Dust kicks into the air as I grab a small rock and scramble to my feet. They close in on me, their cruel laughter piercing my ears.
"Get away from me!" I scream.
When the same man from earlier reaches for me, I hit him with the rock, striking him between the eyes. He sways and touches his forehead as I rock back on my heels. Fury radiates from him as he removes his hand, seeing the blood.
Before I can react, he pulls a rune imbued with fire magic from his cloak and throws it at me. It hits my legs, sending flames searing up my body with alarming speed. I gasp, horror seizing me as I stumble back from the heat. The flames follow me, its fiery tendrils leaping toward my face. I cough as the smoke fills my lungs.
This is not how I die!
A throwing knife slices through the air with deadly precision, striking the man wielding fire magic in the throat. His flames recede, and I jerk back, my heart pounding as I instinctively rub my skin, anticipating the searing pain that doesn't come. I rub again, expecting the agony of burns, but it’s simply not there.
What’s happening to me?
Frantically, I pat my face, dreading what I’ll find.
Nothing.
A second knife pierces the air, finding its mark in the back of another attacker. As he crumbles to the ground, Jasce emerges through the smoke, his sword drawn, and his eyes locked on my remaining assailants.
Run!
I sprint away from the danger, pushing through the pain in my knee and the fear pounding in my chest. Trees and buildings blur together as I focus on my sole objective—escaping.
As I near the gate, a guard looks at me, but he doesn’t lift the portcullis. Instead, he stares blankly, refusing to give me the freedom I crave.
“Lift it,” I say, my voice wobbly and not at all commanding.
He continues to stare, his eyes locked on mine.
“Please,” I add, desperate for freedom, for a life beyond Darhavva and the House of Crimson.
His gaze shifts, focusing beyond my shoulder, and my heart sinks to the cobbled street.
I was so close.
ChapterFive
I exhaleas Jasce steps into my line of sight, holding a broadsword covered in blood. Nausea rises in my throat as he leans over and wipes the blade in the grass.
“Lyra.” As he straightens, he slips the sword into his weapon belt. “Why did you try to run away?”
My pulse races harder and harder. “Did you kill those men?”
Fierceness smolders in his honey-colored eyes. “Nobody touches my wife.”
I turn away from him and let out a ragged breath. “Just let me go.”
Please, let me go.
I don’t belong here.
He moves to face me and lifts my jaw, tilting my face toward his and speaks in a voice smelted with steel. “If you run, I will chase you. If you hide, I will find you.”
Ice freezes my veins as I remember those men in the cages. “Please, Jasce. I don’t belong here.”
“Yes, you do.”
Frustration builds inside me as I shove his hand away, but he grabs my arm, keeping it secure in his grip. “Let’s go home.”
