“Just tired,” I said trying to clear my throat, voice thin.
Ashley shrugged, muttering under her breath as she tended to the flames.
“Why do you even recognize such faces?” I muttered.
“Oh, I’ve stolen plenty,” Ashley chuckled.
Malakai leaned back against the trunk, creating more distance between us. But his eyes never left me, piercing, like I had just told him my darkest secret and left him to deal with it by himself.
Each glance between us was its own kind of torture.
And though neither of us had uttered the word, I felt it there, unspoken, burning through every breath.
The desire for trust.
CHAPTER
5
Morning light broke through the canopy, and for some reason it felt like I had just closed my eyes and not slept at all. My body was still sore from the fight. The wound looked better—I always healed quicker when I used my flames to cauterize open wounds—although it still stung a bit when I moved.
Smoke curled from the dying embers of the fire, carrying the faint smell of ash and burnt pine.
We gathered in a rough circle, stiff and tired but upright. No one spoke of the night before; the battlefield still felt too close, shadows clinging to us even here.
Malakai broke the silence first, voice steady but firm.
“We stay here. The soldiers sent to reinforce us are already on their way. With more numbers and a larger camp, we can build proper fortifications to fall back to. If we move now—” His gaze flicked, lingering on me. “We risk more than we can afford.”
I bristled. “And if we wait, the demons gain ground, they won’t sit idle while we lick our wounds. They’ll regroup. They’ll find another way to strike. We can’t just… hide.”
The words came sharper than I meant, but the ache in my side only fueled them.
Malakai’s jaw worked, as if holding back too many responses.
“You’re not healed.” His tone softened, but it felt like walls closing in. “Not enough to face another wave like yesterday.”
“I don’t need to be whole to fight,” I shot back.
The others shifted, weighing in one by one.
Jaden rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s not wrong. They’ll come again. But Malakai has a point, running into them with nothing to fall back to is suicide.”
Ashley sighed, tossing a twig into the embers. “We need a camp. Fortify first, then strike. Reinforcements aren’t far.”
Nate nodded once. “We build, we wait and we gather strength. But we don’t sit idle more than needed. Once the base is ready, we move.”
Eve muttered, “Better to be living cowards than dead heroes.”
Their agreement pressed the air thin.
I exhaled, forcing myself to nod. “Fine. Can we at least go meet the reinforcements, and plan our next strike? I can’t just sit here and wait.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Lionel’s voice cut through the low murmur. He looked at me, steady as ever, no hesitation in his tone. “If you’re meeting them halfway, you shouldn’t go alone. I’ll watch your back.”
I caught a flicker in Malakai’s expressionbefore he flattened it. He didn’t say a word, but his silence weighed heavy.
