Chapter 29 · The Blood-Bound Queen

"Get away from the gate!" I shouted.

The first iron spike punched through the wood beside my head.

The watchtower jolted. Dust rained from the beams. Below us, men screamed while steel battered the outer wall.

Cain grabbed the back of my coat and yanked me away from the opening. A second spike tore through the wood where my throat had been.

"You call that a warning?" he growled.

"I call it a gate problem. Try solving it."

His fist tightened in my collar. Leather bit into my neck.

I still didn’t look away from him.

The edges of Cain’s eyes had gone black. Not angry black.

Beast black.

A sentry stumbled up the stairs behind him. Blood ran down one side of the man’s face.

"My king," he gasped. "They’ve got siege hooks on the east wall. More troops are coming through the ravine."

Cain released me. "How many?"

"Too many to count. Hundreds. Maybe more."

"The western wall?"

The sentry swallowed. "Quiet."

I looked at Cain. "That’s not good news."

"I know what quiet means."

"Do you? Because I’ve got an idea."

His head snapped toward me.