Chapter 9 · Take the Wagon or Lose Him

"Take her down!" The captain's voice cracked across the road, and six blades came out of six scabbards at once.

Ivy didn't wait for them to close the gap. She dropped low, blade already moving, and the first guard's knee buckled before he even got his sword up.

"Wrong day to guard a wagon," she said, and put her boot into his chest to free her blade.

Another one swung wide. She ducked under it, felt the wind of the blade against her ear, and drove her elbow into his throat. He went down choking.

The wagon driver was already screaming for backup. Ryan, chained to the bench inside the cage, twisted around to watch through the bars.

"You're outnumbered," he called out. "Four to one is bad math even for you."

"Shut up and get ready to move."

A third guard grabbed her from behind, arm locking around her throat. She slammed her bad hand — the one wrapped tight with three fingers instead of four — into his ribs, and the pain that shot up her wrist was enough to make her vision go white for half a second.

"Ivy—