“No!” she screamed, trying to break free of the man’s hold. “He’s unconscious. He’s no threat to you. Please, just take our supplies and go!” Shrieking in anger, she picked all her weight off her feet. The man holding her didn’t even flinch or stumble.

Damn, he was strong.

Bastien tried to fight, too, but he was slammed to the ground and cuffed so fast, it was terrifying. He growled threats and spewed profanity at them.

“Please!” Sumi begged, praying they weren’t here to kill Dancer. “We just want to help our friend.”

Another shimmer appeared next to Dancer as the soldier turned his cloaking device off to show an unmarked black battlesuit. He shrugged off his backpack and removed his helm to reveal an unbelievably handsome man with long dark hair tied back into a ponytail. His dark Ritadarion eyes were ringed with black eyeliner, but she knew that face from Dancer’s photos and stories.

“Syn?”

He scowled at her. “I don’t know you.”

She looked over her shoulder. “Nykyrian? Are you the one holding me?”

Syn opened his pack. “How do you know us?”

“Dancer.” Only then did the tight grip on her waver the slightest degree.

“Are you Sumi?” His was the voice that had originally threatened them when they stopped.

“Yes.”

He released her immediately and decloaked. He gestured to Bastien, who was fighting against the cuffs that held him. “Is that one Bastien?”

“He is.”

Another man, who was standing beside where Bastien lay on the ground, decloaked. Kneeling down, he uncuffed Bastien’s hands. “Sorry about that.”

Glaring his displeasure, Bastien cursed him and his parentage as he rubbed his wrists. Amused by the insults, the man pulled off his helmet. His short red hair held the royal harone of the Caronese emperor. Darling was only slightly taller than her and was a lot more attractive in real life than he’d been in Dancer’s photos.

Nykyrian, however, was every bit as scary and intimidating as both Dancer and Thia had claimed. No wonder everyone was so terrified of facing Nemesis.

But he wasn’t important to her at present. Sumi ran to Dancer so that she could kneel beside him and give Syn a rundown on his condition. “He said they drugged him with something while they held him. He was poisoned two days ago from a Partini blade and he has several injuries from other attacks.”

Syn gaped in disbelief. “What the hell did you do to him?” His question offended her.

“I’ve kept him alive.”

Nykyrian pulled his helmet off and held it under one arm. His white-blond hair was cut stylishly short. Unlike Dancer, he had green, human eyes and his face was covered with scars. “Where’s my daughter and Darice?”

“They’re hiding near camp, with Illyse. There’s a cave just to the south of the climbing approach.”