Cade reemerged from the arena equal parts miserable and ecstatic. Jer and Orro flanked him, doing their best to ensure no one noticed their trio as they blended back into the crowd after vacating one of the unused service tunnels leading out of the arena proper. When he told them the good news, it was all Cade could do to rein in their excitement. Well, to be fair, Jer’s excitement was the only one in need of reining in. Orro just grunted once, but it was a happy grunt this time.

  “You’ve got to tell me more about that cave, man!” Jer whispered way too loudly. “You say you saw it? What did it look like? Was it stuck inside a gem or amulet like the last one, or did whoever made it carve it into another shape? Personally, I think it would be cool if it was a gauntlet or something. That way, you could punch people with god magic, y’know?” Jer performed a train of cartwheels as he thought out loud.

  “Where’s Elena when you need her?” Cade complained in mock desperation. “Her aim with those shoes is truly impeccable. She should hold a class for us on the crew. That way, everyone can throw them at Jer when he gets like this.”

  Jer offered him a cheeky grin, but his expression hardened a bit at the mention of his sister.

  “Don’t worry. We’re heading that way now. I’m sure Gavin is cooking them up something nice,” Cade consoled his acrobatic friend. They swerved around a cart selling tiny flags of the various nations neighboring Elysia.

  “He’d better. It’s got to be the best damned food of all time to get Elena back on her good side,” Jer admitted as he shook his head. He raced a greasy hand through his red locks and looked back at Cade, head upside down. “Do you think it was a good idea to send Rayka and Elena back with the guy who gave them their injuries?”

  Cade’s smile turned brittle, but it was Orro who answered. “It was a good idea. This way, they’ll work through some of their tension in relative safety. Bunny is there to comfort Rayka. Plus, Elena will keep a careful watch over Gavin, and Gavin knows this is his best chance to make things right before the rest of us enter the mix. The girls watch him, he protects them. It was a good move, Cade.”

  The thief nodded his head, grateful his friend had caught on to his logic. “I just hope we don’t return to Gavin’s head on a pike because Elena decided she didn’t like the smell of dog.”

  They made it back to the shop that held the entrance to the catacombs and discreetly retraced their steps from the day before. The iron rungs bit into Cade’s tired hands as he descended the narrow ladder that led into the dark expanse, and he took a second to appreciate how much of his life was getting spent underground these days. He looked up and made a silent vow that when this was all over, he and Bunny would lounge in the sun together for days on end, preferably with an abundance of pastries at their beck and call.

  Their boots passed silently through the damp tunnels, a thin and murky creek of some ungodly liquid snaking its way down the curved center of the long way back to their hideout.

  Orro led the way, already having memorized the route Gavin had given them. They took the thin switchbacks after an hour of trudging through the catacombs, careful to ensure no one followed.

  As they emerged from the cave near their cabin, the low-hanging sun momentarily blinded Cade. As his eyes adjusted, a scene of chaos came into focus.

  “What happened here?” Jer’s alarmed voice cut through the air.

  Before Cade or Orro could stop him, the redhead sprinted towards the clearing in front of their cabin.

  Cade and Orro exchanged worried glances, their eyes conveying a shared sense of dread. Without a word, they broke into a run, their boots pounding the soft earth as they raced after Jer.

  As they burst through the treeline into the clearing, the scene before them unfolded like a nightmare. The normally peaceful area in front of their cabin had been transformed into a battlefield. The grass was trampled and torn, patches of earth upturned as if a struggle had taken place.

  Their eyes were immediately drawn to two motionless figures lying on the ground. Bunny hovered near them, nudging them gently and whimpering.

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  The sight hit Cade like a physical blow, stealing the breath from his lungs. Jer had already reached one of the prone figures and was kneeling beside it, his body language radiating panic and despair.

  Orro, ever observant, quickly scanned the perimeter, his hand instinctively moving to the hilt of his blade. His eyes darted from shadow to shadow, searching for any sign of lingering threat or clue to what had transpired.

  Cade, for his part, felt rooted to the spot for a moment, his mind racing to process the scene before him. The setting sun cast long, ominous shadows across the clearing, adding to the surreal and horrifying nature of the moment. The air felt thick with tension and the metallic tang of blood.

  As the initial shock began to wear off, Cade’s protective instincts kicked in. He ran forward, his heart pounding in his ears, dreading what he might discover as he approached the fallen forms of his companions.

  Each step felt like an eternity, the weight of leadership and responsibility pressing down on him with crushing force.

  “No, no, no, no!” Jer’s anguished cry pierced the air, shattering the eerie silence that had settled over the clearing. His hands, trembling and dirt-smeared, gently turned over the first prone form. As the figure rolled onto their back, Cade’s breath caught in his throat.

  It was Elena. Her normally vibrant face had angry purple bruises across her cheekbones, and her left eye was swollen shut. A thin line of dried blood trailed from her split lip, stark against her pale skin. Her fiery red hair was a tangled mess, matted with blood and dirt. The rise and fall of her chest was shallow and irregular, each breath seeming to cause her pain.

  Cade’s heart hammered against his ribcage as he approached the second figure, dreading what he might find. As he drew closer, he recognized Gavin’s familiar form, and his stomach lurched.

  If Elena’s condition was bad, Gavin’s was catastrophic.

  The telepathic lycanthrope lay in a crumpled heap, his limbs bent at unnatural angles. His clothes were torn and soaked with blood, revealing glimpses of mottled skin underneath. A deep gash ran across his forehead, still oozing blood that mixed with the dirt beneath him. His usually serene face was contorted in pain, even in unconsciousness.

  Cade dropped to his knees beside Gavin, ignoring the jolt of pain that shot through him as he hit the ground. His hands hovered over Gavin’s body, unsure where to touch without causing more harm.

  “Wake up, Gavin! Wake up!” Cade’s voice grew louder and more frantic with each repetition, escalating from an urgent plea to a desperate roar.

  He gripped Gavin’s shoulders, giving him a gentle shake that gradually became more forceful as the dread set in. Gavin’s only response was a weak, pain-filled moan that seemed to come from deep within his chest. The sound was barely audible, a feeble indicator of life that did little to assuage Cade’s mounting fear.

  As Cade continued his futile attempts to rouse Gavin, the weight of the situation pressed down on him. The peaceful refuge they had carved out for themselves had been violently shattered, and when he figured out who did this, he would slaughter them himself.

  Rayka, however, was still unaccounted for.

  With his frustration and fear mounting, Cade stormed into the cabin. The interior was a mess—clothes and packs strewn about, a kettle whistling over the hearth, blood smears on the walls.

  But Rayka was gone.

  In a fit of rage, Cade blasted the kettle with a gust of wind, sending it crashing into the embers. He fired again, and again, and again as the rage consumed him.

  In losing Rayka, he also lost his self-control.

  “Cade, get ahold of yourself!” Orro warned.

  The assassin had come out of nowhere. He stood in front of Cade with his hands out and his eyes wide with concern. Cade tried to shove past him, but the man didn’t budge.

  “You’re not yourself. Please, Cade, just calm down.”

  “Get out of my way,” Cade snapped.

  His head felt foggy. His thoughts skittered like lizards over a rock. His skin felt like it was on fire. He needed to move. He needed to wake up Gavin or Elena and ask them what had happened here.

  It was all he could think about.

  Orro placed a hand on his chest, and Cade retaliated without hesitation. He shoved his own hand forward and blasted his friend back. The assassin flew off his feet and skidded to a halt over a dozen feet away.

  Something in the back of his mind warned him that what he had just done was wrong. He tried to shake the fog, to make sense of the world again, but his anger was all-consuming.

  Cade’s boots pounded into the ground as he strode toward Elena. Jer, seeming to sense the danger looming toward him, jerked his head up.

  “What’s wrong with your eyes?” Jer asked incredulously.

  Cade ignored him. He knelt low, and Elena’s puffy face greeted him. She shrank back at the sight of him, but Cade didn’t budge.

  “Where is she?” Cade demanded.

  Steam escaped his lips, though he felt no chill of the wind atop that cliff. Elena hesitated, her breath wet and ragged.

  Cade’s patience was at an end. “Where’s my sister?!”

  Jer tensed, but Elena answered first. And with her words, Cade’s world came crashing down around him.

  “Hugh,” Elena said breathlessly. “And if we don’t give him the Remnant, he’s going to kill her.”

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