Page 301 of Commanding Scythe and Sky

I understood then why Rhiannon’s curse had carved pathways beneath stone and marble. Even from the grave, she was protecting her people from beasts like this. And I’d just sent the last of them into a tunnel she’d sealed just in time.

If only all mothers possessed that foresight.

Not all of us were so lucky. The second man stalked toward me, and my magic lashed forward, grappling with his shields in a frantic hunt for his heart. Nothing. His wards held so strong they could’ve given August a run for his money⁠—

But then his knee was between mine.

And I couldn’t move.

My weak attempt to thrash sent agony across my scalp. Tears blurred my vision as the dark spots finally cleared.

A scream lodged in my throat as a mammoth hand closed around my neck before I could call for help.

“Please,” I croaked as warm blood ran down my face, my hands clawing at his. He didn’t flinch when my nails gouged his wrist—but light sparked in dark violet eyes, and recognition froze me.

He slapped me. Pain registered somewhere beneath the white sparks swallowing my vision. My arms were wrenched behind me so violently my shoulders threatened to give. I wanted to thrash. Kick. Scream. But my mouth stopped working, a dull buzz filling my ears while the agony at my scalp pinned me to the monster’s chest.

The world went cold.

Hollow.

Distant.

Their jeers faded at the edges, my mind refusing to make sense of them.

But Cora was safe.

Fletcher.

Cáit.

And it was enough. Had to be. Rough hands shredded the bodice of my dress, baring my body. Cold licked my skin. Hands scraped over my ribs. Deeper still, my mind retreated into the ice that promised silence.

Lace ripped. My breasts were bare. Voices. Muffled jeers. My magic flickered out—a once-bright flame doused.

Rough hands gripped my ass.

Somewhere.

Somewhere far away, I knew it hurt. But I’d reached the familiar crackle and skitter of the glacier, and it closed around me like a tomb I welcomed.

Some distant part of me knew I should be screaming as he hauled me up, legs forced apart while more hands pinned me to the wall. I should’ve been fighting.

“Please.” A rasp. A broken thing. The last word left in a soul cracking open.

Gravity shifted—the world tilting so violently even the jeering monsters snapped their heads sideways.

And then the world went dark.

Male agony shattered the air as shadows erupted.

The hands vanished from my skin, ripped away so fast I crumpled to the floor.

It was all I could do to crawl toward the stone wall while combat exploded around me, dragging breath through a throat so raw it felt blistered.

Had I been screaming?

Snarled curses cut through the fog as the world sharpened and I cowered against cold stone. The shadows dissipated as quickly as they’d appeared, misting away on an unnatural breeze.