Ruined (Ruined, #1)(63)

The old man made a strange gasping sound as he fell, the blood draining down his bare chest.

The young man had disappeared, and Cas whirled around, frantically scanning the area. The man was standing on a fallen tree right behind Cas, sword poised. He jumped before Cas could react.

Cas darted out of the way, but not before the blade sliced across his bad shoulder. He stumbled as he felt blood start to trickle down his arm.

The young man grabbed him by the hair, and Cas tried to pull away, yelling as the pain shot through his scalp. He dropped to his knees. The young man stepped in front of him. Cas felt the metal of a blade against his skin, and he squeezed his eyes shut.





TWENTY-EIGHT


TWO WARRIORS AND four horses waited near the riverbank. Iria and Koldo greeted the two men, but Em hung back with Aren, surveying their weapons and supplies. The two new warriors were fresh and clean next to the four travelers—their red-and-white coats were crisp and their faces weren’t drawn and exhausted. They both had swords, and probably a knife or two hidden somewhere.

“This must be the famous Emelina Flores,” a warrior with a mustache said, striding over to her. “I’m Miguel.”

“Em.” She jerked her head to her friend. “Aren.”

“Nice to meet you both.” He gestured at his warrior buddy. “This is Francisco. I’m glad we found you. We were starting to think you weren’t coming.”

“We’ve had to travel on foot,” Iria said.

“Did you come from the castle?” Em asked hurriedly. “What happened?”

Matching grins spread across Miguel’s and Francisco’s faces. “The castle is ours. The king is dead.”

Relief and dread smacked against her all at once.

“The rest of the royal family has gone missing,” Miguel continued, and she almost collapsed from relief. “We assume they’re headed for Fort Victorra, so we’ll take care of that when we arrive. We’ve informed some of the locals out here that there is a sizable reward for killing any member of the royal family.”

Iria’s eyes flicked briefly to Em before she smiled at the warriors. “Wonderful. Should we keep going then? Aren and Em, you’ll need to share a horse.”

The sounds of a man grunting echoed through the trees. Em whirled around, searching for the source of the noise.

She could hear rustling and heavy breathing, followed by a yell. A fight, maybe. Everyone remained still. She wrapped her fingers around her sword.

A flash of blue streaked across her vision and disappeared from view. She stepped to the side, craning her neck to see around the trees.

Her heart stopped.

It was Cas, on his knees with a blade to his throat. A man with a sword set his mouth in a determined line, preparing to slice Cas’s neck.

She was moving before she realized she was going to him, ignoring the shouts from behind her.

Cas was out of sight suddenly, and for a terrible moment she thought the man had succeeded in killing him. But he rolled away from the blade and jumped up, moving faster than she’d ever seen. And she’d thought he was giving it his all when they sparred.

She leaped over a vine, her fingers sweaty around the hilt of her sword. Cas slammed his body against the man, knocking them both to the ground.

Cas scrambled to his feet. He had the sword. She skidded to a stop a few paces from him just in time to see him plunge the sword into the man’s chest.

He whirled around, bloody sword still poised in front of him. Their eyes met.

He was dirty and his pants were smeared with something dark—probably blood. He wore a blue staff shirt that was only half buttoned and covered in grime. Deep, dark circles marred the flesh under his eyes. He’d aged three years instead of three days.

His face twisted, and she caught a full glimpse of just how much he hated her. He hated her with everything he had, hated her with more intensity than he’d ever felt about anything.

He lunged at her, and she barely raised her sword in time to block his attack. The sound of their blades crashing together echoed through the forest, and her heart began to beat so fast she felt sick.

“Cas—” She gulped back the words as he dove at her again. He nicked her neck with the blade and she scurried back, away from him.

He followed, shoving his sword dangerously close to her chest. She blocked it and lifted her sword against the next attack.

He slammed his foot into her knee. Her legs buckled and she hit the ground, keeping a tight grip on her sword. She started to scramble to her feet.

Cas had his blade aimed at her neck.

She sucked in a breath. He was gasping for air, his expression twisted and furious. He wasn’t just angry; he was going to kill her.

She considered saying she was sorry, but she wasn’t sure she wanted those to be the last words she ever said.

The blade in front of her face shook a tiny bit, and she looked from it to Cas. He pressed his lips together, the saddest defeated expression crossing his face.

He started to lower the blade.

Every part of her body crumpled in relief. She opened her mouth, desperately trying to think of what to say that wouldn’t make him change his mind and kill her immediately.

“I—”

Her words ended in a gasp as an arrow whizzed past her face. Cas stumbled backward as it sank into his flesh.