Page 56 of Alien Assassin's Heir

CHAPTER 15

LUNA

The suns are merciful for once, their heat softened by gauzy clouds stretched thin across the pale blue sky. The shallow canyon pools shimmer below us, blue-green and glassy, broken only by ripples where the wind stirs. The cliffs glow like burnished copper, and the air smells faintly of mineral water and the sweet desert blooms clinging to the rocks.

For the first time in months, maybe years, Wildwood doesn’t feel like a cage. It feels like escape.

Solie squeals when Kraj hoists her onto his shoulders, her little fingers gripping the ridges of his horns like reins. “Higher, higher!” she cries, her laughter ringing so bright it makes my chest ache.

He chuckles, that low rumble that always vibrates through my bones. “Any higher, little firefly, and you’ll bump the moons themselves.”

She leans forward, stretching her arms out like wings. “Iwantto touch the moons!”

“Then you’ll need to grow a little taller.” He winks up at her, and she collapses into giggles, her hair flying around her face in golden strands.

I trail behind them, basket on my hip, trying not to stare. But it’s useless. My eyes keep drifting to them—the child balanced on her father’s shoulders, though she doesn’t know it, and the warrior who carries her like she’s more precious than any weapon he’s ever held.

It’s dangerous, how natural it looks. How easy it feels.

The pools come into view, ringed with reeds and stones worn smooth by centuries of trickling streams. Solie wriggles down from his shoulders and dashes toward the water.

“Wait for me!” Kraj calls, striding after her with a speed that makes me smile despite myself. He crouches by the bank, plucking up a flat stone.

“Watch closely,” he tells her. He flicks his wrist, claws glinting, and the stone skips once, twice, three times before sinking.

Solie gasps, clapping her hands. “Do it again!”

“Your turn,” he says, handing her a pebble. His claws fold delicately around her tiny fingers, guiding the throw. The rock sails forward—plunk—straight into the water, spraying both of them.

She squeals with delight, pointing. “You cheated! You made it splash on purpose!”

“Me?” He presses a hand to his chest, mock offended. “Never.”

I sink down onto a sun-warmed rock, resting the basket beside me. The stone radiates heat through my clothes, grounding me. Watching them, a tight ache builds in my chest, a mix of joy and grief. Joy for what’s here, grief for what was stolen from us. Maybe this is what we should’ve had all along.

Kraj ruffles Solie’s hair. “Try again. This time—more wrist.”

She nods, tongue poking out in concentration. The pebble bounces once before sinking. She jumps up and down. “Did you see? It skipped!”

“You’re a natural,” he says softly.

We eat by the pool’s edge, spreading a blanket over the rocks. The fruit is sticky and sweet, juice dripping down our chins, while the fried root slices crunch with salt. Solie babbles between bites, reliving her “big throw” with all the dramatics of a bard.

“And then—it wentso far—all the way to the other side!” she declares.

“Farther than the moons,” Kraj agrees solemnly, playing along.

She narrows her eyes, suspicious. “You’re teasing me.”

“Maybe,” he admits, his grin flashing.

I laugh, wiping juice from her cheek with my thumb. Her eyes sparkle in the canyon light, that impossible golden hue that mirrors his.

Eventually, the food is gone, and so is her energy. She curls in my lap, head heavy against my stomach, little breaths warm through my tunic. I stroke her hair, watching her lashes flutter closed, her mouth slacken in sleep.

Kraj leans back on his elbows, gaze lingering on her face. Something raw flickers in his eyes, gone before I can name it.

When she’s fully asleep, he rises and bends toward me. “Here,” he murmurs. His arms are steady, his claws tucked carefully as he lifts her from me. She doesn’t stir, only sighs and burrows into his chest.