They retreated back up the ridge at a dead run, Luna's mind racing through the impossible mathematics of the problem even as her legs burned with the effort. Twenty minutes to somehow disrupt whatever weaponized magic Lord Marrow intended to trigger, or find some way to complete Maren's plan before the backlash could tear through the blood-bargain and kill her regardless of anyone's genuine devotion.
"We can't fight our way to the altar in twenty minutes," Garrick said, breathless, as they crested the ridge. "Not against a force that size, not with the element of surprise already gone the moment your father spoke with you."
"Then we need a distraction," Kade said, already thinking through the tactics with the same brutal efficiency he'd shown in every fight so far. "Something that pulls
