Page 88 of Obsidian Throne

I took several tense breaths through my nose, then turned my attention back to the man.

“I assume you’re returning to him, to report?” I asked.

He nodded.

My brain worked furiously, weighing the very few options I had before landing on the only possible choice.

“Then I need you to give him a message as well.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

ROWAN

Iknew something was wrong the moment Evander walked back into camp.

Quickly, I finished giving the man I was tending to a swallow of sleeping tonic, then gave Johanna a hurried instruction to see to his sutures once the draught kicked in.

Pocketing the vial and wiping my bloody hands on a towel, I finally made my way to Evander.

“What is it?” I asked.

He examined my face, his dusty eyes more haunted than I had ever seen them, while the rest of his features were almost eerily calm.

He tilted his head toward our tent, and I followed him to where we would have more privacy.

“Nils has betrayed us,” he said, running a hand over his unshaven jaw. “He’s marching on the estate.”

My mouth dropped open. I had seen the sheer volume of wolf pieces on his section of the map back at the estate, but then, Bear had significant forces as well.

“So we go to head him off,” I said, which I was sure he had already planned. “Join the soldiers you already have stationed there.”

He gave a terse nod, and my stomach sank as I filled in the rest of my thought. “But...taking too many will leave this part of Bear open for the taking.”

Evander nodded. “We’ll move the soldiers around in a cascading pattern from the Ram border and just hope they don’t decide to join the fight.”

He sounded like he didn’t actually believe that, and I didn’t blame him.

Not after this devastating news.

“We’ll leave within the hour, in advance of the soldiers,” he added after a moment.

“Of course. I’ll give some last-minute instructions to Johanna, then pack my things.”

Evander squeezed his eyes shut, wordlessly pulling me against him before taking a deep, steadying breath.

I wrapped my arms around his torso. “We’ll get through this. The estate is a veritable fortress, and you said yourself, Bear soldiers are the best.”

It wasn’t a lie, either. I understood now that was largely due to Evander, the way he personally chose trainers and walked through his men with his unparalleled observation skills.

His soldiers were the best because he had made it so.

My husband leaned down to kiss my forehead. “We should get moving.”

There was enough on his plate already that I didn’t bring attention to the fact that he wasn’t actually responding to me.

But I sure as stars noticed.

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