Page 22 of Spoils of war
A pop from the fire made me glance over, just in time to see Selma lift the bottle to Aran’s mouth. Her skirt was hitched up high, his hands holding her steady by the hips, her lips on his throat. I turned away. My skin burned, and I hated that I felt anything at all.
“I hate this,” I whispered. “I just… don’t want things to change.”
His gaze drifted from the flames to me. “They already have,” he said. “Devore’s made sure of that.”
“We’renot going to change, though… are we?”
“Change is inevitable, Kera,” he said, and I could feel the weight of every word. “But it doesn’t have to be bad.”
“I was just getting used to the thought of you for leaving university, and now…”
He shook his head. “There are more important things than school now, I can’t sit in class while the world burns.”
“Do you think the world will… burn?”
“I think those vultures believe they can do whatever they want,” he replied. “And we can’t let them.”
The wind caught the fire and sent sparks spiraling into the sky like shooting stars. Will’s hand brushed mine. Just barely. But it was enough to set something trembling inside me. I didn’t pull away. I couldn’t. My heart stuttered, betraying me, and suddenly all I could think about was how easy it would be to lace my fingers with his. To lean into him.
“You’re scared,” he said.
I nodded. “Aren’t you?”
“Terrified.”
Selma laughed again across the fire, straddling Aran’s lap, her fingers curled in his shirt. There was no hesitation, no shame. Just heat and hunger and living in the moment like tomorrow might never come. I watched them for a beat too long. A tiny, aching part of me wished I was more like her. I hated how easy it was for them. That they could want something andtakeit. I didn’t even know how to say the things I felt out loud, let alone act on them. I’d never been brave like Selma.
I hadn’t even dared to take Will’s hand.
My gaze swept the clearing. Idalie had fallen asleep against Miro’s shoulder, and Nora was singing off key to Eryx’s fiddle. The rest were dancing and drinking and making out. And for a moment, I missed Licia. I wondered who she would have been, had she been there. Would she have been the one dancing barefoot in the grass? Kissing someone under the trees? Or just drunk out of her mind, laughing louder than everyone else?
Then I realized someone else was missing too.
My brother.
“Where’s Einar?” I asked.
Will looked over his shoulder. “I thought he was right behind us as usual.”
“I’ll be right back,” I said, rising to my feet.
I walked toward the treeline, where I thought I saw someone move.
“Einar?” I called, my voice low as I wandered deeper into the dark. Not even the sun could make forests seem more friendly. I waited to hear him call back to me, but instead I heard the sound of boots. Heavy boots.
”Well, aren’t you a pretty thing?” A voice said.
I backed up, and two figures stepped out of the dark. Their black uniforms caught the light like oil slicks, dark and gleaming. A triangular eye embossed on their armor. One of them had a rifle slung lazily over his shoulder, while the other kept his low, like he was just waiting for a reason to use it.
Will caught me as I almost stumbled backwards, into the bonfire.
”Party’s over, peasants.” One of the soldiers barked, his face was scarred, his nose crooked.
“Get up,” the other one barked, his brow as strong as his jaw, and he was taller.
Eredian soldiers.Vultures.
“We’re just celebrating,” Idalie said. “We graduated this morning.”
