“Over there,” one of them says, and they take off.
Kyra’s eyes lock on mine, full of determination, as I lift my hand to begin a silent countdown.
1… 2….3.
We jump up from the bushes and break into a run, heading straight for the horses on the road. My heart hammers in my chest. If I can at least get her on one in time, she has a chance to get away.
“There they are!” one of the men calls out, but I dare not waste time looking back. We have to get out of here now.
Kyra’s long dress catches again in the bushes, and I curse out loud as the men race toward us. They’re on us so quickly, there is no time to escape. I jump in front of her, intercepting the first one. I kick out at him, but he spins away at the last second, avoiding the blow. When he tries to hit back, I do the same.
The other two skirt around me, and I hear Kyra cry out in alarm. Turning my head to dart a quick glance in her direction, pain explodes across my skull as something hits the side of my head. The world spins and tilts all around me before everything goes dark.
A terrified scream startles me awake. My eyes snap open to stare up at the thick canopy of trees as everything comes back into focus. The sound of a struggle nearby makes my heart thunder when I hear Kyra’s voice.
“No!”
I lift my head, and the world spins before righting itself. Not far from where I lie, Kyra is on the ground. Two of the men are holding her down while the other looms above her. Her legs kick and flail wildly as she struggles to free herself.
She manages to pull one arm from their grasp. Grabbing the knife from her boot in one fluid motion she sinks it deep into the closest man’s chest.
He cries out and then falls to the ground, dead.
Kyra scrambles to her feet, but one of the men rushes her. She stumbles backward. Hitting the back of her head on a tree, she crumples to the ground.
Blinding rage courses through me as I race toward the man and barrel into his back, knocking him to the ground. The other one is on me in seconds.
I twist onto my back as red fills my vision. Raising my hands in front of me to push him back, fire jumps from my palms and races toward him. I watch in shock as the flames burst across his chest, knocking him back to the ground.
He writhes on the forest floor in pain; his terrified cries filling the air as I turn to the other one.
“No!” he raises his arms as if to shield himself. “Please! No!”
Focusing all of my rage on him, a ball of fire erupts from my palms, blasting him square in the chest. He bursts into flames like the other, screaming in agony.
I rush to Kyra, dropping to my knees beside her and lifting her into my arms.
“Kyra?”
Her eyelids flutter open and closed.
“Cael,” she barely manages. “Are they gone?”
The sound of crackling flames behind me and the absence of any other sound tells me they’re dead. I’ve never killed a man before. At least, not in this life. But as I glance back at their charred and burning bodies, I feel no guilt or regret for ending their lives. They would have killed us both if they could.
“Yes.”
I lift my gaze to the road. I don’t want to stay here and risk drawing any more attention to ourselves. I look back down at Kyra.
“I’m going to get us out of here. All right?”
She nods weakly. I clench my jaw as my gaze rakes over her form. Her clothes are torn, and her cheek is swollen and bruised from where they hit her. As I lift her into my arms, the fabric falls open even more, revealing the curve of her breast. I lay the fabric back in place to cover her as best I can and carry her toward the horses.
I’m lucky they’re not startled by strangers as we move toward them. There are three of them—two chestnut and one white. I look down at her.
“If I lift you into the saddle, can you hold on?”
She nods. “I—I think so.”
Carefully, I lift her up onto one of the horses.
“I’m going to check the packs for any supplies or money. All right?”
She looks at me. “We should take two of the horses.”
She’s right. For now, we’ll both ride on one, but it would be good to have two for when she is better.
I move to the smallest of the three horses and remove the pack, placing it on the white one we won’t be riding just yet. Then, I remove his saddle and harness to set him free.
Satisfied after I’ve secured everything firmly in place, I take the reins of the white horse’s harness and tie them loosely to the saddle of the horse Kyra is on. Climbing into the saddle behind her, I wrap one hand around her waist. She relaxes back against my chest.
“All right. We’re going to get as far away from here as we can, then find somewhere to sleep for the night.”
“Let’s go,” she whispers. “Before someone else comes.”
With a quick flick of the reigns, the horse moves forward, and we continue down the road. Kyra covers her face as best she can with her hood and I do the same, so we don’t attract too much attention if we pass anyone else on the road. After all, we still don’t know who might be looking for us.
Luckily, we pass no one as we make our way to the next city. It would seem the bandits probably cleared this road of anyone traveling since they came from this direction. I shudder as I
