Page 18 of The Incendiary

“I hope you have a plan.” Shera paced anxiously, her large paws crunching leaves and twigs underfoot.

“What’s wrong? You were fine a second ago.”

“Yes, until I thought about how easily they could impale your tiny body on one of those spikes.”

Good gods.

“Thanks for that,” I grumbled. My organs had already been displaced from my body once. I had to have faith that my allies would never do something so barbaric. “I’m going to ask for Elias. He chooses his soldiers. Without his queen, he’ll need fighters. He’ll have to hear me out.”

“In theory.”

I ignored her lack of confidence. Through the dense thicket of trees, I barely made out the dim but rising glow of the sun in the eastern sky. Finn had told me there were at least fifteen to twenty guards patrolling the exterior perimeter of the fortress. I was close enough now, I was shocked I hadn’t seen one yet.

“How far out will you be able to hear me?” I asked Shera.

“I’m not sure, but I’ll stay close.”

I lifted my hood over my head and descended the slope toward the front entrance. The terrain was steep and muddy, but the boots I wore had flexible soles with a firm grip and made minimal noise.

There’d be guards in the towers and just inside the gates. I had to hope they would hear me out. I was here to talk, to help, not fight.

I held my breath and skated down the rocky slope, heart pounding. My feet slipped twice, but I reached the bottom and pressed my back against a tree.

Breathe.

I obeyed and tried not to focus on the fact that the voice I heard was his. I’d never get him out of my head.

I didn’t want him out of my head.

“Who the hell are you?” someone demanded from behind me.

I spun around, eyes widening at a tall guard in black, quilted leather armor with a long sword sheathed at his side. My daggers wouldn’t stand a chance against a blade like that.

“I’m here to join the fight against Molochai,” I rushed out. “I just want to speak with the commander.”

He narrowed his beady eyes and stepped closer, boots crunching over twigs and leaves. “Then why were you sneaking around? Breaking in?”

“No! I’m not…” I sighed, wary of sounding overly defensive. “I’m not trying to break in. I’m just trying to get to the front door.”

His curled lip showed he didn’t believe me in the slightest. “Are you aware that Molochai’s Insidions have been spotted north of the border in increasing numbers in recent months?”

“Yes. I’m not an Insidion.”

The sound of his sword unsheathing raised the hair on the back of my neck. Shit. He was going to make me fight him. Gods, could I really do this?

You can.

Gavin’s voice helped me force a deep breath through my nose to slow my sporadic pulse, just in time for the guard to lunge and swing at me. I dodged him, using my speed to my advantage, spinning around his body before he could swing again. I leapt onto his back, hooked my ankles inside his legs, and took him in a chokehold. I’d practiced this once on Gavin, who was twice this man’s size, and then many more times on Damond, but neither of them had been thrashing wildly.

“Intrud—”

“No, no!” I clamped one hand over his sweaty mouth and tightened my forearm around his neck, directly over his trachea like I’d been taught. “Don’t do that. I just want to get to the front entrance, and you’re making this quite difficult”—I exhaled in frustration—“but I’ll make sure someone comes to help you.”

The guard reached back with a gloved hand, scraping and pawing at my face, my hair. But his attempts grew weaker. It was working.

“There we go.” I unhooked my legs to brace for the ground. “Good night for now.”

His arms fell limply at his sides, his head slumped, his knees collapsing soon after. I found a steady pulse in his neck. He was heavy, but I was strong enough to lower and drag him by the arms to a spot beside a tree.