~THE ASHEN COURT~

~XANDER MORTAIN~

My side still ached where the blade had cut me. The bandages Anika had wrapped were holding, but there was no accelerated healing.

No Luka.

Just pain and the stubborn drive to get every last one of those children out before the Court used them as leverage.

Anika sat on the edge of the bed, knees drawn up, watching me in silence. Neither of us had slept more than a few broken hours.

The sky outside the windows was still a deep grey.

Barely morning. Eighteen hours left until the bonding rites.

I traced a finger along the faded lines of the underground passages. The...