Harring

ful, unhurried, yet each one landed

elt behind the bushes, holding

a pair of polished black military b

the boots' owner wore tailored black trouse

, pausing to admire the view. I

When she saw the boots, the color drained from her face. She scra

he ground, her forehead pressed to the dirt. "

ow!" she shrieked at us, h

ar, hastily dropped to the ground, their

d, preparing to assume the m

that made my blood run cold. Tessa, not far from

, her eyes wide with a terror

n front of a Vorrath noble, especially to remain standin

, her voice cracking with fea

turned to stone. The Vorrath noble's g

ld, appraising st

only one thought: I can't le

I made a decision that

e I had time to think. My shoulder

ed on top of her, using my body weight to

s I pressed my face into the grass. "My companion... she is unwell

iolently beneath me, but at le

ck hidden in the turf. A searing, white-hot pain sho

behind a service door on a distant building. A folded parchment flashed in her hand before the door closed. It w

uffocating silence. The only sound wa

retched until

oung, with a lazy, magnetic quality, but it c

was all he said, before

ps gradually faded

. Tucker collapse onto the ground, gasping for

ve sigh of relief, their eyes on m

knee was so intense that my vision mom

ooking down, I saw a dark, wet patch of red

complex expression. There was fear, confusion, bu

orner to retrieve my shears. I had just, on