Page 95 of Iridian

“Can’t you see my knees shaking?” I deadpanned, and Aurelia threw her head back, laughing. She looked so petite holding onto that mirror like that, her body leaning back, and she almost looked like she was going to fall any second. She was stronger than most people I knew, though. She’d survived the Devil—and probably a lot more fights than I knew about, and I actually respected her. Zachary, too.

“I’m shaking, too—with laughter. It’s going to be a good day today, kid,” she said with a wink.

I shook my head. “You’re barely ten years older than me,” I reminded her, just because I didn’t really want to dwell on the fact that today wasnotgoing to be a good day at all.

Even if wewon,how many people would lose their lives?

“Twelve, actually, but who’s counting?” Aurelia said with a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You okay?”

The question took me off guard. I looked around at the people rushing to get to their transportation vehicle while Kaid and Radock and Zach screamed orders from somewhere close by. It was like I’d been thrown back in time to preparations before a mission at Headquarters, to be honest, and…

“I am,” I said, surprised. “I’m okay.” It wasn’t a lie at all.

I’d done this before—and for the same people I was fighting against now. Except back then I hadn’t knownwhyI was doing it, even if I thought I did. Back then I’d been running from everything, fromchange,and now I was running toward it.

I was okay.

“Good,” Aurelia said.

Even though she was far enough away that I couldn’t really see all the shades of blue in her eyes, I saw enough to know thatshe wanted to say something else. In the last second, though, she changed her mind—or maybe I was just seeing things.

“Let’s kick some ass, shall we?” she said and basically threw herself inside the passenger seat of the truck, a big grin on her face as she waved at me through the windshield.

I waved back, laughing at myself. She was someone I’d want to hang out with in the future, if we survived this thing.

“I do love the sight of that.”

I turned to the other side, to Taland slowly coming to me, a small smile on his face, his white eyes focused on me. He wore black leathers, almost identical to mine, and he’d cut his hair shorter again. I already missed it longer, but he could grow it within weeks—just as long as we survived.

Funny how everything had taken a pause, how everything had moved towhen this was over.

And what if we never saw the other side?

“The sight of what?” I asked, breathless by the time he was in front of me.

“This.” He tapped his finger to my lips. “The sight of you smiling.”

There I went, smiling all the way that very second. He was magic.

“Smiling as if we aren’t going into battle,” I muttered, resting my forehead on his chest.

“I think that was moresmiling as if we were,” Taland said, kissing the top of my head.

“Why would I be going to battle smiling?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“Because you know we’re going to win.” He said it so simply—like it was an undeniable truth.

I looked up at his wide white eyes. “What did they say about us riding in the bus with the soldiers?”

“I don’t know—I didn’t wait around to hear it,” Taland said. “Do me a favor, sweetness?” He pushed my hair behind my back, smoothed it behind my ears.

“Anything,” I said.

“Stop worrying.”

Laughter burst out of me. “Anything except that.”

He leaned down, brought his lips to mine. “Stop thinking about losing.”

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