“Stay here!” Juniper yells at me before dashing toward the back of the house. Maeve rushes to me, pulling me aside and crouching next to the car. A growl is coming from Silvera as she glares at the house, her back hunched and her teeth bared. Proll, who was just at the side of the house, is now running to Alora and whisking her away.
“What’s happening?” I breathe.
“I’m not sure, dear,” Maeve answers.
“Is it another attack?”
Maeve looks at me a moment before focusing on the house. “I believe so.”
Another gunshot goes off, then some clattering and glass breaking. Maeve places her purse down and digs into it, pulling out her own gun.
“Caz will be here any moment. You stay here.”
“But I—” I’m unable to ask her a thing because she’s gone, rushing around Beatrix’s house in her heels.
I glance back, and Proll is tucking Alora into their car. He runs to the trunk and pops it open, and when he emerges, he has a large axe-like weapon in his hand. The blade is gold, shimmering from the light of Beatrix’s house. The two other guards grab theirs and follow Proll behind the house. Silvera chases after them.
“No, Silvera! Come back!” But she’s gone. “Shit.”
I can’t sit here. Everyone is back there. And I have guns. I can probably help. I pull out the handgun at my waist and rush to the side of the house. I don’t run to the back, despite hearing the metal of swords clashing, men grunting, and more gunshots. My heart beats wildly in my chest as I pass a window. I look inside, and gasp when I spot Beatrix lying on the ground, a pool of blood beneath her.
“Oh my God!” I run to the porch and grip the doorknob, but it’s locked, so I kick the door in. It takes me two attempts before it swings open, dangling by the hinges. I rush to Beatrix, dropping to my knees. Her eyes are open, but she’s staring blankly at the ceiling.
“What happened?” I ask, panicked.
“I’ve been stabbed,” she croaks.
“Where? Let me take a look.”
Beatrix winces as she lifts a hand and points to her rib.
“Who did this?”
She uses that same bloody hand to point toward her back door. The back door is wide open, and I see Rowan fighting someone in all black with a hood. Two other people in all black are out there, fighting Proll and the other guards with long, silver bladed swords.
“The blue vial,” Beatrix says. “On the shelf.”
“What?”
“The shelf,” she says again, pointing. I look where her hand is pointed, and on the shelf is a collection of vials, all in various colors.
“The blue?” I ask.
She nods, and I rush across the room to grab it. When I bring it back, I pop it open and she takes it from me, chugging the liquid down rapidly. Some of the blue liquid dribbles out the side of her mouth. Her hand falls with the vial as she sucks in a breath, then she exhales, looking at me. Reaching for my cloak, she clutches a handful of it, reeling me closer.
“You must forgive me,” she wheezes. “I…I lied to you before. I felt I had no choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your Tether…it’s not meant to be carried alone.”
“Elaborate,” I demand.
“It’s…a gift, passed down from Regals.”
“Aren’t they the creators of Vakeeli?”
“Yes,” a voice says behind me. I glance over my shoulder, and Alora is walking into the house, a bow and arrow in her hand.
“There’s only one Regal left,” Beatrix goes on. “She can help you, but you’ll have to find her.” She winces. “No one has seen her for centuries.”
“Which Regal is she?”
“Selah,” Alora murmurs, crouching next to Beatrix. “Oh, Beatrix. Who did this to you?”
“He threatened to kill me. He knew I was meeting with you all today, and he’s trying to stop it before they find a way to reach Selah.”
“Stop what?”
Someone roars loudly, barging into the house from the back door. He’s in all black—a hood over his head, so I can’t see his face—and he comes charging toward us, a sword in hand. I realize he’s not coming for us—he’s going for Beatrix.
Fortunately, he doesn’t make it far. A gunshot goes off, the man in black freezes, and then he collapses on the floor, his sword clattering on the old wood.
I look back to see where the gunshot came from, and Caz stands in the front door, his gun pointed forward, where the man once stood.
“Caz! Back here!” Rowan yells. “One of them is getting away!”
Caz rushes around us, barreling out of the house. I look ahead, and Rowan, Juniper, and Killian are running toward the trees, chasing a figure in black. Proll and the other guards are standing above two bodies in black on the ground. With a grunt, Proll lifts his gold axe in the air and brings it down, chopping one of their heads off.
I snatch my eyes away, focusing on Beatrix.
“Help me get her to her room,” Alora insists.
“Will she be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. She took a healing elixir, so it’ll stabilize her.” Alora grunts as she grabs Beatrix’s feet. I grab Beatrix’s upper body, and we carry her through the tiny house, rounding a corner and entering an even smaller bedroom. “It should help her heal within a few hours. If we had gotten here later, there may not have been enough time for healing.”
I focus on Beatrix, who winces as we lay her down. “Who would do this?”
“I don’t know.” Alora shakes her head, sighing. “But it’s clearly someone she’s afraid of.”
“Your majesty!” someone shouts, and Alora glances at me before leaving the bedroom to find the voice. She weaves her way through the tiny house to get out the back door, and I follow her, stepping onto plush green grass.
Rowan and Killian are dragging a limp body down the hill while Caz and Juniper march ahead. When they’re in Beatrix’s backyard, Killian and Rowan drop the body on the ground.
Killian kicks the person onto their back and bends down to snatch the hood off. The entire right side of their head is gone, like it was blasted the right half of the face so mutilated I can hardly make it out. Despite it, Caz takes a step forward, studying the body, his eyes narrowed.
Why does he seem familiar?
Caz’s voice rings in my head and I switch my gaze to his, just as he locks his eyes on me. I look at the man again, but his face is so destroyed, I’m afraid if I look any longer, I’ll throw up.
“I’ll have my guards get an ID on these people,” Alora declares, sighing. “In the meantime, perhaps it’ll be best for you all stay at the palace.”
