“Where are you?” I screamed through our connection, but the sound was jumbled and fuzzy.
Helplessness filled me.
Please not now.
I choked on guilt. It was my fault that our connection was inconsistent.
Desperate to do something, I grabbed my crutches and pulled myself upright out of the leather chair.
I spent the battles alone in the strategy room, mediating, and Warren knew not to disturb me. HE spent the time exploring the forest as a ferret.
Now I wished I weren’t alone.
I needed help.
Someone.
Anyone.
I clutched at my temples with trembling fists because I couldn’t think. I was panicking. My heart pounded in my chest as I struggled to breathe.
I was Aran’s guardian; I was supposed to guide her in times of distress.
This situation went beyond mere peril.
Her odds were impossible.
My crutches slammed into a chair, and I tipped over. I barely noticed.
“Can you hear me? Aran, can you hear me?” I screamed repeatedly through our link.
Nothing.
Sadie groaned with pain as she became conscious, and Aran whispered down at her through the corner of her mouth, “Don’t make any sudden movements or noises.”
Dragging my crutches in one hand, I crawled across the floor toward the enchanted pad built into the desk. I needed to alert the High Court.
Sadie’s eyes shot open.
They glowed bloodred.
She tilted her head slowly to the side, face blanching as she took in the portal on the unreachable high ceiling, and the crowd of infected with enchanted swords.
“Can you shift?” Aran whispered. “Can you shift and leap against the wall and throw us through the portal?”
Sadie scrunched her face like she was concentrating, then her expression shuttered as she looked at Aran dejectedly.
“No,” she whispered. “My cat form sustained too many injuries. It’s happened before. I won’t be able to shift until I’ve rested and healed.”
Aran swore under her breath.
Using the table legs to hoist myself up, I slammed my palm against the enchanted pad. It warmed under my fingertips and projected the High Court’s logo onto the chalkboard.
I hit the symbol.
The projection shimmered as it called.
My heavy breathing was too loud in the quiet room as I waited.
There was a loud click, then the symbol turned into letters that read “Members of the High Court military council are currently occupied. Please call back later.”
I screamed with frustration and punched the tablet.
The projection turned off.
How in the realms could the military council be busy during a military battle?
I watched through the connection.
“I can stand.” Sadie pulled herself upright.
Aran hissed under her breath, “Move slower. We don’t want to agitate them.”
“Don’t we want to kill them?” Sadie whispered as she moved with painstaking care.
I gritted my teeth and spat aloud, “No, you imbecile.” How she’d managed to remain so dumb, even after what had been done to her, was beyond my understanding.
“Not if we don’t have to,” Aran whispered softly. “We want to survive. Best-case scenario, we climb back up and out the portal without disturbing them.” She paused as an infected shouted something and made an unfamiliar hand gesture. “Worst-case scenario, we kill them and they shift into ungodly. We can’t fight off this many and live.”
Sadie grimaced as she realized their predicament. “You’ll survive,” she mouthed.
Aran shook her head and said under her breath, “They could still eat my heart.”
Sadie’s eyes filled with moisture. “They probably wouldn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Aran whispered coldly. “Either we both walk out of here alive or we both die. There is no third option.”
Sadie gulped, her bloodred eyes widening at whatever she saw on Aran’s face. She rasped, “I love you.” It sounded like she was saying goodbye.
“I love you more.” Aran’s voice was hard as steel.
Sadie’s eyes shone with moisture. “I love you most.”
“Impossible,” Aran replied.
There was a loud scraping noise as an infected took a step toward them, its boot scuffing across the floor. Its gaze was mindless.
Aran took a step back protectively.
“What do we do if they attack?” Sadie asked, voice quivering.
Determination flooded through Aran. “Then we fight, and we try our best to maim but not kill.” Her voice was barely audible, and her words were clipped like it hurt to speak them aloud. “We keep them all alive.”