Chapter 17 · The Guild's Last Arrow

Cole's boot touched the first step carved into the well when the crossbow bolt hit the stone an inch from his face.

He jerked back. Ivy yanked him sideways. The Taker didn't move, just tilted his head toward the tree line.

Warren stepped out of the dark with six hunters at his back.

"Off the well." Warren's voice hadn't changed. Still flat. Still tired. He had a guild blade out but the crossbow was on the woman to his left. She hadn't lowered it. "All three of you. Hands where I can see them."

Cole's palm burned where his casting mark was trying to flare. He kept his hands loose. "You followed us."

"I sent you." Warren stopped ten feet away. The hunters fanned out. Two had bows. One had a net that shimmered wrong in the moonlight. Spelled. "Did you think I wouldn't track where you went?"

Ivy's breath hitched. Cole didn't look at her but he felt her shift closer to the well.

"Don't." Warren's eyes flicked to her. "Ivren Coewild. Half-blood out of the western reach. Your mother was Mara. Your father fell into that well sixteen years ago and no one pulled him out.