I would reach my mother today.The image Zaheera had shown me—of her sitting alone, calling out to me—replayed in my mind on endless repeat.
“I’m coming, Ummi.”Tears slipped down my cheeks, and I wiped them away with a shaky hand.“I will protect you.I will fix everything.”
The scorching sun sat high overhead.Sweat dripped from my skin, my clothes damp and stifling.We would reach the village by nightfall.
It was too easy.
Unease chewed at my insides, biting deeper with every step forward.
Theo dragged his feet beside me, his usual energy drained as the sun leeched the life from him one drop of sweat at a time.He was drenched, his hair plastered to his forehead and face pale despite the angry flush of heat on his cheeks.
He looked ready to drop when his head snapped up, eyes locking on something ahead.
“Water,” he croaked.
He shoved past me, stumbling toward a small stream that cut through the dry land.He dropped to his knees and plunged his hands into the water, splashing his face and gulping it down like a dying man.
Tavrik and I exchanged a sideways glance.
“That was veryungentlemanlyof you,” I said, crossing my arms.
Theo lifted his head, water still dripping down his chin.“I was going to pass out.”
Tavrik stepped aside, motioning for me to go next.“After you.”
I dipped my head in thanks, shooting Theo a look as he stuck his tongue out at me like a child.
As the cold water touched my lips, it doused the fire burning inside.I drank deeply, soothing the raw ache in my throat before wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
With the newfound hydration came unwanted clarity.
My heart dropped into my stomach.The land before us was familiar.The road.The twisted trees.The cracked earth and sloping hills.
We were so close.
I needed a distraction, something to pull me away from the brewing storm in my chest.
I looked at Tavrik, falling into step beside him.“Tell me about Jasila.”
Something in his face cracked open—the sharp lines of his expression melting.His gaze turned distant, looking toward something only he could see.
“I never thought I’d meet someone who could pull me in so effortlessly, but the moment I met Jasila, I was… hooked.”
“It was like that right away?”
He nodded.“She was ruthless, sharp-tongued, and fierce as hell.”A real smile broke across his face.“I saw past all of that—past the steel she wore like armour.”He lifted his face toward the sun, his eyes closing.“For so long, I had forgotten what it felt like to be truly seen.To have someone look at you and know your soul.”
He had found something real, something that made himfeel, and I had ripped him away from it.
“Tavrik—”
His expression softened when he turned to me, reading the devastation written across my face.
“I’m so sorry.”The words came out broken.“I’m sorry I took you away from her.”
Without a second thought, he wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side.He guided me forward, his grip steady and sure.
“Don’t be sorry.”He gave me a reassuring squeeze.“Before I met you, I was nothing.Just a man on the run.But you…” He paused.“You gave my life purpose again.You saved me in more ways than you know.”
