\u201cRiders coming!\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve and I froze just before the tent flap at the sound of Paul\u2019s shout.\u00a0 My breath caught as I turned.\u00a0 She nudged me with her crutch.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo,\u201d she urged.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m coming.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I squeezed her arm and took off at a run toward the gates.\u00a0 I shouted up to Paul in the watchtower as soon as I was close enough that he\u2019d hear me.\u00a0 \u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLooks like four plus an outrider.\u00a0 Outrider\u2019s swinging back now to join them.\u201d\u00a0 He squinted against the sun, facing west.\u00a0 The afternoon was fading fast, faster than I\u2019d anticipated.\u00a0 \u201cPretty sure it\u2019s them.\u00a0 They\u2019re coming from the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart hammered against my breastbone.\u00a0 If there were only five, they either hadn\u2019t found Phelan, or they had and they\u2019d lost someone in the process.\u00a0 Either possibility made my heart hurt so badly I momentarily wanted to die.\u00a0 Please, let him be wrong.<\/i><\/p>\n
I reached the open gates just as the riders came into view from the ground and I saw something that Paul hadn\u2019t–Phelan, pale-faced and seemingly unconscious, riding double in front of Thom.\u00a0 My heart gave a painful squeeze as my gaze met Thom\u2019s over the span of a couple hundred yards.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see his expression clearly, but I knew it was grim.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it them?\u201d<\/p>\n
I tore my gaze away and turned toward Neve, nodding.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s them,\u201d I said as she limped to join me.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re all there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve swallowed hard, hope and fear warring in her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cCameron?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHard to tell from this distance, but he looks fine.\u201d\u00a0 I squeezed her arm before I turned back toward the gap, toward the horses riding in at a canter.\u00a0 Our friends rode as if they didn\u2019t dare push the horses any harder.<\/p>\n
It makes sense.\u00a0 Killing the horses sure as hell won\u2019t get them here any faster.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cPhelan doesn\u2019t look so good,\u201d Neve said quietly, finally seeing what I had a moment before.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I agreed.\u00a0 \u201cHe doesn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe it just looks worse than it is.\u00a0 <\/i>I had no confidence that it was, but I had to hope.\u00a0 I glanced up.\u00a0 \u201cPaul!\u00a0 Get down here and go find J.T.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to need him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I eased forward, beyond the gates and the magic of the wardings as Paul clambered down from the watchtower and went off in search of J.T.\u00a0 Neve limped behind me, balancing carefully on the hard-packed snow.\u00a0 Every foot the horses traveled felt like a mile as we watched them coming toward us.\u00a0 They came into focus slowly–Phelan\u2019s grayish pallor, the dark circles beneath Jacqueline and Cameron\u2019s eyes, the stitched-up gash on Thordin\u2019s cheek, the way Rory hunched in his saddle, one shoulder bulkier than the other under his jacket.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see much of Thom, mounted behind Phelan, his hat pulled low over his eyes.\u00a0 Either he was cold, or there was something he didn\u2019t want us to see right off the bat.\u00a0 All I could do was hope that it was the former and not the latter.<\/p>\n
Please let him be all right.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been through enough, and with Phelan looking like he does…I don\u2019t know that I can handle worse than that, more than that.\u00a0 One of them hurt I can handle at this point.\u00a0 Not both of them.\u00a0 Not anymore.\u00a0 Not at this point.<\/i><\/p>\n
Then, suddenly, they were there, only a few feet away from us, and Cameron was swinging down from his horse\u2019s back to engulf Neve in an embrace and I was moving toward Thom and Phelan.\u00a0 I put my hand on Thom\u2019s leg and he smiled down at me tiredly.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust scrapes and bruises,\u201d he promised softly, squeezing my fingers.\u00a0 \u201cPhelan\u2019s another story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dirae<\/i>,\u201d Thordin said, coming around from the other side of Thom\u2019s horse to start easing Phelan out of the saddle.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll let Cameron and Jacqueline tell the story, but the Dirae<\/i> happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dirae<\/i>?\u201d Neve and I asked in the same voice.\u00a0 She drew back from Cameron just enough to peer up into his face.\u00a0 \u201cHow did that happen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hecate showed up just before Jac and I made it to Phelan,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cThe Dirae<\/i> jumped us first between where we\u2019d broken off from Thordin and Rory and Thom and where we found Phelan.\u00a0 By the time we dodged that ambush and made it to where Phelan was, he was facing off against the Hecate and<\/i> some skinwalkers.\u00a0 One of those bastards did us a favor by attacking Hecate so we could get away, but Phelan caught some claws across his back before we could get mounted.\u00a0 Idiot was trying to tell Jac and I to leave without him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve grimaced and I winced.\u00a0 \u201cThat sounds like him,\u201d she said, glancing toward her limp cousin.\u00a0 \u201cStubborn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a family trait,\u201d Cameron observed dryly, then shook his head a little.\u00a0 \u201cWe got the hell out of there and caught up with the others just as they were mopping up the hamrammr<\/i> they\u2019d been dealing with. \u00a0We\u2019ve been riding for two days to get back.\u00a0 Only stopped a couple of times to change Phelan\u2019s bandages and wash out his wounds and rest the horses a little.\u00a0 It\u2019s been dead quiet out there and it makes me nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shivered.\u00a0 It made me nervous, too.<\/p>\n
By now, Thordin had Phelan slung over his shoulder and was starting to walk deeper into camp.\u00a0 Thom swung down from his saddle and into my ready embrace.\u00a0 He hugged me fiercely for a long moment, then released me.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cJac and J.T. are going to need help with Phelan, and I\u2019m thinking you and Neve are the best help they could ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n
I flinched, looking between him, Cameron, and Jacqueline, who looked exhausted as she slumped from her saddle and leaned against her horse\u2019s flank.\u00a0 \u201cIs it that bad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWorse,\u201d Jacqueline mumbled, scrubbing her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cBut we\u2019ll find a way to nurse him through it.\u00a0 I have to emasculate him later, so he\u2019s got to live so I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that, she straightened and marched off in Thordin\u2019s wake.\u00a0 I choked back a laugh and leaned into Thom\u2019s arms for a moment, aware that even he was wavering on his feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d I managed to say, my voice slightly strangled, \u201cI guess that\u2019s that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGuess so,\u201d Thom murmured.\u00a0 He kissed my temple and gave me a gentle shove.\u00a0 \u201cCome on.\u00a0 You\u2019ll need to make sure she doesn\u2019t collapse and I need you to make sure that I don\u2019t collapse, either.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I can handle that,\u201d I said quietly before I tucked myself under his arm and led him away, Cameron and Neve trailing behind us a few minutes later.\u00a0 We had a long night ahead of us\u2014that was for sure.<\/p>\n
I just hoped that everyone would still be alive by the end of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cRiders coming!\u201d Neve and I froze just before the tent flap at the sound of Paul\u2019s shout.\u00a0 My breath caught as I turned.\u00a0 She nudged me with her crutch. \u201cGo,\u201d she urged.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m coming.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait for me.\u201d I squeezed … Continue reading