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Things had changed.
Because ofher.
It had been less than an hour since theattack. I didn’t know how to describe what had happened back there in the clearing. That river of darkness had flooded through the trees and consumed our enemies, turning them to ash, sweeping them away in an icy breeze.
It all left me on edge, my hand placed on my dagger, almost eager to pull it from its sheath. There’d always be the next kill, the next enemy. I didn’t wish the same future for Kiara.
The girl I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about was shockingly quiet at my side.
While I’d convinced myself her incessant speech was grating, I found I missed it.
Suddenly, the quiet I usually craved had my stomach churning. Sneaking a peek at her from the corner of my good eye, I found a similarly perplexed expression weighing down the corners of her lips. Her upturned nose wrinkled slightly, her eyes creased at the sides. She was deep in thought. A dangerous thing to be, I knew well.
Her rich red hair shimmered in the moon’s glow, each strand capturing a bit of its mystic magic, and those amber eyes of hers ensnared the night, the golden flecks twinkling like the distant stars overhead. She was equal parts light and darkness.
Light.
I’d lied when I compared her to the sun. When I said I’dimaginedshe was what it was like to glimpse the sun. Every year on the exact same day—what had once been the longest day of the year—I’d fall asleep and dream of a shattering orb of light high in the sky.
It was a sweet torture to see its beauty and never feel its warmth. Sometimes I would envision a meadow, orange and yellow flowers sweeping across tall green grass. Other times, the sun would show itself to me between the peaks of snowy mountains, rising like a phoenix. The image I saw the most was a marble temple of the purest white, golden rays cascading across its slick surface like spilled water, a barren field at its feet.
But whatever false world I’d conjured would vanish the second I awoke.
The next days would be full of nightmares—of the Mist and sliced throats and wailing screams. But once a year, I’d find that sweet peace.
Whether I wished it or not, Kiara had slowly become that peace for me. That dream of light.
I suppressed a groan when my boot hooked beneath an upturned root, barely catching my balance before I ate dirt. It was unlike me to be so clumsy. I didn’t acquire my illustrious reputation by tripping over fallen branches.
Unfortunately for me, Kiara was perceptive.
She cursed, halting abruptly, and forcing me to do the same.
“Your shoulder!” she exclaimed, realization widening her eyes. “I saw one of them slice you.”
And my leg and my arm, I added silently. But those were just simple flesh wounds. Kiara’s eyes flashed with concern. My heart beat faster.
“I’ll be fine,” I promised, turning away. “It isn’t deep.”
Kiara was having none of that.
“Stop being a tough guy and let me take a look.” She put both hands on her hips, cocking them out in a way that likely wasn’t meant to be provocative but was. I ground my teeth.
“A tough guy, eh?” I chided. “You say that like you don’t know who I am.”
“I know you well enough. And you’re stubborn and prideful,” she snapped, her biting tone shocking me. If she knew about the innocent blood that covered my hands, she wouldn’t want anything to do with me.
“Here.” Kiara grabbed the collar of my shirt, giving it a tug. “Let me look, you big brute.”
My lips curled. “Is that any way to speak to your commander?” It was laughable since we were never just commander and recruit. That was as obvious to me as the scars on my face.
Great. I remembered I’d promised her the story behind them. A story I wasn’t keen on retelling.
When she wouldn’t wake—wouldn’tbreathe—I’d lost all sense of composure and begun erratically shouting promises. In my delirious state, I’d even prayed to the absent gods.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She rolled her eyes, a dimple popping up on her left cheek. She had the most distracting smirk.
With all the care in the world, she helped me slip out of my torn leather jacket, tossing it to the side before gently pulling up the sleeve of my undershirt, which was still covered in my brother’s blood.
