Page 55 of These Fractured Bonds

The crowd dispersed, performances seemingly over for the time being, and she searched for a familiar head of white hair. She didn’t know if she had an answer for him, but she wanted to continue their festival “date.”

“Are you hungry?” Erick asked. “Because you have to try—”

A scream tore through the air, cutting through the crowd’s chatter, and everything stilled. Goosebumps rose on Yareli’s skin as a familiar wave of dark energy hit her.August.She took a step backward. Then, another and another until she was running through the crowd, away from the incoming danger. She ignored the shouts of her name, her body reacting to its one sole purpose—find August.

Beforetheyfound her.

Chapter 20

Itdidn’ttakelongfor the sound of battle to emerge. Steel met nox flesh; the squelching roiled Yareli’s stomach. Flashbacks to her previous kill threatened to finish the job. Vomit rose up her throat, and she swallowed. She couldn’t afford to slow down. A faint, but growing stronger, smell tainted the air. She felt it—a slimy, oozing vibration coming from behind her. A larger nox force approached.

An explosion rocked the ground, sending her flying. She landed hard, grunting. She lay there for a moment, stunned, but when feet thudded past her face, she picked herself up. Smokereached her nostrils, and despite the warning bells in her head, she looked back.

Flames climbed high in the sky, engulfing the village in its ravenous maws. Buildings that had stood a mere hour ago collapsed, falling into themselves like sad, sagging corpses. Yareli was rooted to the spot; she had never seen such blatant destruction. Non-combatant Fae fled past her while the fighters pushed past them, yelling instructions.

“… safe spot!”

“Go!”

“Move!”

The commands trickled in like the words of a song playing in the background—nonsensical filler Yareli couldn’t make out from the cacophony of destruction and battle that raged in her ears.

A blond Fae warrior appeared in front of her and shoved her. She looked at him, frowning, and focused on his moving mouth.

“What are you doing? Run!”

His voice startled her into focus.

“I’m looking for August,” she said, immediately regretting it.

The blond Fae bunched his eyebrows, his attention flickering to the side of her head. She went to pull her hat down, but her hands caught nothing but air.

She stepped away. “Actually, I know where I’m going. Thanks.”

Yareli was mid-turn when he grabbed her arm. “What is ahumandoing here?”

“I—”

He shook his head, gripping her arm tighter. “Never mind. Let’s get you to safety.”

She wasn’t going anywhere with him. She dug her heels into the ground. “No, I need to find someone. He’s a general—tall, brown, black hair, hazel eyes.”

Recognition flickered in his blue eyes. He exclaimed, “You’re looking for First General Augrys?”

“Yes, Augrys.” She nodded, lying. She tried the name, disliking its taste in her mouth.

He assessed her again, taking in her full, disheveled appearance. He glanced at the burning buildings and then at her.

“Alright. I can take you to him. That’s likely the second safest spot right now. Besides, he’ll know what we should do about you.”

He said the last half mostly to himself, muttering it under his breath, but Yareli couldn’t blame him; she was an anomaly—something that shouldn’t exist in his realm. Luckily for her, he didn’t seem particularly offended by her humanness as much as he was flabbergasted by her presence. She gave him a reassuring smile. It was best if he believed her to be amiable and compliant for now, because she didn’t plan on meeting whoever the hell Augrys was. As soon as she found an opening, she’d slip away from him and find August.

He released her arm. “I’m Raf, by the way.”

“Yareli.”

“Stay close. There are many nox here tonight. We need to scale a nearby building to get a view of the battlefield. Do you have any weapons on you?”