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“Made you smile,” he said before returning to the task at hand. It did help, however, because even though packing the wound hurt, it didn’t reach the level of several of the other things I’d already gone through in just an hour or so. Had it only been an hour?
Finally, after what was an equivalent to torture applied with true love, I felt like I was one trembling, washed out mess. I wanted to puke. I wanted to scream, kick something, and also brush my teeth with the freshest toothpaste I could find. I wanted a bath.
But I couldn’t do any of that, so instead, I just clung to Kai as he lifted me up.
“I’m going to take you to Tove’s smuggler hiding place. Hopefully, Darla and Oren will be there. If not, I’m going to stay with you until they arrive, but…”
I wasn’t so out of it that I didn’t notice that pregnant pause. “But what?”
“I can’t let this island be ransacked. I need to go to Aodin and make sure the Arbiters are prepared for this to escalate.”
“Kai, you need to hide.”
“I know that if I were anybody else, I would, but I’m trying to convince a group of fae who don’t trust anyone from my bloodline to abandon my immensely powerful, violent father and back me. Showing up for them now is an advantage I can’t pass up.”
He was speaking logically, but what was left of my shambling mind objected. “Kai…”
“I know. I know, baby. But it’s for our future. We’ll have to make sacrifices now that neither of us want to, but it’ll be worth it for our tomorrows.” He leaned in close without quite kissing me, like he was afraid he would break me. “I would give up everything and more to get us even one more tomorrow.”
“But we’ll have so many more than that.”
“Exactly,” he said. “Which is why I have to do this. But I promise you won’t be alone, okay? I’ll stay by your side until Oren and Darla are with you.”
The argument was done there, not because I fully agreed, but because I felt a wave of exhaustion rush through my veins. Eyelids fluttering, I let myself drift off, hoping that when I woke up, Kai would be right beside me.
He owed me a bunch of tomorrows.
Chapter 13
Kai
I was more relieved than I could say when I climbed down into the hidden bunker that Aodin had marked on a map and found a healthy Darla and Oren waiting. Both were absolutely filthy, with mud all the way up to their knees, and the psychic was definitely scratched up, but they looked like they were mostly in one piece.
“How is she?” Darla asked, getting up from the cushy looking chair she was sitting in.
“Better, I think. I did everything she told me to.”
Oren patted my shoulder—another rare moment of physical contact between the two of us. I hadn’t missed how stiff and withdrawn he’d become in the capital. It was a return to how he’d often had to hold himself before we both escaped to the military, so I was glad to see that he was falling back into our usual Fort Canid camaraderie.
“She’s incredibly strong. I’m sure she’ll be right as rain.”
It took a tremendous amount of effort to hand Ayla over, but I knew in the end I had to. I couldn’t afford to just sit and hide in total safety.
“Where are you going?” Oren asked as I headed back out the way I came.
“I need to meet up with the Arbiters and help deal with any of these guards. It’s clear it’s not just peaceful delegates who arrived on that ship.”
“Are you sure that’s wise, though?” Darla asked, sounding so incredibly weary. I understood because I felt so emotionally strung out that I wanted to pitch myself out of a window.
“It’s what I have to do. It’s clear they already know we’re here.”
“In that case, take us with you!”
“No, I need someone to protect Ayla, and you’re the only two I trust with that.” I paused, uncertain if I should say the next thing, but then the words were coming out of my mouth anyway. “I need to know there are people with her who can get her out of here if anything happens to me.”
Oren didn’t reply immediately, his jaw moving like it did whenever I knew he was chewing on his words. When he finally spoke, there were a whole wealth of things he wasn’t saying. “Be safe, Kai.”
“I will. Promise.”
