Heart of Ash (The Dark Arcane Series: Book 1)

Chapter Ten

Go run after your little prince, Shadow," the woman hissed, paint pulled ferociously across her eyes and over her dark tawny skin.

She escaped his grip, far stronger than he expected. Kade watched her go, slip through the people, assuming she was leaving. He found it hard to recall anyone who moved with such cat-like litheness. It was what had drawn his attention in the first place, setting her apart from the other servants.

Another great rumble shook through the stone walls of the bloody castle.

Darius. He had to find Darius.

He leapt up and headed in the opposite direction that the woman—who may or may not have been a Ka l'asterei recruit even though she had the servants markings—had run in, towards the ball.

People scrambled out of his way as he made his way through. Even without his Elite uniform, people knew to let him pass.

When he entered the ball, the room was dripping in chaos. Part of the ceiling had collapsed, sending dust into the air and it took Kade a moment to adjust his vision.

"Oh, fuck."

The full extent of the witches attack was devastating. Catastrophic. Great chunks of burning rock had been thrown into the bloody castle with deadly—unnatural—accuracy, with the remnants of the windows and chandeliers in shards upon the floor. Flames still encased the building, a wall of unnatural witch fire floated just inches from the blackening stone.

Such terrible power. Ruinous.

Darius.

He looked for the throne. Empty. Blackened by fire.

Tightness creeped around his throat—and he wasn't totally certain it was the smoke that held sole responsibility for it. His head snapped back and forth as he scanned the people around him, searching for that familiar dark brown hair, and sly face.

He was about to shout out when Nala appeared beside him. "Kade, thank Mothers, where is he?" she asked.

Her face was stricken with worry, pale skin smeared with ash.

"I was here when they attacked but by the time I looked for him, he was gone," she gasped, voice hoarse and raspy.

She had been positioned inside the ball as directed by Ender—just as Kade had been directed to watch the entrances to the ball.

He shook his head in frustration, rubbing his hand down his face. The people screaming had started to fade into a background noise.

"How could you lose him, Nala? This was your one responsibility—" he broke off as another rock hit the castle wall, and part of the roof fell down.

"Just find him," his voice was curt, even more so than usual.

If she was taken aback, he couldn't tell. She nodded and sped off, strands of white hair escaping her red hair cloth. Her face was grim with focus, an unusual sight compared to her normally bright persona.

He peered through the thick dust, and made for a small collection of people gathered at the front of the throne. He had to start somewhere.