess for Cas. There was no way to tell.
The remaining soldiers were running away, sprinting as fast as they could to the sparse trees. Olivia directed her magic at one. His head separated from his body.
August turned away. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath.
Em looked back at Olivia and Aren. “I need one—” Her voice came out too quiet, and she cleared her throat. “Olivia, Aren, I need one alive. I have questions.”
“That one,” Aren said, pointing to a man almost to the trees. Olivia nodded and the man came to a sudden stop. He flailed his arms, but his feet remained rooted to the ground.
“Thank you,” Em said. She started down the hill.
“I’m coming too,” Olivia said.
“Ir-Iria, go with them.” August had to choke out the words, like he was about to vomit. Em turned to find he still had his back to them. Iria sheathed her sword as she walked to Em, raising her eyebrows as if asking Em if it was all right. Em nodded.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come, Your Highness?” Olivia asked sweetly. No one had ever said “Your Highness” with such contempt.
August took a step away from them without turning back. “I’m going to go check on my warriors.”
Olivia snickered and strode past Em. She laughed as she bounced over a severed arm.
Iria let out a long breath as she fell into step beside Em. “Is Aren all right?”
Em glanced back at Aren, surprised by the question. His face was blank and his eyes didn’t seem to be focusing. He didn’t look weak, like using his magic had been a big effort. In fact, he didn’t look like anything. It was as if everything about Aren had been sucked away and there was nothing left but an empty shell.
“Em!” Olivia called. She was already standing by the Lera soldier, waving for Em to hurry.
Aren blinked at Em.
Iria chewed on her lip as she watched him. She appeared worried. Should Em have been worried about Aren?
Em turned away, focusing on the soldier in front of her. He shook as Em approached him, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
The man pressed his lips together and looked at Olivia nervously.
“If you tell me why you’re here, I’ll let you go. You can go back and tell them what became of your friends. If you don’t talk, I’ll let Olivia remove all of your limbs.”
“Slowly.” Olivia grinned. “Honestly, I’m hoping you don’t talk.”
“We—we were ordered to attack the Ruined camp,” the soldier said.
“By who?”
“Jovita.”
“Why is Jovita giving orders? Did something happen to Casimir?” Em demanded.
“He …” The soldier stared hard at Em, like he was desperately trying to avoid Olivia’s wild gaze. “He went mad after the death of his parents and what you did to him. Jovita is filling in for him.”
Em reeled back. Cas didn’t go mad. Not the boy who had the presence of mind to escape the Lera castle unscathed. Not the boy who had managed to slip out of the warriors’ wagon and make his way to the jungle alone. She didn’t believe that he’d broken after surviving all that.
“And who told you that? Jovita?”
“And the advisers.” The soldier sounded defensive suddenly.
“And where is your supposedly mad king now?”
“Jovita locked him up for his own protection.”
Em pressed her hands to her forehead. With Jovita in charge, the Ruined were no longer safe. The pact she’d made with Cas meant nothing.
She looked over her shoulder at the bodies. “Is she out there? Did Jovita come with you?”
“She helped us into Ruina, but then she turned back. She’s returned to Lera by now.”
“How brave,” Olivia said dryly.
“Is Cas at the fortress?” Em asked.
The soldier hesitated, licking his lips.
“You probably need both legs to run, right?” Olivia said, pointing at them. “So you wouldn’t like it if I ripped one off right now?”
“Yes,” the soldier said quickly. “He’s at the fortress.”
“Good.” Em gestured at her sister, and Olivia stepped closer. Em leaned in, whispering in her ear. “Kill him. Quickly.”
Olivia whirled around, waving her finger in a circle. The soldier’s neck snapped. His body crumpled to the ground. Iria jumped.
Olivia gave Em an approving expression. “I thought you were going to let him go.”
“I was, but I couldn’t let Jovita know he’d told me all that. She’d expect our next move.”
“What’s that?”
Em hooked her sword to her belt. “I’m going to find Jovita. And kill her.”
ELEVEN
AREN COULD SENSE humans still in the area.
He could feel their heartbeats pulsing through his body. There was one down the hill who wasn’t quite dead yet, and his slow, unsteady heartbeat was like a drum thumping in the night.
Em, Olivia, and Iria were walking back his way, deep in conversation. Couldn’t Olivia hear that heartbeat?
“We’ve already been to the fortress,” Iria was saying. “You can’t storm back in without a plan.”
“We’ll make a plan,” Olivia said.
“We’re not going straight to the fortress,” Em said. “We invade Vallos. The warriors have conquered the land north of the fortress. We’ll take the south, and Jovita will be trapped. We’ll force her out.”
Olivia jumped excitedly. “Perfect. When do we leave?”
“You need reinforcements,” Iria said. “Let August send word to Olso that we need more warriors.”
Aren blinked at the dead bodies in front of them. Did they need more warriors? He and Olivia had killed all these people, with minimal help from the other Ruined.
“We would appreciate that,” Em said. “But I won’t wait for them to get here. They can meet us in Vallos.”
“I’m not sure that’s the best …” Iria’s words faded away as Aren started down the hill. Someone called his name. He ignored them.
He almost tripped over something, and a swell of panic rose in his body when he realized it was a head.
A torch on the ground was still lit, casting a glow over the carnage in the immediate area. He should turn back. He didn’t want to see.
But the thump-thump wouldn’t stop calling to him. It was louder than the voices calling to him, louder than the strong heartbeats of the warriors.
He stopped next to the man. Aren stared into his face because he couldn’t force himself to look at his mangled body.
Had he injured this one? He didn’t know. It had been too dark to see their faces. There were too many of them.
The man moaned. Aren wasn’t sure he was exactly conscious. Maybe. Maybe he was in pain.
The numbness left his body in a rush. He wanted it back as soon as it was gone. The boulder that had settled into his chest was almost too much to bear. Tears pricked his eyes.
Why was he crying? He didn’t cry for Lera soldiers who had just attacked him.
Solia, take his soul into your care and forgive him any—
The prayer crossed his mind unbidden, and he cut it off before he could finish. He didn’t pray for humans. He should have cursed his soul, not asked the ancestors to care for it.
He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He snapped the man’s neck. The force of using his magic echoed through his body, and his shoulders slumped forward. It was the only kill tonight that had taken anything out of him. Olivia’s instruction was perfect.
Something touched his shoulder, and he whirled around, grabbing the offending hand. He was breathing hard—why?—and Iria jumped, trying to pull her hand away. He didn’t let go.
He could see her fear. He was usually perfectly happy to terrify people, but he didn’t like it from her. This girl who had risked her life to join him in the Lera castle, who had helped him in the jungle, she shouldn’t have been scared of him.
She pulled at her hand again and he released her. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“I was making sure everyone was dead.” His voice sounded calmer than he felt. “No surprises.”
She nodded, but her eyebrows crinkled together as she studied him. She could tell something was wrong. He quickly turned away.
“Aren! Come on!” Olivia yelled from behind him.
“I’ll be there in a minute!” he called without turning around. He stepped over a body.
A hand wrapped around his arm, pulling him to a stop. “I’m pretty sure they’re all dead, Aren. Come on.” Iria’s voice was soft, gentle, and he glanced over his shoulder at her. The flash of fear he’d seen was gone, replaced by something else. Understanding, maybe. Did she understand? He hadn’t said anything.
“I’m sorry you had to do this,” she said. Her fingers slid down to his hand and he jerked away. She pulled her arms into her chest, and he was tempted to grab her hand again and tell her he didn’t mind, he just hadn’t been expecting it.
“Do Ruined say a prayer after killing in battle?” she asked.
“Some do. I don’t really pray anymore.”
He forgot sometimes that she’d known his mother, the castle priest. She’d known the younger, happier Aren who prayed and believed his life would be happy.
The smell of blood around him was suddenly too much. He turned on his heel, grabbing Iria’s hand and pulling her with him, away from the bodies. He dropped her hand as they reached the top of the hill, where Em and Olivia were standing with the Ruined council. Olivia frowned at him, and he quickly walked away from Iria and joined their circle. Mariana and Davi were leaning against each other in exhaustion, and Jacobo was on the ground, his hands pressed into the grass. Elemental Ruined claimed that connecting with the land after using their powers restored them. Only Ivanna appeared unruffled from the battle.
“It’s a good idea,” Ivanna was saying to Em. “We can’t sit here and wait to be attacked anymore. If the warriors go with us, we shouldn’t have a problem invading a smaller Vallos town.”
“We don’t need the warriors,” Olivia snapped.
“Yes, we do,” Ivanna said. “Emelina is right. She killed the Vallos princess; their people may very well attack us after we invade. And she’s smart to consider a marriage alliance with August. We—”
“I’m sorry, what?” Aren asked.
“I was telling them about a conversation I just had with August,” Em said. “August was sent here to marry the Ruined queen. It could be a smart move for us.”
Aren winced, and Em lifted one shoulder, like she’d resigned herself to the idea. First the prince of Lera, now the prince of Olso. Aren didn’t envy Em’s suitors.
“We’re not seriously considering this,” Olivia said. “Ruined do not partner with humans.”
“Things are different now. We can’t keep isolating ourselves,” Davi said.
“And what will partnering with them get us? More of this?” Olivia swept her arm in the direction of the Lera soldiers.
“The warriors helped us, Liv,” Em said quietly.
Olivia shot her a furious look. “This time.”
No one responded to that. Olivia turned away. “Don’t come crying to me when they try to murder us in our sleep,” she muttered as she left.
“I’ll convince her,” Em said as soon as Olivia was out of earshot.
“Can we trust you to take charge of this?” Ivanna asked.
Em nodded. “Of course. Prepare the Ruined to leave first thing tomorrow. I’ll make sure the warriors are on board. I’m sure it will require a tentative yes to August’s proposal.”
“And you’re fine with that?” Mariana asked.
Em hesitated for half a second, short enough that no one but Aren would notice. “Yes.”
“Good,” Ivanna said approvingly. “We’ll follow your lead, then.”
TWELVE
“I MEANT IT about force-feeding you.”
Cas didn’t have the energy to roll over and face Galo. He pulled his knees closer to his chest and sank deeper into his mattress. His bad shoulder was stiff from days in bed, and he winced as he shifted.
The room had been dark, but light filled the space as Galo lit the lantern. Cas squinted in the sudden brightness.
Footsteps sounded against the wooden floor, and Galo was in front of him suddenly. His anger melted in
to concern. He pressed the backs of his fingers to Cas’s forehead.
“You’re burning up,” Galo said.
“I’m cold.”
Galo disappeared from the room. He returned a few moments later with two women in tow. Cas squinted up at them. Violet and Daniela.
“Is Jovita back yet?” Cas mumbled. His head was full of cotton. “What happened?”
“She’s back; the soldiers are not. She only went to the border.” Galo pushed Cas’s shoulder, making him roll over on his back. He placed a cool rag on Cas’s forehead.
Daniela unbuttoned his shirt, and he frowned down at her hands. “I’m going to rub some medicine on you, Your Majesty. It should make you feel better.”
“Is anyone else sick?” Galo asked.
Daniela shook her head as she slathered a cool ointment on Cas’s chest. “Not that I’ve heard.”
Galo looked from Cas to the half-eaten breakfast tray next to the bed.
“I ate some,” Cas murmured. “Are you happy now?”
Galo didn’t respond as he strode over to the tray. “Who makes his meals?”
“Blanca,” Violet said. “The chef.”
“Go get her for me.”
Violet ran out of the room and came back only moments later. Blanca was with her. Both of them looked worried.
Blanca rushed over to his dinner tray and Galo followed her. They began whispering.
“I didn’t prepare that soup,” Blanca said, her voice rising a little.
“The soup is the best part,” Cas said, his eyes fluttering shut. He wondered who prepared the soup. Maybe they should take over in the kitchen.
“Who takes the tray to him?” Galo’s voice was tight.
“There’s a soldier. He shows up to the kitchen at every mealtime. George.”
“Mateo!” Galo yelled. His boots pounded against the wood. He said something Cas couldn’t hear.
“Have you had that soup often, Your Majesty?” Violet asked.
“A few times recently,” he mumbled.
A flurry of movement happened around him, and he hoped they were all leaving. He needed some sleep.
“Cas!” Galo’s voice startled him from his sleep. He was on the floor. When had he moved onto the floor?