Chapter 37 · Blood-Stained Crown

"Get away from her!"

Silas's blade shot toward my throat.

Cain caught his wrist before the steel touched me.

The impact threw Silas sideways. His boots skidded through the blood covering the altar, and his shoulder slammed into a cracked stone pillar. The blade flew from his hand.

I moved first.

I snatched the dagger from the floor and shoved it beneath Silas's jaw.

"Try that again," I said, breathing hard, "and I'll open you up before Cain gets the chance."

Silas stared at me. His silver eyes had finally lost their calm.

Good.

I wanted him scared.

"You think you won?" he rasped.

"I think you're on your knees."

"Because he let you win."

Cain tightened his grip around Silas's wrist.

Bone cracked.

Silas screamed.

"Don't confuse mercy with weakness," Cain said.

His voice rolled through the ruined temple. Blood ran down his arm, black beneath the red light pouring from the altar. His coat hung in strips. His breathing came rough and heavy, like he'd fought the entire army alone.

Maybe he had.

Behind him, the last of Silas's soldiers broke apart into ash.