He’d had only a few hours’ sleep after taking his turn at sentry duty. He sat up and looked at Keira’s corner of the chamber. Her blankets were rumpled, but she wasn’t there. Adrenaline pumping, he jumped up and scanned the cave. He closed his eyes in relief when he saw her sitting on the other side of the fire, having a breakfast of left-overs from last night.He sat down beside her, giving her a quick once-over. “Did you manage any sleep?” he asked, helping himself to some of the food.“Not really,” she said and put the empty bowl down beside her. “Marco, what are we going to do? I mean, what is the plan?”Marco stared into the remnants of the fire and took a while to answer. “The plan is to follow Victoria’s instructions. She ordered the Draaken to protect you, at all costs. That means you and I stay together.”“No! I can’t allow anyone else to get hurt. I won’t!”“You don’t have a choice,” Marco glared. “I lost friends in that battle. Brian, Frank—the Council members are all dead, or will be very soon now that Daemon has his hands on them.
