AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’ll assume Ivy is to blame and resume his call for her execution.
In my silence, the curiosity in Rheave’s smooth face dims. His brow furrows before he speaks more hesitantly than before. “What if it wasn’t the scourge sorcerers who attacked? We know that Ivy would never have purposefully hurt those people, but her magic didn’t always let her think right. It wouldn’t be her fault.”
Casimir shakes his head emphatically. “Ivy hadn’t used her magic at all in over a day. It wouldn’t make sense for the madness to come over her all of a sudden like that, so much stronger than before. And she never spoke to us mockingly even in the worst past times.”
Our lover’s parting words echo up from my memories. I got what I needed, and now we’re done. Did you really think I cared about you? You’re ridiculous, all of you.
It didn’t sound remotely like the woman I’ve spent nearly every waking minute with for weeks. The cracks of insanity that’d wriggled into her mind made her paranoid and jumpy, not sneering.
Every particle of my body rejects the possibility that those claims came from Ivy, regardless of her state. Even the laugh she let out sounded forced.
A group of scourge sorcerers who weren’t part of the march must have launched a new attack—striking down Hessild and then wrenching Ivy away from us.
Unfortunately, they covered their tracks so well that I couldn’t manage to follow her. I ran back to my mount as quickly as I could to give chase, but by the time I launched the stallion into motion, it was as if the woman I love had vanished.
My hand drops to the pocket at my hip. The locket all of us except Rheave carry matching copies of hasn’t given off the pulse of its magical signal all day.
If Ivy regained control of the situation, she’d come back to us or signal us to come to her, wouldn’t she? Which means she’s still trapped… or she’s no longer capable of reaching out at all.
The knot in my gut squeezes tighter, but I can’t deny logic. Regardless of the power the scourge sorcerers can summon from the accomplices they’ve had mutilated, nothing can rival Ivy’s boundless riven magic.
They could very well have wanted to simply eliminate her to ensure she couldn’t interfere with their plans any further. Perhaps I couldn’t find her… because she was already gone.
My hand balls at my side. I lift it to tap down my front in the gesture of the divinities.
If that’s the case, those miscreants will pay beyond any punishment I already hoped to inflict on them. But Sabrelle give me strength, let it not be true. Let her still be alive.
Let us find her.
I square my shoulders, girding myself. “Let’s wander a little closer to the palace. Now that it’s dark, we don’t have to worry quite as much about being recognized.”
Alek nods. “Nothing appears to have gone wrong here yet. We should take that as a good sign. Ivy may have escaped already and simply be waiting until it’s safe to reach out to us. She knows how to extricate herself from a dangerous scenario.”
As we head toward the palace, Rheave’s strides take on a renewed energy. “Yes. Our little vine doesn’t let anyone stop her. The next time we see her, she might have totally destroyed the Order of the Wild all on her own.”
I wish I could summon the same optimism. Tension stays coiled tight around my innards.
It is true that there’ve been no disturbances in the city. If any fighting had broken out, we’d have noticed?—
A distant thump brings my head snapping around. A squeak of a cry reaches my ears, followed by a thunder of pounding footsteps.
My pulse skips a beat. I jerk my hand toward my companions, already swiveling to track the sounds. “This way!”
The commotion is coming from the general direction of the palace, but not straight ahead. I dash down the street and take a right turn with the other men at my heels.
Whatever’s going on might not have anything to do with the scourge sorcerers, but we need to know for sure.
There’s another thump and a gasp sharp enough to carry past the nearby buildings. I sprint faster, my heart thudding in my chest.
Could that be Ivy fleeing her captors?
We dodge a cart and skid to a stop at the edge of one of the city’s broader roads.
Six figures are racing through the darkness, hurtling toward us. Heavy velvet cloaks flap around the three being chased, the form in the middle gripping the other two’s arms as if urging them on.
Less than a block behind them and closing the distance with every step, three palace guards charge in pursuit. Their expressions are set with stern determination.
My legs lock up with the uncertainty about who the actual victims here are.
