Page 16

Jude

No path is straightforward. You learn nothing without getting a little lost.

Asidian proverb

Life ceased to flow when Starlight bucked Kiara off, sending her flying through the air and plummeting to the ground. Her lithe body had gone limp, and her face—which had been contorted with rage—was now slack.

Kiara .

The woman whose face haunted me, whose very voice had become a song I played inside my head on painfully quiet nights, lay before me, whole and real .

But she wasn’t moving.

There were frantic cries, someone calling out her name. The voice sounded familiar, yet even if it belonged to an enemy, I couldn’t find the willpower to care.

I had to get to her. Press my fingers into her soft skin and inhale the sweet floral scent that was distinctly her . Assure myself that I hadn’t conjured the woman who was a living flame, her light illuminating my demons and limning them in gold.

I ran. I ran until I was right there, beside her. I barely felt the impact when I dropped to the soil, my hands reaching for her like a star that had ventured too close to the earth. The pads of my fingers traced her form, my arms shaking as I searched for injuries.

Flaming red hair fanned across the coarse earth, her skin smudged with dirt from her fall. Her shadows slithered back beneath her torso, the wispy tendrils hauntingly beautiful under the moonlight.

Her chest rose and fell beneath my hands, and my eyes burned with a relief so consuming, it drowned out every sound and sensation. Slowly, cautiously, I brought my trembling hand to her cheek, curving my palm, shuddering when I felt her ice - cold skin.

Somehow, we’d found each other…even if she’d nearly killed me. As if in reminder, my throat burned, and I recalled how her phantom fingers had dug into my windpipe. It hurt to breathe, but she could’ve stabbed me at this point, and I’d have shrugged it off.

“Is she all right?”

I tilted my chin, not surprised when I found a pair of brown eyes speckled with gold staring back. My air turned to frost in my lungs when the Fox sauntered closer before dipping into a crouch a few feet from where I clutched Kiara. Her tone had been cutting, and my eye twitched at the way she stared daggers at the woman in my arms.

I didn’t look at her as I replied, “She will be.” It had been a nasty fall, but she just needed to rest.

A pained groan came from my left.

Liam .

I whirled in place. Twenty feet away, her brother lay sprawled upon the ground. When he attempted to lift himself, his lips twisted into an agonized grimace, his arms shaking from the effort. He toppled back to the dirt with a frustrated cry.

The Fox shot to her feet and ran to him as I tenderly released Kiara, who frowned in her sleep. I didn’t want to leave her, but I had to check on Liam—if he perished due to her actions…that would be a blow she wouldn’t survive.

“Commander.”

Relief flooded me as Jake sprinted into view. He sank to his knees and grasped Kiara’s shoulders before gently running his hands up and down her arms.

We locked eyes, and Jake jerked his head to where my mother examined Liam. “I got her for now,” he promised, seeming to read my mind. “Go, check on him.”

The recruit’s face was a welcomed one, and something warm filled my chest as I shot him an appreciative nod and stood. I had the strangest urge to hug the boy, but I forced myself to turn. Every nerve in my body protested as I walked away.

The thief had her pack out, various medical supplies littering the ground around her and Liam. Her bodyguard handed her a glass jar that had rolled by his boot, and she snapped open the lid before rubbing it onto Liam’s chest.

His distressed wheezes caused my heart to race.

“She’s out of control,” the Fox said over her shoulder, her fingers smoothing out the ointment. Liam gasped, his eyes wide. I swore he tried to shake his head as if saying, “ No .”

Even with her brother splayed across the earth, I felt the need to defend her. “She just doesn’t know how to use her powers yet,” I said, my nails digging into the flesh of my palms. How could the Fox even begin to think Kiara would hurt Liam on purpose? She knew nothing about her.

My mother scoffed, though she avoided my eyes. “She’s a danger to us all, and I won’t let her—”

“You won’t let her what , Mother? Kill me? You’re the one who turned me down when I needed your assistance. You’re the reason I was captured to begin with.”

She went deathly still. Slowly, her stare lifted to meet mine, and a chill raced down my spine. The gall. The thief couldn’t come flying back into my life and suddenly give a shit if I lived or died. She gave up that right nineteen years ago.

“If she hurts you, then I will do whatever I need to do to stop her.” Her brown eyes glinted ominously in the moon’s light. “Even if I have to kill her myself.”

I all but growled. “Get close to her, and it’ll be your life you have to worry about.”

The Fox’s shocked features went slack. I could tell she planned to spew more venom, but Jake called out my name.

“Jude!” Jake compelled my gaze to abandon my mother and her threats. “I’d come here if I were you! Kiara’s awake.”