Page 134 of The Gilded Cage
“Thanks,” she said, grimacing as she rubbed feeling back into her fingers.
“You carry Tipp,” Rhess instructed. “I’ll need my hands free in case we have to fight our way —”
She stopped abruptly at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching, her wide eyes telling Kiva to return her arms around her back and act as if she were still bound.
“Oh, look, lover girl is awake,” the tattooed man said after reappearing from behind the same stack of crates with his pale companion. “No word from your prince, yet. We’re having trouble getting our messages through with how busy the palace is. You better get comfortable, girlie, because —”
Whatever he’d been about to say was interrupted when Rhess launched herself at him, barreling the full weight of her body directly into his gut. He doubled over and snatched for her, but she pulled back quickly, his sword in her hands and slicing through the air.
She was fast, but his pale companion intercepted her blade with his own, returning with a thrust that barely missed slashing open her throat.
Despite having next to no training, Kiva couldn’t let Rhess take on the two massive men alone, so she scrambled to her feet. She’d barely made it three steps before Torell came flying out from behind the crates, his Jackal mask on and a sword in each hand, shouting,“Stay there!”to Kiva as he dived straight into the melee.
The clash of blades rang in Kiva’s ears as Rhess and Tor faced off against the Mirravens, the sound drawing more men and women, all of them wearing the same gray fighting leathers as their abductors.
Kiva lunged for Tipp, dragging him as far away as she could, stopping only when they reached a cluster of wooden barrels pushed into the corner of the warehouse, where she hovered protectively over him, watching the battle unfold.
Tor and Rhess were outnumbered — by a lot.
And yet they were holding their own, fighting back to back, their swords blurring in the air, bodies falling in their wake.
They’d done this before.
It was clear in the synchronized power of their attacks, in the way they covered each other’s vulnerable sides and yelled instructions to each other— “Duck!” “To your left!” “On your right!” “Jump!”
Kiva watched in awe as their enemies continued to fall. Her confidence grew with every slain body, but she still remained on edge, fearing the two rebels, no matter how good, couldn’t keep up their defense against such an unrelenting force.
But then the Mirravens started to thin, with more of them on the ground than were standing, many groaning, many more still. Rhess and Tor were moving slower now, numerous cuts and slashes over them both, but still, they fought on.
Until, suddenly, there was no one left to fight.
Their chests heaving, Tor and Rhess stood in place for one long moment, staring at the mess around them. Rhess shook herself out of it first, moving toward where Kiva and Tipp remained in the corner. Kiva thought she might have heard the slightest of moans from the young boy then, as if he were waking, but just as she turned to him, something caught her eye.
The tattooed man had faked his defeat.
He rose silently behind Tor, unnoticed by her brother or Rhess, both of them looking in Kiva’s direction.
“TOR!”she screamed.“BEHIND YOU!”
Tor whirled too late to mount a defense, the Mirraven already upon him.
But then Zuleeka was there in her Viper mask, appearing from behind the crates and slamming into the burly man just as he thrust his blade toward Torell. The three of them were locked together, their bodies so close that it looked as if they were embracing. A loud gasp of pain met Kiva’s ears and the tattooed man sank to his knees, before he collapsed entirely, with Tor and Zuleeka standing above him.
For a moment, no one moved.
And then Tor was falling.
“Torell!”Rhess cried, reaching him just in time to stop him from slamming onto the hard ground.
Zuleeka was staring at their brother in horror.
As was Kiva.
Because the Mirraven’s blade was lodged in Tor’s chest.
For one terrible second, Kiva couldn’t move, couldn’tthink,but then Rhess looked to her and screamed,“HELP HIM!”
And Kiva remembered.
