The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1)(91)

I’ll be there soon. Don’t hurt them.

Hurt . . .

No, you will not hurt them. You are not a killer. You are stronger than Irina thinks you are. Hold out a little longer. I’m almost there.

Wait. He seemed to be struggling to find another word. As the water surged around another corned and plunged down the cobblestones toward the cottage, he sent her an image of himself with a scarf tied around his mouth.

She won’t let you tell me something?

The water arced gracefully toward the cottage’s tidy lawn.

Kol was nowhere to be seen.

Gabril readied himself to jump as Lorelai spoke softly to the water’s heart.

And then as the water deposited Gabril and Lorelai on the withered grass beside the blue front door and receded back toward the Silber River, Kol whispered, Trap.

“Gabril, watch out!” Lorelai cried as what looked like an entire regiment of the queen’s soldiers, their eyes glassy and unfocused like the villager’s eyes had been in Nordenberg, stood up from their hiding places behind trees, fence posts, and the surrounding cottages, and converged on Lorelai and Gabril.

Instantly, Sasha rose into the air and arrowed toward the closest soldier. Gabril pivoted, sword out to face the threat, and Lorelai caught a flash of movement inside the house.

Kol? Are you inside with his family?

Must . . . hurt. His voice broke. No. I won’t. Help . . . me.

I’m going to help you as soon as I take care of the soldiers attacking us. She crouched and pressed her hand to the ground, careful to tell its heart that she wanted no injury to come to any of the soldiers. No one else in Ravenspire was going to die for the sake of Irina.

The ground rippled and shook, and thick strands of wiry grass shot out of the dirt to wrap around wrists and ankles, sending soldiers crashing down where they remained shackled to the lawn. With her back to the house, Lorelai focused on sending a snare toward each approaching soldier while also trying desperately to keep Kol focused on her.

“Gabril!” A woman’s voice rose in panic, followed by screams of terror. Gabril wheeled away from Lorelai and ran toward his house.

Kol! What are you—

Kol sprinted around the corner of the house and launched himself in front of Lorelai as a group of soldiers, taking advantage of Lorelai’s momentary distraction, cut themselves loose and attacked.

Why did Ada scream? Lorelai asked, dreading the answer until she saw that Kol didn’t know. As soon as he’d seen that Lorelai was under attack, he’d abandoned his mission in favor of defending her.

So what had scared Ada? The sight of soldiers running toward her husband? Before she could figure out the answer, another wave of attackers rushed onto the property and straight for Lorelai.

Sasha screamed in fury and attacked, colliding with a woman and then whirling midair to dive toward another.

Kol was a blur of motion. He spun into one man and then sent a woman to her knees. Lorelai ducked as a sword fell toward her neck, and then Kol was there, grabbing the sword with his bare hands.

She cried out a warning, but Kol didn’t need it. The heat from the dragon’s fire in his chest had spread throughout his body, and the blade melted as he held it.

Lorelai somersaulted beneath another sword and slammed her hands onto the ground again, desperately calling up more vines, trying hard not to use her magic to hurt those who were only fighting because a mardushka had bespelled them.

No matter how many vines she called forth, however, more soldiers kept coming. And not only soldiers, she realized. Nobility. Upper gentry. Peasants. Even children.

A chill swept over her. She couldn’t defeat them all without injuring them. There were too many, and she didn’t dare use up her strength when she still needed to face Irina. She had to stop fighting and start running.

It was time to flee this cottage.

Let’s go, she said to Kol, but he ignored her in favor of launching himself at a well-dressed man in a silk cravat who was coming at Lorelai with an upraised cane.

These are innocent people, and we can’t defeat them without hurting them. Are you listening to me? Kol!

She felt the change in him before she saw it. The darkening of his mind. The burn of agony that ignited his dragon heart. The cold, precise thoughts of a predator.

He turned toward her, his amber eyes feral.

Run. His voice was guttural and hoarse. Prey.

Don’t let Irina have you. Fight this, Kol. Her heart pounded and magic screamed through her blood as she reached for him. She wasn’t going to lose him. She wasn’t going to lose another person she cared about to Irina. A flicker of awareness crossed his face as she stepped toward him, followed immediately by horrified fear.

And then his thoughts opened wide to her, and it wasn’t his voice anymore. It was Irina’s.

The Eldrian king is mine. Gabril and his family are mine. My guards have them halfway to the castle by now. You have no one left. You’re a little fledgling mardushka, and you are no match for me.

Lorelai lunged for Kol, her hands reaching, but he was gone. Twisting away from her. Running toward the castle. Following the crowd of soldiers who’d already taken Gabril and his family to Irina.




THIRTY-SEVEN


“KOL!” LORELAI YELLED, but it was too late. He was too fast, and she was surrounded by a throng of bespelled people determined to kill her to satisfy their queen.