Page 21 of Kiss of Death
He stared at me for a hard second when I was so close to him. His eyes eventually dropped to the map that I’d extended to him. “Your map is incomplete. It only shows your immediate area, and there’s so much more out there.” He grabbed the quill from my hand and spread the map across the armor of his muscular thighs. “But it would be here.” He marked an arrow in the corner of the map. “I can take you there myself if that would be easier?—”
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
“But as I said, I don’t know if it’s there. I never got my brother’s response.”
“But youthinkit’s there?”
He gave a slight shrug. “When I went to war there, I noticed the king and his men had steel-like weapons that were different from ours. I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but I suppose it’s possible they could have been platinum.”
“Then you need to take me.”
“Alright, but as I said, it’s very far away?—”
“We can fly. Get there in a fraction of the time.”
His eyes scanned mine, searching through all my desperation and optimism.
“I have to save my father, Viper. Please help me.”
A slight smirk moved over his lips. “I betrayed my brother and my king to fight for you. You really think there’s anything I wouldn’t do for you, Lily?” The smile faded the longer he looked into my eyes. “My army can wait until I return before heading back. They deserve the reprieve. I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”
6
LILY
“And you think this is wise?” Hawk stood with me in the courtyard, wearing his full armor and sword, like a battle could return to our doorstep any second. He’d been spending all his time helping the kingdom rebuild after the destruction. The edge of the village had been destroyed, and the people were distraught by the number of loved ones they had lost. Bodies were still being recovered from the sea, and there had only been a few survivors. The dead of the enemy were still being piled up and burned.
Sometimes victory still felt like a defeat.
“I don’t care whether it is or not,” I said as I approached Zehemoth with my pack over my shoulder. “If there’s any chance that he’s right, I have to go.”
“Then sail with our fleet once the navy has recovered?—”
“That could be months, Hawk. And I told you, this place is so far away it would take too long to get there by ship.”
“What if he says it’s too far away, just to get you alone?”
“To do what?” I asked. “I know you don’t trust him because he’s a vampire. But he saved our asses, so you better start trusting him.”
“I just think it’s dangerous for you to take off with a vampire—alone. I could come with you, but there’s so much to do here.”
“You’re right, there is too much,” I said. “I’ll be fine. You forget that Zehemoth will be with me. I won’t be going alone. And if we need help, Zehemoth can communicate with Khazmuda and Movack, regardless of the distance. I’ll be okay, Hawk.”
He continued to look uncomfortable, his worries still plaguing his mind.
“What if Viper is right and the platinum is there?”
Hawk released a breath before he looked at me again.
“Imagine I find it there, and when I come back, Dad can be healed?”
He crossed his arms and looked away, probably living out the fantasy in his head.
“Imagine hearing his voice again…imagine him hugging us again…imagine the four of us being a family again.”
After a long stretch of silence, he gave a nod in agreement. “Yeah…I want that as much as you do.”
“I trust Viper with my life, so I’m not worried.” My eyes flicked behind him when I saw Viper emerge, dressed in his armor with his blade across his back, ready for the journey across the world. “I’ll be with a dragon and a vampire. There’s no safer company.”
