Chapter Forty-Six
You’ll Never Carry It Alone
The weight of a life taken. The vow of a love unbroken.
The clash behind them raged louder—iron, flame, and shouted names—but Storne’s voice cut through it all.
“We’re outmanned.”
He swung down from his saddle in one fluid motion, blade already drawn, eyes never leaving the riders closing in.
“Viktor—take her. Get her clear.”
Amerei’s breath caught. “Father—”
“Now!”
Viktor seized her wrist and hauled her onto Ruby’s back behind him. Her arms locked tight around his waist, the strength in her grip defying the tremor beneath it.
“Hold on,” he ordered, heels striking. Ruby surged forward, dirt and pine needles spitting beneath pounding hooves.
Amerei twisted in the saddle once, eyes burning. Her father still stood in the clearing—cloak snapping, blade raised, holding the line that let her flee. The sight seared into her chest as Ruby carried her away.
“Rider,” Viktor bit out, dragging her gaze forward.
A soldier broke from the trees, bearing down fast.
“Give me my sling.”
She fumbled at his belt, hands shaking, and pressed the strap into his palm.
“Viktor—”
“Down,” he rasped.
She slid low against Ruby’s flank just as he twisted, shoulders screaming in protest.
The sling whirred—then loosed.
The stone struck true.
The rider toppled from his saddle with a brutal crack.
Viktor doubled over with a roar.
The sound ripped raw from his chest. Pain lit his shoulders like fire reborn, every muscle seared as if he’d thrown his own skin against the stone.
Amerei reached for him, frantic, but Ruby’s gallop jolted her back. Viktor’s cry tore through her, louder than the thunder of hooves. He clutched his shoulder, every line of him wracked with agony.
“Viktor—stop! You’ll tear yourself apart!”
Her voice cracked, useless against his pain.
His face wrenched, but his eyes burned past it.
“Not yet.”
He hauled himself upright in the saddle, breath tearing from his chest, and seized Ruby’s reins with one scorched hand. The horse veered hard at his pull, racing off the path.
A massive tree lay toppled ahead, its roots clawing skyward, trunk thick enough to shield an army. Viktor’s jaw locked against the fire ripping through him as he forced Ruby behind it—the world narrowing to one command: Get her safe.
Only when the shadows swallowed them did they swing down, Viktor crumbling to his knees, his whole body shivering.
Amerei’s hands hovered uselessly over him as he slumped against the bark. His skin was fever-hot beneath the torn tunic, every breath a jagged wound in her chest.
“Viktor—please—”
He cut her off with a broken gasp, head jerking toward the road.
“Rider.”
Amerei froze.
Hoofbeats thundered nearer—closing fast.
She scrambled to lift him, to drag him deeper into cover, but Viktor’s hand seized hers and pressed something hard into her palm.
Her heart plummeted.
The sling.
“I can’t,” she choked, staring at it as if it were a serpent. “I don’t even know—”
“You can.”
His voice was raw steel, shaking but unbending.
He dragged himself upright, knees sinking into the earth, and pulled her down with him until they knelt together. His hands gripped her hips, rough and trembling.
“You don’t need strength,” he said at her ear. “You have me.”
Tears blurred her sight.
“Viktor—”
“Wind it,” he commanded.
His chest burned with every word, but his eyes never left hers.
“I’ll guide you. Just trust me.”
Her arms quaked as she lifted the sling, fumbling with the stone. He pressed closer, his body shaking against hers, every scar and shiver mapped into her as if they were one heartbeat, one body.
“Left,” he breathed—his power threading through his words, through her.
The air stirred.
“Now… higher. Hold—hold—”
The world narrowed—his Endowment flooding into her veins, their breath and pulse entwined until her heartbeat thundered in his chest.
“Loose!”
She released.
The sling snapped—the stone screamed through the air—and struck true.
The rider fell without a sound.
Amerei’s breath shattered.
The sling slipped from her fingers.
She collapsed against Viktor, shaking violently.
His arms crushed her close, desperate, as if he could hide her from what she’d just done.
“You did it,” he said, voice fraying. “Dask, Amerei, you did it. You saved us.”
“I killed him.”
The words broke on her lips, small, terrified.
Viktor pressed his mouth hard to her temple, holding her as if his strength alone could atone for both of them. His body convulsed with pain, but he clung tighter, voice fierce and breaking.
“No. We killed him. And I swear—”
His whisper seared against her hair.
“—you’ll never carry it alone.”