Page 164

"Zara!" She looks up at me and makes a cute chirping noise, then flaps her wings and awkwardly flies to my arms, landing heavily against my chest, soaking me with mud and water. But I don't care. I'm too relieved that she's unharmed. She nuzzles her head against my chest and I hold her more tightly as I look around.

"I know you're here," I say to the other person hiding in the cave. "You can come out now. We're not going to hurt you."

I wait a moment, the silence deafening, but I caution the brothers to stay still with a sharp glance. If we make a ruckus, the person won't come out.

Finally, a small shuffling sound alerts us to the presence of a young girl. She is soaking wet and looks about nine or ten years old. She wears rags that stick to her frail, bone thin body, her dirty blond hair caked with grime and clinging to a face that looks sunken in from hunger. Tears streak her skin, creating trails as they clear off the dirt from her cheeks.

I kneel down to her level. "What's your name?" I ask in my softest voice. The child looks like a wild animal ready to bolt at the slightest hint of danger.

"Ana," she says.

"What are you doing in here?" Sebastian asks, his voice gruff, and she shies back, sinking into the shadows around her.

"Sebastian, she's scared. Use your gentle voice." I reprimand.

I hand him the dragon, who curls up in his arms happily, and take small steps towards the girl. "I'm Eve," I say. "I'm a friend of Lyx. Were you her friend too?"

From the shadows I see her small head bob. "I tried to save her," she says softly.

My heart leaps at that. "Did you see what happened to Lyx?" I ask. "Who hurt her?"

The girl shakes her head, and my heart plummets. If only it had been that easy. "I was taking Zara for a walk. Lyx lets me help with the baby sometimes." She puffs out her chest, clearly proud of her trusted standing with the Light Dragon. "We got back and she was floating in the water, bleeding. I went to her, and she looked at me, like she was okay. But, but she was scared. She said to go, to… " She hesitates, her lower lip quivering. "To take the baby and hide. Then the light went out of her eyes and I ran in here with Zara. I… " She sniffles. "I didn't know what else to do."

The child begins sobbing, and I close the distance between us and pull her into my arms, holding her close. She cries on my shoulder until her tears are used up, then sniffles and wipes her face with the back of her hand. "Is it my fault?" she asks in a voice that cracks my heart open.

"No, love, it's not your fault. You did the right thing. You saved Zara."

Liam clears his throat. "We need to leave. Once word spreads, Enforcers will be here."

Shit.

"We have to get Zara out of here before they arrive. I don't trust anyone else to take her right now."

Derek looks like he's about to argue, but I stand firm. "She's coming with us until we know what happened. All I know for sure is that none of us killed Lyx, so we are the only ones I trust at the moment."

I take Ana's hand and lead her out of the cave. "Where are your parents?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Don't got none. Lyx took care of me."

Double shit.

"Would you like to come home with us? At least until we can find you a proper home."

Derek frowns again, but says nothing. Smart man.

The girl looks at the brothers, then back at me, and slowly nods.

"Good, let's get out of here and we'll show you the castle we live in. You're going to love it."

The girl's eyes widen as I once again part the waters so we can cross back to land. "How'd you do that?" she asks.

"It's part of my powers," I say. Then I point to our carriage. "I need you to go get in there okay? We'll be right behind you."

She reluctantly releases my hand and does as instructed, petting the horses on the way, and I approach the Night brothers. Sebastian still has the baby dragon in his arms.

"We shouldn't take the kids with us," Derek says, frowning. "It's a bad idea on so many levels."

"I know," I say, "but what choice do we have? Ana has nowhere to go. She's skin and bones as it is, plus she may have witnessed the murder, or at least seen more than she remembers. And Zara's life could be in danger. We don't know why Lyx was killed or how, so we have to assume the baby dragon's a target until we learn more. And that means hiding her from the Enforcers and especially the dragons."