The pillars of smoke from the burning carriage stained the lunar horizon.

Avery’s stunned gaze shifted from the pyre of twisted metal to the bone mask of the man holding her. "Why?" she whispered, her voice cracking like dry timber. "Why would you throw your life into the path of a transport for me?"

The only answer was the sudden, dead weight of his body.

The abrupt loss of his strength made Avery instinctively lock her arms around Hudson’s neck to keep from sliding. Hudson sank to his knees on the forest floor, his breath coming in ragged, wet rattles. Even in his exhaustion, his grip on her waist didn't...