Page 51 of Ashes of Honor

He gave a quick, almost bitter chuckle. “In the camps. In his ranks. At his table. Sympathizers are everywhere.”

The faintest hint of a smirk tugged at my lips. “I’m high, Hunter, but I’m not fucking stupid. Your father runs a tight ship.”

Hunter’s boots tossed sand as his voice grew colder, sharper. “Not if you know how to sink it. Where to poke a hole.”

Hunter was saying it as though it were a simple choice, a guilt-free initiative—take his father down. As if there was any easy way to do that. I had a good idea of what it took to pull something like that off, and I knew enough to be wary of anyone who seemed too sure about it.

I froze mid-step. The rhythm of the ocean punctuated the silence between us. Pivoting toward him, my gaze cut throughthe darkness. “You’re sure you’re ready to do this? I hope you know I won’t make his death easy or quick. Reina has made her peace with that.”

“The second he put a hit out on my head, he was dead to me.” There was something about the way he spoke—rough and raw, a wound left unhealed—that made me trust him to never waiver in his loyalty.

The air stung as it filled my chest. The silence stretched between us. Feeling every bit as though the world was holding its breath. “To be clear, you’re implying he knows that it is you leading a rebellion and not Caleb?”

He was still, the space between us thick. “No. Still not sure if he knows about me. I saw him with the group that cornered our caravan near Salem’s borders, right before they attacked Monterey. Serenity, Caleb, and I were retreating with some of the others. Our group was separated, and his back was turned to me. He just stood there, watching them terrorize with a smirk on his face. My father was never a gentle man, but this cruelty … seeing it with my own eyes rather than hearing of it was jarring to say the least. My guess is, if he does know I’m out there, then he didn’t expect me to hear of Reina or for Reina and I to make contact before you killed me. Your boyfriend’s kind of known to keep the habit of killing first, no questions asked before or later. Seth, though, there’s no way he’d extend my father’s deal if he knew it was my death warrant he was signing.”

I took a step closer, the wind pulling at my hair, the salty sting of the ocean air sharp on my skin. “Sounds like your daddy’s got a weakness that’s ripe for me to exploit.”

The night had passedon faster than I’d expected. Alexiares and Serenity relieved us from our shift and woke us at the onset of dawn to get moving. We nibbled on what was left of our nuts and dried fruit as Reina worked to refill our canisters of water for the hike back. Instead of the forced small talk we’d imposed on last night, the group sat in uncomfortable silence. There was no use in drawing out the inevitable.

“Enough bullshitting,” I said, getting straight to the point. “How many of you are in the area?” I asked.

“None you need to be aware of.”

“Okay,” I bit back at Serenity, who stared back with a brazen glare filled with distaste. “I’ll just leave them outside the walls to either get captured or die. With Ronan on the prowl, probably both.”

Hunter held a hand out, pressing Serenity back down, who stupidly had risen to her feet in challenge. “Only about a hundred of us would be comfortable enough to make our way into a space we won’t be able to leave at our own will.”

“Their demise then,” I shrugged, refusing to meet Reina’s piercing stare, the silent plea in her eyes burning a hole in my fucking forehead. “Our gates are shut down unless you have proof of identity and others to vouch for your residency from Elko or Sacramento. I can figure it out in small droves, not all hundred at once. Fifteen a day until they all get there.”

Alexiares cleared his throat, finishing where I left off. “You’ll have to assume an identity from one of the fallen settlements. Avoid the refugees at all costs. If you’re pressed, don’t volunteeryour origins—wait for them to reveal theirs first. If it comes to that.”

“My people are curious and skeptical of newcomers,” I said, letting the words hang for context.

Caleb shifted uncomfortably. He peered over at Serenity with the slightest of movements. I cut my gaze to follow his, catching the faint, deliberate tap of her fingers brushing toward the ground. Alexiares noticed it too, his body stilling as he gave a single sharp nod to acknowledge the signal.

“We all are,” Abel surmised, his heavy stare stopping and landing on essentially three strangers before us. That familiar cocky resolve, a youthful tug of his ego, bringing the rough confidence back to his voice. The same confidence that brought out the warrior in him out on the battlefield.

“Hunter, you come first,” Reina insisted as she inched closer to him.

Her brown hair brushed the tips of her shoulders as she tilted her head to take him in. Hunter glanced down at her, caution flickering in his eyes. His gaze shifted from her to Serenity, more focused now, as if he were reasoning with her. Her lips tightened, a silent pull of reluctant defeat.

“Won’t people sort of recognize the resemblance between you two?” Abel asked, voicing the concern that had been gnawing at me as I studied the siblings in the unforgiving light of day—no adrenaline to mask the obvious. “Especially if you stand right next to each other.”

“Then don’t.” Caleb’s voice cut through the unease, drawing every eye to him. “Look, when this is over, you two can play happy family all you want. But for now, when Hunter arrives, he’s nothing more than an emissary from Elko. Their leadership fell, along with most of their top-ranking military officials. No one who matters survived to make a claim against them. Elkowasn’t much smaller than Monterey. Faces blur. No one will notice.”

“He’s right,” Serenity added, her tone firm as her gaze pinned Hunter. “For your safety, once we’re there, if you’re in the same room, you stay on opposite sides. Minimal interactions—at least in public.”

Reina flinched under the weight of her words, exchanging a glance with her brother. The tension between them grew thick enough to cut before they finally nodded. It wasn’t peace—it was a fragile agreement, hanging in the air with all the tension of a storm not yet broken.

None of us moved. The quiet pressed heavy on my chest. Somewhere, this plan felt destined to break.

“We should move out.” Alexiares’s voice was low, but it broke through the silence with finality.

Alexiares

We passed through the small, abandoned fishing town on the way back. This was the second time today we’d crossed through the street full of eerily quaint shops at my insistence. After this, we’d pass through a neighborhood next to the highway before the final trek back. My steps slowed, instincts flaring—someone was out there. A glance at the uneasiness in my girl, and without a word, it was evident we were aligned in our thinking. Something was up and it was best to cover our tracks, change up our route for anyone on our trail until it was safe to make a run for home.

“Reina, don’t be mad, but I have a question.” Abel broke the silence for the first time in a few miles.

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