Josh shifted his feet half an inch and the weight of him in the air changed.
“Go,” he said to me. Without turning.
“I am not leaving you.”
“Wren.”
“I said no.”
I had the Shadow Gladius on my back. I had my own blade on my hip. I was not about to walk out of this clearing and leave Josh to take four soldiers by himself because they had decided I was a game.
Footsteps behind me.
Many.
Everyone in the clearing turned at once.
Darien rounded the corner with three of his commanders behind him.
“What is the meaning of this?” one of the commanders barked.
Every soldier in front of Josh dropped his eyes.
Darien looked.
He looked once at the soldiers. He looked once at Josh standing between me and them. He looked once at me.
His face went dark.
He closed the distance in five strides
