CHAPTER 22 #2
Her chest ached – she wanted more, Gods she did – but she clung to this instead, holding on tight. He leant into her, his head resting against hers. And right before her eyes drifted shut, his lips brushed her hair.
Or she thought they did.
But she was asleep before she could be sure.
At first, it was distant – hooves, muffled in her dreams. Then closer. Louder. Too many to mistake. Not travellers.
A hunting party.
Kara’s eyes flew open.
The woods were alive with movement. Snapping branches. The thunder of riders. The scrape of metal and flashes of steel in moonslight. Sebastian was already on his feet, sword in hand, crimson blazing. The warmth in him replaced by cold, lethal focus.
“Kara. Get up.” His voice was sharp. Commander, not companion.
She was already moving.
“Sebastian–” she started, scrambling upright, but they were already surrounded. Shadows moving in tight formation. Black and red armour unmistakable even in the darkness.
Thorne soldiers.
The nearest one strode forward.
“Sebastian Thorne. Karalynna Hale. You’re coming with us.”
Kara’s stomach dropped. She could hear the blood in her ears.
No. Please, no.
Sebastian stepped in front of her, his broad shoulders a wall between her and them.
“Leave her,” he snarled, crimson magic crackling along his blade until it looked like an extension of himself.
The soldiers hesitated. Sebastian was one of their strongest fighters. He took advantage of the moment.
“You’re a good man, Markus,” Sebastian said. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Nor do I, my lord,” the man named Markus answered. “But I have my orders.” He nodded towards two of his men.
They broke ranks, heading straight for her, their palms sparking red. Kara lifted her hands. Emerald light spilled out across the distance between them, spreading like mist. The soldiers stumbled, dazed, and she pressed harder, trying to force them under.
One cursed, voice ragged. “Careful – the healer can stop your heart if you get too close.”
Her breath caught. She couldn’t do that, could she? She didn’t know how. But they thought she could. It made them falter, wary, giving her a second to think. She had to protect him. Her magic curled like smoke, surrounding Sebastian like a shield. It obeyed her willingly, without thought.
If they want him, they’ll have to go through me.
Emerald light licked against the crimson blaze of his blade – and where they touched, a faint russet shimmer sparked. The quiet hum of the connection they shared. She shifted closer and her arm brushed his.
The magic grew. Louder. Stronger.
Russet flared into molten gold, spilling outwards from her, so bright some soldiers recoiled, uncertain.
His power surged through her, fiercer than she’d ever felt it.
Her mist thickened, rolling forward. Four soldiers collapsed instantly, unconscious before they could raise their weapons.
Sebastian’s head whipped towards her. No time to wonder what it was.
But she’d use it.
“Take them!” a voice barked.
And they advanced. All of them.
Sebastian fought, their moment of shared magic strengthening him, making him faster, deadlier. He cut down two men like it was nothing. But there were too many.
A hand seized her arm, pulling her sideways. Pain tore through her shoulder. She cried out, “Sebastian!”
He turned. A roar of pure fury split from him, ferocious enough to shake the trees. His teeth were bared, the threat in his expression needing no words. “Get off her!”
Crimson fire lit the dark as he sliced through another man, fighting viciously to reach her.
Three more slammed into him, dragging him back.
He fought – possessed, desperate – clawing towards her through the wall of armour.
She hurled her magic at her captor, free hand straining towards him.
But then one grip became two. Then three.
More than she could count. They forced her arms down.
Nightshade rope bit into her wrists. Her emerald faltered. Faded to nothing.
Fuck. No, no, NO!
“No! NO! Kara!” He was still shouting her name, shoving forward, tearing at men between them. But metal shields slammed into his ribs, driving him down. He staggered to one knee, dragging himself forward, sword gripped tight, carving trenches in the dirt as he forced himself upright.
“Sebastian! No! Get off me!” She thrashed but it was useless. A soldier wrenched her head back by the hair, the cold steel of a dagger held against her throat.
Sharp. Real. One slice away.
She couldn’t breathe.
“Sebastian–” Her voice broke.
He froze mid-swing and their eyes locked over the chaos. It wasn’t anger in his face anymore. It was terror.
Kara swallowed against the blade, trying not to think of how easy it would be for them to end her life.
“Lay your weapon down, traitor, or I cut her throat here and now,” the soldier hissed. The blade pressed harder. She felt a sting, then a warm trickle of blood.
He hesitated. That’s all they needed. More than twenty men converged on him, forcing him back to the ground, wrenching his sword away. His arms were yanked back, and his wrists bound like hers; nightshade.
No! Let him go!
He was still straining against them, as if he could reach her through sheer will alone.
“Kara!” His voice was frenzied. “KARA!”
She screamed his name once before a soldier dragged her upright onto the saddle of a valmare. Through the ringing in her ears, she caught fragments of the soldiers’ voices:
“–split them up–”
“–the girl to the City–”
Don’t take him from me.
They weren’t just captured. They were being torn apart.
Her head snapped back to find Sebastian, still struggling wildly, his gaze fixed on her – wide, furious, desperate – until darkness swallowed him. The valmare beneath her lunged into the night, forest flying past, the rider’s arms locked hard, caging her.
She didn’t need magic to know: as long as Sebastian Thorne drew breath, he would not stop fighting to reach her.