"Eva's missing," Ollie said.
Caden's world stilled. Everything in him going silent. The cage that kept his darker side in check cracked, threatening to break.
If it did, Caden wasn't sure he could maintain his control. He'd start swinging his blade and wouldn't stop until she was back in his arms.
Eva didn't need the killer right now. She needed the commander. The person willing to do anything it took to get her back safe.
Even if that meant not killing every Lowlander or Highlander he came across.
While Caden wrestled with his control, Gawain slid down the hill behind him, dirt and loose rock accompanying him. Upon reaching the bottom, he headed toward the small group at a fast pace.
"What happened?" he asked, shooting a concerned look Caden's way.
Caden couldn't find it in himself to respond as he counted. He reached five and slowly exhaled again.
Only when he could be sure he wasn't going to give into the screaming abyss inside of him did he focus on what Ollie was saying.
"Several horses got loose right before the attack. She, Jason, and a few others went after them."
Van looked at Caden. "Looks like you were right. This was a distraction."
Caden's hands clenched. The only reaction he allowed himself.
"Can you take me to where she was?" he asked.
Ollie nodded. "I've already sent others ahead."
Smart man, but then Eva wasn’t friends with idiots.
"I want you to come with us," Caden said to Chirron.
If Eva was hurt, she'd need him.
She was alive. There was no other scenario Caden would accept.
"Consider it done," Chirron said with a nod.
Van moved up beside the healer. "You'll ride with me."
Chirron frowned.
Van held up a hand. "You're exhausted and they can't wait. Use the time to gain your strength back."
Chirron's lips pursed as if he'd tasted something bitter. As much as he wanted to argue, he couldn't. He was practically weaving where he stood.
"You'll ride with him." Caden wasn't in the mood for the healer's pride.
They'd already delayed long enough.
He whistled. Nell came running and stopped in front of Caden.
Gawain stepped forward to hold the stallion's head as Caden mounted. "I'll finish up here."
Caden picked up the reins and looked down at the Rain Clan leader. "No survivors."
Gawain's smile was wry. "I hadn't planned on anything else."
Ollie didn't wait for Caden to finish as he wheeled his horse and thundered back the way he'd come. Nell lunged forward, racing after him.
I'm coming, Eva. Just hold on until I get there.
And when he did, he would destroy all those who'd touched her.
Jason's body had grown numb to the cold, unable to feel his hands and feet any longer.
A fact that should have felt important but simply didn't. His physical state matched the icy tundra of his mental one.
All that kept him on Caia's back was his determination to fulfill Eva's wish. One he refused to think of as her last.
Time seemed to have no meaning as he rode. It slipped by unnoticed.
He barely reacted when Brisa yanked herself upright, alarm in her expression as her gaze darted around their surroundings as if expecting an attack at any moment.
"You're awake."
About time.
Not that he particularly cared about Brisa's wellbeing at the moment. Only that she survived. Otherwise, everything that had happened would have been pointless.
Eva's sacrifice. His abandonment.
Guilt barreled down on him like an avalanche, threatening to crush him under its weight. Ruthlessly, he suppressed the emotions.
He ignored the burning in the back of his eyes. The tingling in the bridge of his nose.
Not now. Not until he saved Eva.
With a supreme amount of effort, he found his composure. When he opened his eyes, it was to find a pair of amber ones inches from his own.
Jason controlled his reaction.
"Where is the Caller?"
The words stabbed at his most vulnerable point. He tried to speak, only he couldn't around the tight feeling in his throat. It was like a noose depriving him of oxygen.
Jason almost wished the visual was true. He deserved punishment for what he'd done.
Horror grew on Brisa's face as she read Jason's face. "Where is she?"
His eyelashes fluttered before he steadied himself again. "Gone."
It was the only word Jason could force past the knot in his throat.
"No." Brisa shook her head, wrenching herself out of Jason's arms, half falling, half sliding off Caia's back.
Her damaged wing trailed behind her as she limped away.
Jason drew Caia to a stop. "Get back on the horse."
Brisa crawled up the side of a boulder, putting more distance between herself and Jason.
"Get. Back. On. Caia," he bit out.
If they got caught because she was being stubborn and wasted Eva's effort, he'd kill her himself.
"You do not tell me what to do," she screamed back at him. "How could you just leave her there? She's supposed to be your friend."
A sob built in Brisa's chest as she wrapped her arms around herself, looking so small and frail in that moment.
"You left her," she repeated in a broken voice.
Jason teeth ground together until they felt like they would crack with the amount of pressure he was exerting.
Brisa scrubbed a hand over her face, swiping at the snot and tears there. "Covath was right. Humans can't be trusted."
Jason's control snapped. A roar left him. "Whose fault do you think this is?"
He swung a leg over Caia's back and slid to the ground. His face a mask of fury as he limped toward Brisa, uncaring as she back pedaled.
If she wouldn't come willingly, he'd put her on Caia by force, consequences be damned.
"Do you think it makes me happy that I left her there?" Jason spat. "She is the only person who has ever believed in me. The only person who has ever called me family, and I left her there—for you!"
Brisa sniffled as she watched Jason warily. He couldn't find it in himself to care that he was scaring her.
She was the reason for this. All of it.
"If not for you, she could have made it out of there. It's your fault I had to leave her behind."
Brisa stepped back every time he moved forward, ignoring the stabs of pain in his ankle.
Lost in his rage, he didn't notice the way she sunk in on herself as if to protect herself from him. He didn't see the lost expression that replaced her anger or the way she deflated as if not even her body wanted to hold her up.
All he knew was that there was a bubble in his chest that kept expanding. Relentless as it pushed out all reason in favor of pure, raw emotion.
Until he couldn't think or breathe.
Violence hovered. The need for action when it was far too late for anything to be done.
Brisa curled in on herself, her only working wing coming around to shield her. "I'm sorry."
The apology brought Jason up short. Shock filled him at Brisa's state, the distress written in every line of her body.
He was forced to confront what he'd done. The devastation his words brought. It extinguished the last of his anger, leaving him empty and cold.