Page 54 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
Behind her, Nyrri released a sad, high-pitched whine as the drakonis nudged him with her snout.
Swallowing the sharp lump in her throat, Kallie brushed his damp hair from his face, the moonlight catching on his scar. He had to be fine.
Rain poured through the foliage above, drenching them. Her teeth rattled, but she barely even felt the cold nipping at her skin. "Gray, wake up. Please?—"
A muffled groan slipped from Graeson’s lips, though his eyes remained shut, his brows pinched with pain.
"Thank the gods." She fell forward and dug her hands into his hair. When she realized he might have hurt his head from the fall, she softened her touch. Her gaze darted across his body, looking for any sign of a wound.
Graeson mumbled something, but the words were unintelligible.
"W-what was that?" She inched closer.
He took in a short, raspy breath. "I said"—he coughed, the sound as rough as sandpaper—"you never need to beg me, remember?"
Kallie’s jaw fell open as she jerked back and stared down at him, aghast. This was no time for jokes or quips, yet there he was. And although he smirked at her, a glimmer of pain twitched at the corner of his lips. If he could joke, she could let some of her anger slip free.
"You imbecile! Why would youflyhere?" Kallie shook her head, her thoughts a mess and her questions coming out one after another. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
He slowly cracked open his eyes and wrapped his hand around her wrist. "I’m fine, little mouse."
Kallie’s attention fell to where he touched her. She held his shirt with a white-knuckled grip. She tried to peel her hand away, but Graeson slipped his fingers between hers, holding her hand against his chest.
"I-I wasn’t sure if I was going to find you," he whispered, staring up at her.
She chewed on her bottom lip. She had always admired the moon’s glow, its ethereal beauty. But as she looked into Graeson’s eyes, she realized the moon was no match for the shade staring back at her. Threads of brilliant silver spun around his irises, the shade as sharp and clear as a fresh blade and even brighter than a full moon.
Then, right before she got lost in them, she remembered what she was supposed to be doing,whereshe was heading.
Kallie leaned back on her heels, putting space between her and Graeson. "You shouldn’t have come," she said, forcing her voice to sound as cold as possible.
Graeson coming after her was inevitable. No matter what lies the others tried to weave, he would always come after her. She knew that. But now that he was in front of her, Kallie’s heart was torn in two: one part of her wanted to make sure he was all right, and the other part of her was frustrated that he believed he could storm in here and stop her.
This was her mess to fix. This war was her fault. She had to put an end to it before more people were hurt.
She told Graeson the night she left that nothing had changed. It might have been a lie, but a necessary one. Yet there he was, still chasing her.
Still, as mad as she was, she couldn’t deny the feeling that fluttered in her chest from seeing him there, alive. At least, she couldn’t deny it to herself anymore.
Water splashed onto his cheek and rolled down his face. She reached out, her hand hovering in the space between them, inches from touching him.
"I—" Graeson began but cut himself off when branches broke.
Gasping, Kallie spun around. Her grip loosened around her dagger when she spotted Ellie barreling through the trees, weapons in hand and lip curling.
Spotting them, the warrior dug her heels into the muck. "Thank the gods! It’s just you." Ellie swiped her hand across her forehead, pushing her hair away from her face. Her hand fell when a huff sounded to Kallie’s right. Ellie’s eyes widened. "Nyrri?"
The drakonis puffed up her chest, sending her wings back and hugging them tightly to her body, as if insulted Ellie hadn’t recognized her right away.
"Fuck," Ellie breathed out. "You two sure know how to make an entrance." She peeled her wet hair away from her neck with the tip of her blade. "Although it took you long enough. I thought you would have caught up with us on the first day, Gray. What happened here anyway?" she asked, waving one of her knives in a circle.
Groaning, Graeson dropped his head back onto the ground. "The storm came out of nowhere. We couldn’t see. We were flying over when I saw what looked to be a fire. Nyrri’s still getting used to carrying me, then add the element of rain and…" Graeson made a small crashing noise.
Nyrri shook out her wings, sending water droplets flying at them. Kallie wiped the water from her cheek.
Graeson huffed. "Look, Nyrri, you overestimated your ability. I’m not going to sugarcoat it."
Nyrri growled in annoyance, her ears folding back in shame.
