I’d heard enough. Rising to my feet, I started to turn when the sensation of power froze me in my tracks.

“And they say there are no rats in Trollus,” said a young woman’s voice from behind me. “It would appear they’re wrong. Hello, Cécile.”

Chapter 45

Cécile

Anaïs stood behind me, arms crossed and expression much like a cat who has cornered a mouse. Only it wasn’t the girl I’d known, but an impostor. It was Lessa.

“Does my brother know you’re here?” she asked. “Seems a bit reckless for him.”

“He’s here,” I whispered, stepping back and colliding with the wall. “Closer than you think.”

Lessa chuckled. “Not close enough.”

Her hand shot out and caught me by the throat. I tried to scream, but I could hardly breathe. She lifted me off the ground in front of her, smiling as I kicked and struggled. Panic flooded through me, and I clawed at her arms, but the scratches disappeared in an instant. She was going to kill me.

Then I remembered Roland’s knife hidden in my pocket. Catching hold of the small handle, I jerked it out and sliced it across her forearm.

Lessa hissed in pain and dropped me, but I only had a second to suck in a breath before she lunged at me again. Digging deep for the magic I needed, I choked out the words, “Bind the light.”

She stopped in her tracks, false face full of astonishment. But it wouldn’t last – she knew what I’d done. And when she dove at me, I held the knife out, my arms shuddering with the impact as it slid between her ribs. She screamed, curling around herself and clutching at the knife. But I knew I hadn’t killed her – I needed to run.

The door to the antechamber flung open, the Duke appearing with his mother just behind him.

“Prince Roland attacked Lady Anaïs,” I screamed, then shoved between them as though in a fit of terror. Which was not far from the truth. I had seconds. Sprinting to the entrance, I flung it open and dashed toward the gates. “Prince Roland is on a rampage!” I screamed. “He stabbed Lady Anaïs, and now he’s gone after the Duke!”

I saw the fear rise in their eyes, but to their credit, every one of them ran toward the house, giving me the few precious seconds I needed to escape. My throat burned where Lessa’s fingers had dug in, but I did not dare stop. There were no gaps between properties for me to hide in, no alleyways or passages to turn down. I had to make it to the staircase leading up to the last row of houses before the perimeter or I was a dead woman.

Shouts echoed in the streets behind me, and I heard my name on the air. They knew it was me. They were coming.

Magic wrapped around my waist, lifting me off my feet and dropping me on the other side of a wall before I could speak.