Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
He reached the outer wall.
At last, he stopped. The sudden halt jolted her, the world swaying around her in silence. For a breath she only stared at the sheer stone rising above them, higher and broader than anything a human man could scale while burdened. Confusion clouded her panic.
How did he think he was going to haul her over that? Even with his unnatural shadow magic, it seemed impossible.
Then he shifted her.
Unceremoniously, without a shred of care, he adjusted her weight, slinging her more securely over one shoulder. Still like a sack of grain, she thought ruefully, the absurdity biting through her terror for a fleeting instant.
His shoulder flexed beneath her. She felt the shift of muscle through the layers of fabric, the raw, unyielding strength that carried her as if she weighed nothing at all.
The night pressed in cold and merciless, her thin nightgown offering little protection—but his body radiated warmth, heat rolling from him in waves that seeped into her skin.
Such power.
This was the closest she had ever been to an orc… when she wasn’t trying to kill them. She had seen them fall on the battlefield, had seen their blood stain the earth. She had even killed a few herself—on horseback, sword swinging, the distance between them bridged only by steel and fury.
But not like this.
Not bound. Not pressed against one, carried as his captive. Not feeling the raw strength of his body beneath her, nor the shadows curling around them both like a cloak.
Her heart hammered wildly, battering against her ribs. She wasn’t sure anymore if it was only from fear.
Then he began to climb.
Impossibly, as though the very laws of gravity bent to his will, he drove his claws into mortar, finding holds where none should exist. His boots pressed against the stone, steady and sure, as if the wall itself yielded to him.
She couldn’t quite tell how he did it—whether it was brute strength alone, or the writhing shadows lending him aid, she couldn’t be certain.
All she could do was feel.
The brutal power of his body moving beneath her, every cord of muscle taut and coiled with controlled force. For someone so massive, he moved with startling quickness, agility that defied his size. Each motion was precise, deliberate, mercilessly efficient.
She dared a glance, but the night was a blur—stone sliding away beneath them, the courtyard shrinking into obscurity. Her stomach lurched as the height grew dizzying. She clenched her eyes shut again, pressed hard against him, helpless in his grasp.
And then—suddenly—they were at the top.
The wall was scaled.
For the first time since this nightmare began, she heard it: his breathing. Heavier now, drawn deep through his mask, each exhale low and rough against the night air. It wasn’t strained, not quite, but it was exertion, proof that even this creature of shadows had limits.
He stood still, balanced atop the wall as if the height were nothing. The wind swept colder here, cutting across the stone, tugging at her hair and nightgown. His massive frame shifted only slightly beneath her, steady as iron while he surveyed the darkness below.
From her bent-over, twisted-backward vantage point, Eliza caught a glimpse beyond the battlements.
The lands stretched outward, endless and stark in the moonlight. Fields and forests blurred together in shades of silver and black, broken only by the faint red smolder of campfires on the plains. Distant hills loomed like silent sentinels, and beyond them… the unknown.
Her throat tightened.
That was where he was taking her.
Away from her tower. Away from her city. Away from everything she had ever known—into the night, into orc hands, into whatever fate this shadow-cloaked creature chose for her.
Her fear and uncertainty mounted with every breath. The higher they stood, the farther her home slipped away beneath them. She was bound, gagged, helpless, with nothing to cling to but the terrifying awareness of the creature who carried her.
Heat radiated from him, seeping through the thin fabric of her nightgown, every inch of him tightly coiled power. The memory burned in her mind—that only moments ago, this same being had been ready to kill her without hesitation. A single breath had stood between her and death.
And now…
He shifted her weight again, adjusting his grip with ruthless precision, pulling her close against his chest. His arm locked around her like iron.
Then, without pause, without a word, he stepped off the wall.
And jumped into the night.