A Curse of Blood & Stone (Fate & Flame 2)

I should have explained everything Gesine said so maybe she’d understand what weighs on my thoughts.

Maybe she’d—

My nose catches the trace of blood in the air. Blood that isn’t smeared over my blade or soaked into my clothes.

I inhale deeply.

Herblood. Even masked by whatever fungi Gesine gave her, I recognize it.

Would this scrawny kid—Pan—have had the opportunity to overpower her? I can’t see it. But someone did.

Zorya mentioned three marauders trailing them. Were they part of the attack or a different group of bandits who hung back? The mortal would be a prize for them, and Romeria a burden to dispatch. That they didn’t kill her here, though …

A fresh wave of fear engulfs me. If anyone discovers who she is, they’ll drag her back to Cirilea, and I can only imagine what Atticus and Boaz have in store for her.

I scan the hills around us but see no movement in any direction. Whoever they were, they moved quickly. I look to the forests on either side. They could be anywhere in there.

They could be doing countless things to her.

Dread seizes my insides.

“Romeria!” My roar carries into the night.