Shit.
Shit how did they get here through that fog?
Why aren't the guards ringing the warning bell?
I need to get downstairs. I need to grab my parents and run.
I drop the blanket and slam my shoulder into the door. It bursts open, and I sprint down the stairs.
"MOM! DAD! WE HAVE TO RUN!"
But as the front door comes into view, my steps falter.
They're there.
Both of them—bound at the wrists. Five armored figures stand in the doorway, their silhouettes framed by firelight.
My heart sinks.
"Nyra, run!" my father yells, struggling uselessly against his restraints.
I can't move. I can't think.
The one holding the rope turns toward me. Their armor is different—sleeker. The voice is wrong. Neither male nor female.
"Kill her."
Flames bloom as she sets the outside of the cafe alight.
My mother cries out. My father roars in fury as they both fight, only to be dragged away by their captor.
The other four turn toward me.
Oh shit.
I bolt upstairs, shoving shelves and furniture behind me, anything to slow them down. Heavy boots thunder after me.
I slam my bedroom door shut.
Think. Think.
I can't jump—the fall would break my legs or kill me. Neither helps.
My eyes land on the dagger resting on my desk.
I grab it, my hands shaking. I don't know how to use it, but it's all I have.
Bang. Bang.
"Whatever goddess is watching… please," I whisper. "Give me strength."
Bang. Bang.
"My birth parents—if you can hear me—give me courage."
The door explodes inward.
I lunge.
I miss.
A fist slams into my ribs, driving the air from my lungs. The dagger clatters to the floor. I collapse, coughing, my chest burning like it's on fire.
Someone grabs my hair and yanks my head back. I scream.
"Please… stop…"
"You are no warrior, little thing," one of them sneers.
I'm thrown backward. My chair slams into the desk, pain exploding through my spine.
God, it hurts.
Their laughter hurts even more.
"You're meant to be the new candidate?" another scoffs. "They must be desperate."
Suddenly, I'm lifted off the ground.
Fingers crush my throat. I can't breathe.
"So weak," he murmurs. "So pathetic."
This one's different—his armor ornate, his presence heavier. A captain. A general.
It doesn't matter.
I have to do something.
My vision blurs, dark spots dancing at the edges. I reach blindly for his belt.
He pulls me closer, amused.
"I know the Khan said to kill you," he says softly, "but this is far too much fun."
I don't hesitate.
I rip the dagger free and plunge it into his jugular.
Blood erupts—hot, slick—spraying across my face as he drops me. I collapse, coughing, gasping, as he gargles on his own blood.
Chaos erupts.
Two people try to stop the bleeding. Another rushes me.
A fist slams into my face, right between my eye and cheek.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH!"
My vision whites out as I hit the floor. Pain screams through my jaw. Rough hands drag me up by the hair.
Cold steel presses against my throat.
I freeze.
He's about to cut me—
Glass shatters.
Two daggers streak past my face, lightning-fast. Two armored figures fall dead behind us.
The one holding me spins, using me as a shield, just as the balcony doors slam open.
"Let her go."
Kaelith.
His aura blazes brighter than I've ever seen—pure, terrifying death.
How is he here?
How did he escape?
"Drop your weapons," my captor snarls, pressing the blade harder into my neck.
Kaelith growls, then slowly lowers his sword.
"You hunted us for a week," the woman says. "You gutted Gabu."
"Not much of a gutting," Kaelith replies coldly. ""He killed himself. Or was it the one your Leader killed? Hard to say."
"This is your fault," she spits. "You and the 25 are a curse on this world."
I have to move.
I can feel a thumb—unarmored—near my mouth.
I bite down as hard as I can.
Blood fills my mouth, metallic and hot.
She screams.
In an instant, Kaelith is there.
A band on his arm morphs, snapping around her neck. She slams into the ground, clawing desperately at the metal as it tightens, cutting off her air.
She gasps.
Kaelith steps past me, retrieves his weapon, and calmly plunges it into her.
It's over.
Fire roars outside. Screams echo below.
Kaelith turns back toward the balcony and extends his hand to me.
"If you want to survive," he says, voice hard and certain, "you need to come with me."