Page 60 of The Ruins of the Heartless Fae

“The people who’re committing the murders or the fae?” She could hear the edge in her voice. A prickling, awkward sensation crept into her chest. She didn’t want to hear him talking crap about her people, or to ruin her suddenly bright thoughts about him.

“The fae.” His gaze was level. “I would probably hate everybody if I were a fae.”

“Why … why do you think like that?” She drew circles into the sand to distract herself from the growing hollow pit in her stomach. She didn’t usually have conversations like this. In fact, nobody had ever empathized with her. It should’ve made her ecstatic to talk to someone, but she just felt angrier. How could he empathize with her and still treat her so viciously? “You accepted a mission to kill a fae. If you believe we’re justified in hating humans, why would you accept that? And why would you still treat me badly?”

“A mission is a mission. I don’t get to be choosy. And besides, my mission was to capture or kill someone who was wanted for murder. How was I supposed to know if you’re guilty or innocent? I got my orders and the facts were there that you killed someone.” He closed his eyes. “Honestly, even now, I’m not sure if you’re innocent or not.”

Kolfinna waved her hands over the series of circles she had traced into the ground until it was smooth once more.

“If I was ordered to—I don’t know—kill a kid, then yeah, I’d refuse. But kill someone wanted for murder? It’s not that hard of a choice. Just, okay, fine, I’ll do it. I already don’t cooperate much with the military and they’ve been on my ass multiple times for disobeying. Why should I disobey for something that isn’t even that big of a deal?”

She let out a throaty sigh. “Fine. Whatever. Fair enough.”

There was a tense silence for a moment before Kolfinna decided to lie down on the ground too, the fatigue getting to her. Just a moment’s rest wouldn’t hurt.

“What are you doing?”

Kolfinna created a mound of sand with one hand and unclasped her cloak with the other. She popped her head on the makeshift pillow and threw her cloak over her like a blanket. “Resting.”

Blár scoffed. “What if it attacks us? There’s no cave to hide in this time.”

They had tried to find another cave during their search but to no avail. “I can’t justnotsleep.”

“One of us has to stay on guard and then switch with the other.”

“Then—”

“No, I sleep first.” Blár spoke as if his word was final. “Last night you slept first and I stayed up.”

“But—”

“Play fair.”

Kolfinna opened her mouth to retaliate, but then sighed and propped herself up on her elbow. “Fine,” she ground out.

“You better not let me die.”

Kolfinna rolled her eyes and threw her cloak over herself again, but this time she leaned against one of the boulders instead of on the ground. At least this would give her some time to think. To reflect on her life. And to maybe think of a plan.

She stared up at the starry sky and watched the three moons in silence.

16

“Wake up,”a feminine voice said. “Kolfinna, wake up!”

Kolfinna’s eyes sprang open into the bright sky and a hundred thoughts ran through her mind:when did I fall asleep, where am I, who spoke to me? But they all came to a halt at the creature in the morning sky, descending on them and blocking one of the suns.

The dreki’s eyes glowed a blood lusting red—so red that it reminded her of murder and hatred. Its wings flapped in the air with enough force to send giant gusts to split the clouds in half and push them farther away into the corners of the sky. When it opened its mouth, she could see three rows of sharp teeth, drool and fire dripping from its scaly mouth.

It took Kolfinna a split second to spring to her feet. Just as her cloak fell to the ground in a puddle by her feet, she charged at Blár and kicked him in the hip. “Get up!”

Blár jerked upright but was too disoriented to make a move as he looked around himself in a confused daze, so Kolfinna jumped in front of the dreki and waved her hands, trying to catch its attention. Adrenaline pumped through her body and kicked her into high gear. She jogged away from Blár, flailing her hands all the while. She ignored the guilt knotting her stomach at her mistake—if she hadn’t fallen asleep, they wouldn’t be in this mess.

The dreki’s roar sent waves over the sand dunes, disrupting their once still formation. The sunlight glistered off its glossy scales and Kolfinna had to squint to keep it from blinding her.

Blár lurched to his feet and all drowsiness washed away with a single glance at the sky. She half expected him to blame her, to ask her how it got so close and why she didn’t warn him, but he surprised her by shouting, “Let’s fight it!”

Kolfinna wanted to give him a look like he was crazy, but she was too busy diving out of the way as the dreki breathed fire at her. Heat stung the skin on her face, hands, and neck, but it wasn’t as hot as Fenris’s fire. The fire fanned out of its mouth, but surprisingly, its reach wasn’t as wide as she thought. As long as they avoided the fire head-on, they would be fine.

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