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We were torn apart and broken, even if our bodies remained whole. I’d stared death in its eyes and found nothing but emptiness and cutting loss. It pierced me like shattered glass.
“Try to sleep, Kiara,” I murmured, my arm winding around her waist. The hand at her back began to rub soothing circles, and soon her chest rose and fell evenly, sleep ushering her into its folds. I wasn’t sure what possessed me, but I took her hand in mine and brought it to rest on my heart.
The last thing I remembered was placing a kiss on the back of it, and whispering her name and a prayer.
…
I woke covered in warmth and softness.
Sometime during her slumber, Kiara had managed to wind both arms around my torso, her hands fisting the back of my shirt. She was practically straddling me, using me as a pillow.
But she wasn’t the only one who had changed positions.
My stubbled cheek pressed against her smooth temple, my nose nuzzling her hair, my arms wrapped snugly around her waist.
I went completely still.
Kiara began to shift in place, mumbling beneath her breath.
Inwardly, I cursed. My change in breathing must’ve roused her, because she was awake now, the uneven rise of her chest giving her away. Still she didn’t move, and neither did I.
This was the closest we had ever been, and while I couldn’t get Isiah’s lifeless body out of my thoughts, the pressure of her embrace told me she needed the contact. I did too.
Her hair, which was an unruly mess of tangled red tresses, tickled my chin, and I brought my hand up to smooth the wild strands. A tremor worked through her body as I ran my fingers through her hair, the move probably surprising her. Hells, it surprised me how easy it was. How utterlynormal.
When I tucked a few loose pieces behind her ear, her head angled upward. Our eyes connected, and a bolt of fire shot into my chest.
“Are you all right?” I asked, my voice hoarse and roughened by sleep. I dropped my hand from her hair, clearing my throat.
“I’m alive,” she murmured. “Did you sleep well?”
“I think I got a few hours in,” I said. Great. Now we were making awkward small talk. And I had yet to move.
“You make a decent pillow,” she attempted to joke, and the barest hint of a smile graced my lips. “Although you’re a little lumpy, but I managed.” She poked at the muscles in my stomach as if to prove her point.
I scoffed. “You make for a decent heater.”
She bestowed me with a timid smile, one that told me she knew I was far from fine. My brother was dead, gone forever. That heat in my belly intensified.
“We really should get going.”
“We should,” she agreed, not moving.
“Kiara,” I pressed, a lone finger tracing the side of her cheek. “Thank you for…” I paused, trying to find the proper word. I couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound clichéd or empty. “Being there for me,” I finished clumsily.
“Of course,” she said, her eyes still upon me, vibrant and fierce. “I’m always here. Even if you want to talk about it. About him.”
Talking about Isiah wouldn’t help. Maybe one day, when our lives weren’t on the line, but now I had to keep my thoughts clear, if only to get through this mission. “Not today,” was all I said, my body tensing as I prepared to stand.
“Wait!”
I froze, one arm still encircling her waist.
Reaching into her trouser pocket, she retrieved a golden pin. The Knights’ emblem.
“He would have wanted you to have this,” she whispered, angling herself so she could fasten it to my leather collar. The gold pin rested right below my matching one. Her hand fell across the emblems, my chest barely moving as I watched her fingers work.
She’d taken Isiah’s pin knowing I’d want a piece of him. Something to remember him by. My heart squeezed.
