Soon, they were virtually crawling over the mass of bodies, stabbing their blades like ski poles as they hurried to progress the slaughter.

Behind, he heard the roar of their reinforcements, the trample of feet. Men overtook him, and it was only when a rough hand dragged him back did he allow himself to falter, right at the edge of the sprawling mass of the dead.

“Cade,” Marius said, snapping his fingers in front of Cade’s face. “Are you all right?”

Cade nodded dumbly, swaying with exhaustion, dizziness, and shock. There was a wild excitement in Marius’s eyes, and Cade could only stare back as the world shook and spun around him.

“Thank you, Cade,” Marius breathed, pressing him into the wall as men thundered past him.

“We haven’t won yet,” Cade croaked. “There are hundreds more.”

Marius shook his head before calling on his bodyguards to move on as they paused at his side and stemmed the flow of soldiers. He turned back and planted a kiss on Cade’s bloodied, sooty cheek.

“That was the flower of their army you just killed. Their greatest warriors. The workers, the children, that is all that is left. We will kill them all.”

Cade’s mind reeled. He hadn’t imagined there would be innocents here. Civilians.

“You stay here,” Marius said, pushing Cade down to his knees and crouching beside him. “My men will finish what you started.”

Then he was gone, his figure disappearing into the crowd of charging bodies flowing through the tunnel. He could hear the crash of battle, and screams of pain and fury ahead.

Cade’s squad pressed against the walls, alongside him, their identities obvious from their wounds and soot-streaked faces. They cringed as their comrades thundered past, shell-shocked by the horror they had witnessed, too exhausted to match the pace as more and more Romans poured into the fortress.

It felt like hours before the Roman army had finally passed by, though Cade knew it was only a few seconds. Only then did he allow himself to bury his head in his hands. Only then did he allow himself to cry.

CHAPTER

27

“Cade.”

Amber’s voice seemed distant, yet he felt her arm wrap around his shoulders as he rocked back and forth among the dead.

It was as if a dam had broken in him. And all that was left was a flood of … nothing. Not despair. Not relief. Not even something in between. Just an emptiness. A dark pit at his center, devoid of hope or happiness.

He only knew he wanted to get away.

“We won, Cade. Did you hear? The Codex just announ- ced it.”

Cade shuddered at Amber’s words. He never wanted to see that thing again.

He stood, swaying as the world came into focus. Outside, the first rays of sun were rising. Had he slept? It was impossible to say.

The Romans had gone, including those in his squad. Only the contenders remained, watching him from where they sat, concern in their eyes.