Page 57 of Savage Crown
Kaelric peered around the tent, frozen for a heartbeat, unsure what to say or do. Finally, the realization loosened him. “I’ve waited for this moment for so long. I never thought my mate would be the one to liberate my people.” He sounded stunned in the best way, as if a dream had finally aligned with reality.
“Girl power.” I winked, trying to nudge him back to the plan. He growled, pulled me into him until I was flush against his body, the familiar heat of his chest pressing me inward. “If you get hurt before I get a lifetime to love you, I’ll never forgive you.”
I grinned and kissed him again. “I promise we have lots of loving to do.”
Something fierce bloomed inside me, and I felt the edges of calm snap into action. I stepped back, shoulders squared, and burst from the tent.
‘Hang on, Val. I’m coming,’I called into the dark, feeling the words like a vow. Anger sharpened my voice into something hotter than fear. I was beyond pissed, and it felt good.
Chapter Thirteen
Godric and I made it to the tunnel in record time. We’d both traveled in wolf form, Godric with a custom pack balanced over his shoulders to contain his disguise and the other things we needed, including the coins we’d stolen last time. Human again, Godric’s disguise fully on, a rough cloak pulled up so he looked like a merchant instead of a warrior wolf, the air in the tunnel tasted damp. My mind jumped from detail to detail, rehearsing the plan and assembling backups. Valkaryn was the strategic mind; I missed her orders and her quiet certainty. We had traveled all day and night, and now more than ever, I had to focus.
Val still hadn’t contacted me. That silence was a living thing crawling along my spine. It meant they were still searching for her, or worse, had her in a place where she couldn’t speak. That thought caused my hands to tremble, and I had to tamp them down.
“What’s the plan, Brynn?” Godric asked, voice low. “How are you and I going to fight off an Elite who can control metal in order to get to Valkaryn? I understand once you have her in your hands, you will be powerful, but until then…” The question hung between us, and I swallowed. The tunnel echoed with ourbreaths. “We need to create a distraction that gets me closer to the courtyard of the tavern so Val can pull on my power to get herself out of there.”
I kept my voice steady, though my heart hammered in my throat.
“Okay… and then once you get her and you’re standing before an Elite with metal magic…?” Godric’s brow creased in the half-light.
I let out a shaky breath. “I have to kill him.” Saying it aloud made the plan sharp and real. The words were heavy.
Even in the dark, I sensed his recoil. “And what if King Harrow himself is there, and Mind Render?”
That was Plan B. I could feel Valkaryn’s impatience in my bones. “You create a distraction that will draw him away. A fire. Light his damn castle on fire for all I care.” My voice barely held in a quiver.
“That’s dark, Brynn,” Godric said softly, but the flicker in his eyes held the trace of approval I needed.
It was dark, and it was desperate, and for a moment, I saw the palace turning to ash in the worst way. I didn’t want it; I didn’t want to scorch Kaelric’s birthplace. But if a wall burned and saved a life, I could live with it.
“I like it,” Godric concluded, clapping his hand to my shoulder in that old, solid way of his. I grinned, despite the dread.
I kept hoping for Plan A, the clean, clever step that let us take Valkaryn without destroying a place of precious memories. When we reached the end of the tunnel where the trap door met the market, Godric slipped forward to check the seam first, fingers carefully probing.
‘We’re here. We’re coming,’I told Val in a tight whisper, throat raw with the words.
No response.
Godric inched the door open. Pale moonlight bled into the dark like a slow tide. After a moment, he threw the door wide.
After he stepped out, I followed him only to hear him mutter a curse. The sudden sound in the marketplace made my whole body freeze with a sick sense of wrongness.
“Brynn, run!” he bellowed, and then lunged forward with his sword raised.
My heart dropped out of my chest. The world erupted into motion around us.
Oh crap.
We were surrounded by guards. They’d been lying in wait for us.
Plan C.
I leaped out of the garlic stall and went left, blasting right into a Lunaria soldier. His armor clanked as he toppled backward, crying out in shock while I sprinted for the opening in the market-stall tent. Footfalls thundered behind me, boots scraping stone, and I knew I was being chased. For a split second, pure terror ripped through me. I was a human being chased by a wolfkin. I was so dead.
Then I remembered I wasn’t fully human anymore. A strange confidence, sharp and electric, flooded my limbs.
I slammed to a stop and pivoted just as the guard lunged. His sword whistled through the air, but I kicked it aside with brutal force, the metal clattering across the cobblestones. I snapped out and cracked him right in the nose. The crunch of breaking bone rent the air; he screamed, and blood rushed down his lips. The coppery scent hit my nostrils, and I growled, instinct prickling down my spine. Using my elbow, I slammed the soldier in the side of the head, and he crumbled, dazed, to the ground.
