My feet move before I can think, grabbing the attacker’s face. A warm sensation flows through my body, seeping out of my cells, my bones. He turns to me, in his eyes I see my reflection, my eyes have gone black. Entirely black, with only my red eye burning with power. Terror is imprinted on his face.
His screams fade as his body dissolves, crumbling to tiny fragments that settle amongst the snow. The powerful feeling dwindles fast, and with it my energy. I fall to the ground, languid, gasping for air, my sight blurred.
A hand outstretches in front of me, and I lift my head, looking into dark eyes that blink rapidly, trying to make sense of what he just witnessed. He pulls me to my wobbly feet, placing his other hand at my lower back to steady me. He stares at me, his eyes roaming over my face. I have to force myself to look away from his intense gaze. He keeps one hand on my back, only letting go when Kali rushes forward, throwing her arms around my neck, almost knocking me off my feet again.
The ground is engulfed in white flames, smoke fills the air, and everyone coughs and splutters. The dark-eyed rebel walks away, his husky, authoritative voice shouts a distorted order to his men, and my hearing is muffled with blood rushing to my ears.
A few of the men hobble and limp, gripping their sides or wrapping up a leg. I start walking over to Myles when I hear a voice call my name.
“Andi?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Wyatt
I take in the sight of our guys when the smoke clears, minimal casualties, and a lot of wounded. I’d say we got off lucky considering how outnumbered we were. If it weren’t for the fire girl, we would be dead. Many of us owe her our lives.
I catch a glimpse of her as she turns, black hair blowing away from her face, and she turns her back to me. But it can’t be her, she can’t be here.
“Andi?”I shout over everyone.
A few heads look at me and follow my gaze to the black-haired girl standing at the other side of the fire. Confused, she turns her face towards me, and my heart jumps into my throat. She scans the group, wondering where the voice came from, pulling her hair to the side to stop it lashing in front of her face. Her eyebrows knit together, that’s when I remember the scarf covering my face. I yank it off, throwing it to the ground, and take a step towards her.
“Forgotten me already,princess?” I say, unable to stop the stupidly large grin on my face. Andi’s eyes light up, and a smile beams across her face. She runs, slamming into me, wrapping her arms and legs around me. She sobs heavily into my shoulder.
I grip her tightly, making sure she is not a dream. I didn’t think I would see her again.
I refuse to let go until she does. If this is a dream, I’d like to hold on to it for just a little while longer. My heart lodges in my chest—she doesn’t know her family is missing. That Ifailed.Once she finds out the truth, this feeling right here will be gone for good. I should have been searching for them instead of playing rebel.
Andi pulls back a little, scrunching up her nose, wiping away her tears. “You stink so bad,” she says.
Dropping her to the ground, I pretend to sniff under my arm, I lock eyes with her, and say, “Nah, I think that’s you.” Andi punches my shoulder and loops her arm in mine, resting her head on me.
Out from the smoke, I see Myles limp towards us, with a bandaged leg, he smiles, holding his hand out to me. “It’s good to see you, Wyatt.” I shake his hand with Andi clinging to me firmly, unwilling to let me go again.
Two girls follow Myles to Andi, elves like Arel. Both with blonde hair and golden eyes, but one has a severe burn down the side of her face. She hangs back behind Myles, using him as a shield.
“Do we get introductions or what?” Kaleb asks, stepping forward, wrapping his arm around my neck. “This your girl?”
Andi turns her head upwards to look at me, raising an eyebrow. I push him away. “Not my girl, I already told you. This is Andi, my sister,” I say, pulling her in for a hug. “Andi, this is… well, everyone, you don’t need to remember their names.”
The guy’s yell in uproar.
“It’s nice to meet you. I think,” Andi quietly says, she looks at me. “How are you here?”
I rub the back of my neck, exhaling loudly. “That’s a long story.” I look to Ronan for instruction. His gaze is on Andi, with an expression I’ve never seen on his face before, “Ronan.”
His eyes flick to mine, his cheeks flush with a slight rosy tinge, clearing his throat.
Oh, I’m going to love winding him up.
Ronan clears his throat again, turning away to pick up some weapons from the ground. He says, “Let’s head back home, we’ve lost too many. Gather everything up and we’ll head out.”
Andi squeezes my arm before letting go. She walks over to Myles and the two elves, talking to one of them, the other still hides behind Myles. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone this shy before.
I walk over to Ronan, his eyes glued to Andi walking away, and I throw an arm around his shoulders. “Distractions will get you killed.” I slap him on the back and follow Andi.
The walk back to Nu’cov feels short, and Andi and I tell each other what the other has missed. She tells me about being hunted by guards since she left, staying in Cyvail, learning about her mother, and surviving being bitten by a Hundican. A beast I’m surprised she hasn’t heard of, where I know it from the books I read as a child.
