Moments later,

Aria

I walked toward the stone archway, my robe snapping behind me like a funeral shroud.

The crowd backed away as if I were a plague-bearer, their eyes wide with a mixture of terror and newfound reverence.

Good. Let them fear the girl who chases knights.

Because the girl who chases knights is gone. The one who harvests them has arrived.

Behind me, the sound of Lucas’s pathetic whimpering faded as Kaelen's men dragged him toward the damp, lightless depths of the dungeons. But the air still felt heavy.

Foul...

I stopped. My ears caught the frantic scuffle of boots on stone.

Elias and Ezra were at the...