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“If it had been a Knight, then he wouldn’t have fled, and it doesn’t explain the light you claim to have seen.”
“So…yay mysterious savior?” Jake shrugged, a brow arching. I refrained from rolling my eyes.
“Either way, she’s alive,” Patrick cut in, his attention focused only on Kiara. The intensity that swirled in the depths of his eyes had me tightening my grip. He lifted his gaze to me then, his expression quickly shifting to anger. “You say you were attacked, but you’re the Hand of Death. I find it hard to believe you were taken off guard like that.” Suspicion crept into his voice, which had turned cutting.
He didn’t trustme.
I wanted to ask whyhehad left if he cared so much about her safety, but I refrained, holding onto my temper by a thread. Patrick continued, seeming to read my thoughts anyway. “You failed her, same as us, so maybe wipe that look off your face. You’re no better.”
I’d never heard him speak above a whisper. Around Kiara, he always appeared levelheaded, albeit shy. Though he was fiercely protective of her, just as she was of him.
“Patrick,” Jake warned, shifting to his friend. “It’s none of our faults. Lay off.”
But he didn’t.
“No.” Patrick shot to his feet, pointing an accusatory finger my way. “He only cares about the mission. Finding the keys.” He motioned to Kiara again. “She will always come second to him, don’t you see?”
Jake had the decency to lower his head, but he didn’t utter a reply.
“We aren’t naive, commander.” Patrick shook his head in disgust. “We all saw how the two of you interacted, and while we might have teased her occasionally, we were good enough friends to not interfere.”
His chest puffed out, his fists curling at his sides, and I blinked at the muscles I’d never noticed before.
“I won’t hold my tongue anymore, not if you hurt her and make promises you can’t keep. She matters to me, Maddox. More than you could ever know.”
I almost dropped Kiara in my lap. His words cut through me, striking the intended target in my chest.
“You’ll never be good enough,” Patrick murmured right before slipping back, aiming for the other side of the clearing, presumably to cool down. He faced the trees, hands shoved deep into his pockets, giving me his back—and his dismissal.
Silence fell, and only the soft breaths escaping Kiara’s parted lips could be heard.
“He doesn’t mean that,” Jake whispered sometime later. I’d lost myself in the rise and fall of her chest. “Patrick cares about her a lot, and he’s protective.”
There was no doubt that what Patrick felt for her went beyond friendship, and I didn’t blame him, not when I…
No.I couldn’t think like that. If I got her out of here alive, maybe I’d allow myself to indulge in such thoughts, but not now. Patrick had been right—I’d failed her when I’d lowered my walls.
My oath to the Knights. Hadn’t I thought about the very same things only a day ago?
Back in Sciona, Kiara and I could never be…us.
Just as I placed her back on the earth, her eyes opened.
“J-Jude?” she rasped, her voice hoarse. She gazed at me as if I were her savior, not the only reason she was here in the Mist and nearly dead.
“Ki!” Jake was beside her in an instant, his shoulder bumping mine. I bit back my growl.
“Jake? You made it.” She gave a soft smile, hope a dazzling shade of gold in her eyes.
“I’m right here, Ki,” Jake said. “Shhh. It’s all right now. You’re safe.”
Patrick abandoned his sulking and raced over, nearly shoving me aside to get to her. He gripped her hand. I noticed how her jaw clenched at the contact.
“W-what happened?” Her brows knit in thought. “The last thing I remember is the leader falling and…dying.” I knew she held something back by the way her gaze hesitantly slid to mine.
“You, ummm… Someone brought you here. To us,” Patrick said.
“Jude?” she croaked, giving me her full attention. “I felt arms. They felt safe.”
