Page 45 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

A thrill shot down my spine at the use of my name. “Are you going back against your word?”

He stilled. “Of course not.”

I didn’t care that we were in the middle of the bookstore and that this conversation was probably better done in private.

I got the feeling if I put it off now, Kieran would keep running away.

“Then why are you avoiding me? Why are you acting like I have some sort of disease? You’re being an asshole. ”

His nostrils flared. “Stop.”

“Stop running away!” I took a deep breath and lowered my tone. “That night at the tower—”

“Don’t,” he growled, and shadows twitched at his heels, threatening to overwhelm me.

My heart squeezed in my ribcage. “Kieran—”

“The deal still stands, but we don’t have to be friends. We don’t have to be anything.”

“Except allies, right?” I couldn’t control the bitterness in my tone. For whatever godsforaken reason, I wanted to be his friend. The rejection was like a knife to the gut.

“Yes.” He glanced away. “You should pick out a book, or Gareth will harass you.”

It was even harder to ignore Kieran’s chilly presence as I studied the books.

Whatever. I wouldn’t chase after Kieran anymore, and I’d ignore the pang in my chest his distance brought.

I wished I could smack Gareth across the face.

I never should’ve gone along with his scenes.

Energy itched under my skin. I needed to get out of here.

I spared one last look at the books. It’d be easier to gauge what I liked from something Gareth recommended, because there were too many options here, and I had no idea what I might like.

Eventually, we went to the nonfiction section.

As I ran my fingers along the spines of the books, a title stood out: 100 Places to See in Lusadia.

I paused for only the briefest of seconds before continuing on until I hovered a few feet from the shopkeeper.

“I’d rather have Gareth give me something secondhand.

I don’t have a preference.” I could’ve picked that book and yet…

something about picking a book felt so personal.

Like I was baring my soul to him. “And if he’s still upset, he can buy me one of the books if I like it or give me his copy. ”

For once, I was grateful Kieran decided on restarting the silent treatment, because I didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t want to think about the effect he had on me.

Gareth frowned when he realized I had nothing in my hands. But my excuse seemed to satisfy him, and he went to the young shopkeeper.

“I absolutely love this one,” she murmured. It was the book Gareth had shown me earlier.

“Me too. I have a thing for stupidly stubborn people lowering their defenses. Maybe I’m a masochist. They stress me out half the time, but I keep coming back for more.”

“They’re sooo frustrating,” the woman agreed with a smile. “We have a lot of the same reads. You know, I have a book club with some friends. Would you be interested in joining?”

It warmed my heart to see the delight in Gareth’s eyes. His gloved hands shook as he put the books in his satchel. Kieran and I shared a warm look as Gareth exchanged raven information with the shopkeeper. Once Gareth paid, we moved to leave, but Kieran strode toward the shopkeeper.

With a flick of Kieran’s hand, shadows pulsed underneath his fingertips and a book appeared on the table. The book had a massive painted map of Lusadia and the title: 100 Places to See in Lusadia. I inhaled. “You don’t have to—”

Kieran didn’t look back at me. “I’m going to.”

“But—”

“Gods,” Gareth muttered, and the lady giggled. “Just let the poor lady do her job. We’re holding up the line.”

“There is no line,” the lady said cheerfully, and her eyes darted between us both.

Kieran practically shoved his coins into the lady’s palm, grabbed the book, and then offered it to me.

My gaze lingered between it and Kieran’s stormy eyes.

Why? I had barely looked at the book and yet…

he’d noticed. He’d seen me pause in front of it, knew I wanted it and got it for me.

I clutched the book to my chest and stared at Kieran as we walked out.

“We get paid for being a part of the dragonsguard,” he murmured. “Luther and I have neglected that aspect of your duties. But I won’t anymore. Tonight, I’ll deliver your coin—backdated and with an additional bonus for your troubles—and after that, your pay is monthly. Don’t spend it all at once.”

The book in my arms felt like gold. I’d never seen anything like it, never truly thought about traveling before. But the thought was in my mind since we saw the father trees, and gods, did I want to see all Lusadia had to offer. Not only that, but I wanted to take Clara with me. “Thank you.”

He froze and turned back to me, his gaze trapping me in place. “Don’t thank me. This was long overdue. You deserve to be paid for your sacrifice.”

Fire raged in my heart. Why did he have to do things like this? Just earlier today, he said we’d only be partners. So what was the truth? My chest felt too raw with emotion, so I merely nodded.

Of course, the moment we mounted our dragons, Kieran took off in the opposite direction.

“Moron,” Gareth called after him. He yelped when a shadow, thin because of the daylight, appeared out from his saddle and whacked him across the head lightly.

“Where is he going?”

Gareth shook his head. “Who knows, but he’s back to being an idiot who can't let himself be happy. Don’t worry, Selena, he'll come to his senses eventually.”

Why Gareth felt the need to tell me that, I wasn't sure, or rather, I didn’t want to admit it.

The days leading up to the mission were filled with a tense sort of anxiety. The others tried to act normal, but even they were worried about the nest. Kieran upped our training, and I didn’t complain. Because every night I dreamed of red eyes and horrible screams.

I took Gareth up on my proposal one late night when I couldn’t sleep and asked for a book recommendation.

He’d never looked happier. That’s how I found myself in possession of a romance book involving two enemy pirates, a kidnapping, and one ship.

His tastes were extremely cheesy and surprisingly raunchy, but it was a nice distraction for the horror that awaited me.

One of the days, I asked Ben for an extra training session, and the surprised look Kieran sent me was entirely unwarranted. “You said it yourself. I don’t want to be a target. Asshole,” I said the last bit under my breath.

Ben laughed. “Let’s go to the gym.”

I gave Kieran a vulgar gesture as we left. Like always, he continued to ignore me. And I continued to pretend his distance didn’t hurt.

When it was finally time for the mission and we were certain of the nest’s location, we all got ready to leave. My heart was in my throat as I changed into my battle leathers and braided my hair. I stared into the mirror. As much as I looked like a legendary dragonsguard, I didn’t feel like one.

“How are you doing?” I turned to see Nimue striding toward me.

“I feel like I might throw up.”

Nimue squeezed my shoulder. “It’s a rite of passage. Honestly, I still feel like I could puke.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

She shrugged. “The fear keeps us alert. As soon as you’re comfortable, you’re dead.”

Now that was a sentiment I was familiar with.

I treated every heist with the respect and caution it deserved, because if I didn’t, there was a good chance my cockiness would cause me to leave Clara behind.

I got too comfortable and look at me now.

I expelled a breath. “I know I should be happy to have a mission, and I am, but I wish it was anything but this.”

“Look at me.” Nimue’s serious tone had me instantly obeying. She put her hands on my shoulder. “Out there, we all have each other’s backs. Even Aurelia. We don’t mess around out in the field. And Kieran is an amazing captain. He’ll take care of you.”

I swallowed. “Okay.”

My nausea didn’t let up as we flew toward the nest and the village right beside it.

When I saw the village, my stomach flipped.

We’d warned the people beforehand to evacuate, but so many of them ignored the warning.

It was an utter massacre down below. A handful of gryphons swept through the town and targeted the screaming villagers.

It didn’t matter how fast the people ran, they couldn’t outrun the beasts.

Blood coated the streets. When the gryphons weren’t attacking the people, they were actively destroying the buildings. For seemingly mindless creatures, they had a cruel intelligence about them. They wanted the people to suffer in any way they could.

Kieran immediately took control as he landed in the center of the town.

“Stop!” he ordered one of the men running through the square.

The man was clearly well off and was stupid enough to try running away with his fortune.

I knew instantly he was an aristocrat. To him, it was better to be dead than to lose his wealth.

“We’ll help you evacuate and defend the town, but you must help those around you. ”

The man panted. He would’ve run off, but Kieran’s shadows pinned him in place. “I—I can’t!”

Kieran glowered. “You can and you will. You see that man over there. Help him go to Dragonsguard Gareth and Dragonsguard Aurelia. They’ll ensure a safe evacuation.” Kieran pointed to the homeless man with a bleeding leg. He was slumped against a broken streetlamp, too injured to move by himself.

The man let out a noise of disgust. “He’ll rob me.”

“Help him, or I’m using my shadows to pin you here,” Kieran snarled. “And we’ll see how you fare against the gryphons.”

The man’s eyes widened. He glanced at the gryphons lurking around us.

Nimue and Ben were in the middle of taking them out, but they couldn’t stop everyone.

Not while Kieran and I weren’t assisting and Gareth and Aurelia were busy with evacuations.

“Okay,” he mumbled and rushed over to the homeless man.

It was easy to see just why Kieran had his title as captain. His shadows swept through the village. Once he finished the sweep, he barked out orders at the civilians. Any gryphons he came across, he used his shadows to break their necks. Meanwhile Hesperos flew above and targeted any stragglers.

I shuffled. My heart hadn’t stopped racing as I trailed. “What should I do?” I felt so fucking useless.

Our eyes met. Kieran’s lips twitched downward. “Go to the skies. Just in case.”

My stomach churned. Just in case I was a gryphon magnet. I ran to Umara and flew up ahead. As much as I didn’t want to fight, I hated the thought of leaving my teammates to face the gryphons themselves. “Umara,” I murmured.

Umara flew down and roared, coating a lone gryphon in flames.

Its beady red eyes looked at me as it screeched.

Even when it turned to ash, I could’ve sworn I heard its cries in my ears.

We kept up the attacks from the air. Umara killed the gryphons with a viciousness she was known for, a side of her I hadn’t seen before.

But then the gryphons stopped attacking the villagers. My breath caught as a dozen red eyes looked up at me. “Umara,” I whispered. “We—”

“TO THE SKIES!” Kieran roared. “NOW!”

All five dragons flew up in an instant. Kieran’s shadows swept through the sky, but the shadowy wisps were nowhere near as strong since the sun was still up.

But he wasn’t weak. Kieran and his dragon were the deadliest pair, sweeping across the skies and taking out all nearby gryphons.

The others rose up, and our dragons attacked with narrowminded focus.

Umara let out a fierce roar. Since the others were too close for her to comfortably fire, she used her claws to disembowel the gryphons that dared get too close.

Aurelia and Gareth stayed low, taking out any stray gryphons.

I tried to ignore the villagers’ terrified screams from below, but I couldn’t.

My blood pounded in my eardrums. I felt like I was in a living nightmare.

When would the nest be taken out? How many were here?

In the chaos of the battle, I couldn’t focus on my friends and the cries and shouts around me. Please be okay. Please.

I whipped my blade around, stabbing any and all gryphons that got past Umara. I even managed to stab one in the throat. “Fuck,” I swore. It managed to claw my side before it died. Blood warmed my shirt. My pulse raced. This proved it. It wasn’t a fluke. The gryphons wanted me dead.

One by one, our dragons and Kieran took out the remaining gryphons. When no more attacked, we patrolled the area. It spoke volumes that both Kieran and Nimue never left my side the entire time. We stayed for the next hour to ensure we finished the job.

“We did it.” Gareth rubbed the sweat from his brow. After healing us all, he was unsteady on his feet.

“What the hell was that?” Aurelia glared at me. “That's not normal. They don't go after us. So why the hell would they go after her?”

Everyone looked at me. A lump formed in the back of my throat. Nothing good could come from this.

“Obviously her Gift manifested early.” Kieran was such a fucking liar. From his mocking tone to his confident words—he made her look like a moron for thinking otherwise. “Her proximity must attract gryphons.”

Kieran looked at me, the warning clear in his eyes.

I wasn’t sure why he was covering for me, but I sure as fuck wasn’t going to disagree with him.

At least on this we were on the same page.

I wanted to go back to the castle and put as much distance between me and the remnants of the nest as soon as possible.

I straightened my shoulders. Kieran clearly didn’t believe this was my Gift.

But if it wasn’t, then why the hell were the gryphons attacking me?