Page 69 of A Touch of Stars and Stones (Kirrian #1)

“Is the attack real, and do we know who initiated it?” I ask the two pertinent questions.

“Yes, it’s real. But beyond that, I won’t share key information with you. I offer the confirmation only out of respect for you and our history.”

Because for most of my life, we lived under the assumption I’d be one of his soldiers to command one day. If not more.

“You’ve pulled all Warriors on duty.” It wasn’t a question, but I need to know this for the next step of the plan to work.

We set our stares, and I refuse to give. He knows I’m aware that would be the move to make. “Curse your father.” He shakes his head. “Do I want to know what happened to the officer watching the training residence?”

“No.”

“Very well. Do I need to find someone to escort you back there?”

“No. I’ll go directly to the Ciro apartments in The Chamber. You seem to be exiting The Court, leaving a minimal defence, so it would be the logical place now.”

His blue eyes narrow again, but I keep my shoulders squared and stand up to him as any other Warrior would. He nods before peeling off and joining the rest of the Warriors under his command, heading out to reinforce the west.

“Whoa, that was intense,” Micah breaks his silence.

“Not really. And he did give up some useful information.” Ever won’t be heavily guarded in the cells. If I can’t get answers from my father, I will be able to get to her.

“Okay. I’m guessing by the fact that I’m nearly running that you have amended your plan.”

I don’t stop the jog I’ve broken into. “Ever.”

“Ever, what?”

“I’m going to get Ever.”

I lead us over the bridge, nobody daring to stand in our way following the conversation with General Aster. The closer we get to The Court, the more chaos seems to fill the air.

Logically, it makes sense. Kirrasia is peaceful, so the breach of the perimeter by an unknown enemy will cause panic. And, while there are Warriors stationed here, it’s not the main force of my father’s army.

By the looks of people rushing about with panic on their faces, many don’t like the idea of our way of life being put in jeopardy and the Warriors taking over. Every Warrior I see is now dressed in black, in a uniform that I’ve worn on numerous occasions for training prior to my Transference.

They are stationed in groups at the gate to The Court and at strategic positions, and we make our way further inside, spiralling up towards the centre and The Tower, where there’ll be more heavily armed and experienced Warriors.

“I need to check on my family.” For once, Micah’s voice is solemn and serious, and I can’t blame him. There is no direct threat I can see. Nobody has breached the walls—no fighting in the streets—yet, there’s fear in the air.

“Sure. I’ll be at the cells.”

“I’ll meet you… where?”

“We’ll find you. Go check on your family,” I order.

Hardly anyone here has witnessed our Court under attack, as it’s not happened since I was old enough to remember. And it takes everything in me to keep moving through the people I know and recognise and not change direction and insist Aster takes me into his ranks.

A yearly drill of the very civilised plan of what to do in the event of the alarm sounding has clearly gone to shit. Maybe we’ve grown complacent over time, with no belief that this could happen. I can’t think about that now, though—I have to get to The Tower.

Those stationed at the entrance give me pause as I approach, but I raise my hands and give them my name, which seems to solve many of my problems. Officers line the corridor and the main stairwell up to the offices, but that’s not where I’m heading.

Ever might be safe. But she’s in a fucking cell.

I turn down the back hall and double back to the stairwell that will lead me down to the cells, remembering all the times I used to play in these very halls.

The air chills as I venture into the shadows of the stone, leading down, deep underground, beneath The Tower.

The cells have no windows and only one way in or out.

Apart from Lyle, who was held and questioned, they haven’t been regularly used, so to put Ever here seems extreme and out of all proportion for what happened in the trial, but that’s been a regular reaction to anything she’s done.

I follow the steps down, turn after turn, until it opens into a dimly lit receiving room. A table, a few sconces for light and a wall of weapons, half depleted, on one side decorate the space before another wider set of shallow stairs leads down to the individual cells.

Before I’m even down them, I can sense her, my power seeking her out of its own free will, but worse, I hear voices. Male voices I don’t recognise.

Fear, raw and terrifying, takes over, blocking everything else as I race down the stone steps ahead of me.

“Ever! I’m coming .” I throw out the words through my mind and hope she hears.

“Necklace!” She screams inside my head, and the panic and alarm swamping her, slam into me. It’s cold and icy and pulls dread from my very soul, her fear fuelling my own.

My heart races, and the concoction of terror grips my chest as I sprint harder. Try harder.

The voices grow louder, and the noises of a fight, scuffs and grunts echo as I pass the first two cells. The iron door to Ever’s cell is open, and two men I don’t recognise are wrestling against her. Shit.

She’s fighting.

And she’s fucking losing.

Jerk number one has her on her back on the wooden cot, his hands on her, pinning her down as she grabs his wrists, fighting him back, twisting one way and then the next. Jerk number two is grappling for her legs, preventing her from lashing out, but she thrashes against them anyway.

I don’t know who they are, if they have magic or what skills they might have, and I have no firm plan for my attack, but Ever doesn’t have the time for me to plan.

I barrel into Jerk one as he’s the bigger threat, dropping my weight and sliding into his legs to take him out.

The surprise and momentum bring him to the floor, where I manoeuvre over his frame. Jerk two comes up behind me and pulls me back, but I round on him and elbow him in the gut.

“Come on, man. Leave her,” he wheezes. But it’s too late. My hand is already grabbing for my knife and, with a practised swing, I bring it around and across Jerk one’s neck, severing the muscles, tendons, and his throat.

Blood spurts, and his strain to fight against the wound fills the space while he bleeds out under me. His body goes lax, and I turn and stand to face Jerk two again. Ever’s long forgotten, and he’s now backed up against the wall.

“Who are you, and why the fuck are you after her?” I yell.

“Ten!” Ever’s strangled voice pulls my focus. Her hands cradle her head, and she’s curled in on herself. “It hurts. My head… I can’t…” she trails off, and I’m struck by searing pain as I reach out my power to her. It’s the same as when I touch her, that mind-numbing, head-splitting…

Her necklace. Realisation breaks me from the pull into the dark, and I see the gold pendant that should be around her neck gripped in Jerk two’s hand.

Asshole.

He follows my line of sight and drops the pendant before sidestepping around me and fleeing the cell.

Fuck.

I grab the necklace, ignoring the burning sensation threatening to peel the skin from my fingers as I pick it up, praying it’s not going to burst into flames.

Carefully bringing it to Ever, I place it against her skin, hoping it will alleviate the pain of her power having nothing to keep it contained.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Breathe.” I don’t know if I’m talking to her or need to follow the instruction myself. My heart rate starts to calm in tandem with Ever’s own breathing, thank Aslendrix, and my eyes drift to the body next to us on the floor.

With the threat now neutralised, I can see him for what he is. Not a Warrior or anyone else I recognise from The Court. His clothes are neutral, and there’s a silver disk on the neck of his collar but no weapon.

Was he here to kill Ever? To hurt her? My mind starts piecing things together now that I can think past keeping her safe.

“Are you okay?” she asks into my mind.

“Yes. I think so.”

“You killed him.”

“I know.”

It goes quiet, and she opens her eyes and looks at me.

Devastation stares back, and I want to kill him all over again. Tears well, threatening to fall, and watching her struggle guts me, and I know that I’ll do anything to stop her feeling like this ever again. Emotion pours from her like it’s too much to keep it inside her, and she can’t try any more.

It hits in waves: sadness and fear, anger and rage. One after the other, relentless. All I want is to run my hands over her skin to soothe her and check every inch to ensure she’s still in one piece.

“They snatched it from me, and from there, everything went sideways. When I touched them, nothing happened, or it felt like it rebounded, and my power came back at me, somehow drowning me. I saw so many things…”

She shuffles into a sitting position with her back against the wall and pulls her knees to her chest as she surveys the room. I watch as her defences build back into place, including keeping me out, as everything I can feel suddenly ceases.

Maybe I shouldn’t have given us space over the last few days, but I needed to find a way to defend against her, to block that pain because I know it’s only going to get worse as she continues to get stronger. But time’s up.

I stand and look at her, tracking the worry on her face, so I reach with my power, forcing it to gauge her feelings rather than picking up on what she’s pushing at me.

Panic. Fear. Relief. They all war for dominance. And there’s doubt riding over it all, the questions she’s yet to find answers to, including if she can trust me again. Not just to tell her the truth but to tell her when to stop.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I’ve pulled back, but I need you to trust me again, and if I’ve not shown you yet, then tell me what I need to do to fix that.” I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever she asks.

Her eyes flash between mine as if she’s not sure what to say.

“I can’t give you what you want. I have no answers and no way to stop the pain that happens when we touch.” To make my point, I trail my thumb over her cheek to swipe at the tear that she can’t stop from falling.

“Ten, stop… there’s… I can’t…” Her voice cracks, but the pain doesn’t stop me.

I feel it, like when I touched her necklace, the immediate attack of energy that only builds, threatening to take me over, but I refuse to be controlled by it.

I want to offer her every touch, every kiss, every comfort I can because that cancels out every fucking beat of pain in my heart.

“This is shitty timing. And I’m so sorry you just went through this,” I crouch down to keep her gaze from the blood leaking on the floor—eye to eye—offering her nowhere to look but at me.

“Decide if you can trust me and if you’ll forgive me because I’m done.

I’m done keeping my distance from you or pretending like there isn’t something between us.

I’m done with everything they’ve thrown at you, but the one thing I’m not done with is you.

So, the sooner you accept that, the better. ”

“But you’ve…” I still her lips with my finger, not prepared to accept anything else out of her mouth.

“Shh.”

“Ten.”

“Cheat.” I smile, unable to help it, as she bypasses my physical prevention.

“I can hurt you.” Another tear escapes and drops to her cheek, and a pulse of icy cold energy beats around her as if trying to keep me out.

“You can’t. Not the way you’re frightened of.” Touching her doesn’t cripple me, not like seeing those men attacking her. After that, I don’t think anything she could do would hurt as much as seeing her in pain and feeling her terror.

“You’ve changed everything for me. And I’m sick of being careful around you because I feel you, Ever.

In here.” I grab her hand and place it over my heart.

I want to say more, my heart and mind are in agreement about her being the single most important person in my world—the reason to fight, the reason to breathe—but I just smile.

My mind flares with images, but I concentrate on pulling my power and building the shield in my mind to prevent them from invading along with the pain, and I think of the only thing that matters in this moment—Ever.

“Come on.” I pull her to her feet and walk her out of the cell.

But before I reach the steps, I stop, grab her with both hands and bring my lips to hers, unable to take another step without showing her that I will bear all the pain if it means I can be with her.

Soft lips meet mine, tentative but giving, and I know I’ve won.

Damn the consequences.