Page 43 of A Dream Shrouded in Fury
“Will Thorn kill her?”By the scorn in Cliff’s eyes, I knew I should have asked that question before we left.
“She might.Or she’ll add another fifty years to her sentence.Kalla will be lucky to see the moon before her two-hundredth birthday.”
For me.
The knowledge was like sharp talons stabbing through my rib cage into my heart.She’d put herself on the line so I could leave her.Because she’d wanted me to make my own decision.I wasn’t worth it.I wasn’t worth any of this.
My hand brushed over where hers had rested on my chest.
Cliff scowled and left without another word, leaving me to sit with this revelation.This burden.By the time I looked up, the vampires were gone.
Hethyr and Pimmin turned their attention to me, and I pulled my shoulders back.We were four against however many guards remained in Brynna’s entourage, but we had a purpose.A goal.After everything Kalla had sacrificed to get me here, I couldn’t pay her back by not giving it my all.
I drew in a deep breath, held it, released it, then turned my back on the last light of my life.“Let’s move.”
Kalla
XXVIII
I wouldn’t cry.
Whatever emotions clawed at my insides, demanding release, I would not shed a tear for a fae I’d met a little over a week ago.
It was absurd that I should feel anything for him at all.I was a fool for allowing a pair of pointed ears, a rough laugh, and a bit of song to upend my life.
But the usual logic wasn’t helping me.All I could hear was the shock and fear in Jael’s voice when Cliff had announced we were leaving.As though he hadn’t wanted us to go.
Hadn’t wantedmeto go.
I couldn’t afford to think like that, or I’d never be able to walk away.
“Are we sure it’s a good idea, leaving them on their own?”Ria asked as she trudged over the rocky terrain.
I stumbled over an exposed root, caught off guard by her question.
We’d left the trail to press through the woods, intending to shorten the route now that we didn’t need to worry about leading our blindfolded guests.First, though, we needed to circle back to where we’d fought those guards so we could hide the corpses until a team could deal with them.
“What do you suggest?”Cliff asked from the front of the line.“That we break even more rules and engage in a fight that has nothing to do with us?That would actually make our lives more difficult?The rebels know what they’re about.”
Birch snorted.“Yeah, okay.Pimmin?That fae never left the kitchen.The magic they work with spices…”
The moan that snaked out of his mouth drew a smile from me.I couldn’t regret having spent the night with Jael enjoying our own spiciness, but I did wish my friends had saved me a bite of that meal they were raving about.
“And what about Hethyr?”Ria asked.“That woman is all sweet and no stab.I mean, I say that.She’s obviously pretty stabby or she wouldn’t be out here looking to commit murder, but I don’t think she wants to.”
Cliff threw his arms into the air.“I will concede they are an unlikely group, but Corban has enough rage for the bunch of them.Let him throw himself into the mess, and the others can decide what they want to do.”He pinned Ria with a look over his shoulder, and I didn’t fail to notice the way he swept me into that glance as well.“It’s none of our business.They’re not vampires.As long as they’re in our territory, they’re the enemy.”
Meaning if they did survive—if they didn’t cross the border before we found them again—we’d have no choice but to kill them.
I heard him.I did.
I just wished I didn’t.
“I’m not saying we fight their battle,” Ria argued, stomping along beside me.“I just wish that we’d tried to...I don’t know.Talk them out of it or something.If they hadn’t been so determined to kill this princess, we could have kept them in the nest.”
Cliff snorted.“Like pets?”
“Like members of the fury,” she pushed.“Specifically members of the fury who can cook.Thorn might not have liked the idea, but you know we could have talked her around.Especially once they made dinner for her.She’s not one to cave to bribes, but that stew could crack the Nightfall King himself, I’m certain of it.”
