Page 98 of A Warrior's Fate

Isla blinked at it for a few seconds—a no, thank you sitting on the tip of her tongue—but as if goading her to take it, another ice-laced wind swept by. Self-preservation trumped pride and doubt as she stepped over and very carefully stuck her arm through one of the sleeves. As she and Kai went to work the other, they both moved in a way so methodical, so unusual, they couldn’t help but laugh. She’d never admit how nice it felt to laugh with him again.

Isla drowned in his clothing, the black fabric limp on her frame. The apparel was accustomed to the broadness of Kai’s shoulders, and the muscles of his arms. But she was perfectly fine with it, how the sleeves extended past her fingertips and the hem ended at her mid-thigh, rather than her hips. It was warm…and it smelled like him.

“Thanks,” she said.

And then the two began walking.

At first, they moved in silence, side by side, but at their safe distance. Isla shoved her hands in the coat’s pockets and closed her eyes for a moment, taking in the softest of sounds. The faintest hint of music, of laughter and joy, from people down in what she would consider the heart of the city.

But mostly, she focused on the easiness of their footsteps, finding herself calmed by each rhythmic hit of their shoes on the cobblestone walkway. Completely in-sync. Her breathing slowed, and her shoulders relaxed from a tightness she hadn’t realized they had.

And then, in the quiet, the disbelief hit her full force again.

She was with Kai. In Deimos.

“I’m sorry.”

Kai’s apology caused her to snap her eyes wide open. She averted her gaze to him. “For what?”

“That isn’t how I wanted you to meet them,” he said. “At least, formally. They can be…a lot. But they’re family.”

Isla smiled softly, feeling warmth bloom in her chest. He’d wanted her to meet the people he was closest to. “It’s fine. Adrien and my brother can be the same way,” she dismissed. “Are they the only ‘they’ that know about us?”

“The only other person is Rhydian.”

“The guard?”

Kai hummed in affirmation. “My other ‘brother’. Jonah’s twin and Davina’s mate. I owe him for tonight—and Thyra. I’m sure Sol was pissed I sent him out there and took it out on them.”

Isla snickered, remembering the delta’s demands for an impossible return from the guards. “He wasn’t thrilled.”

Kai laughed. “Great…you can trust him if you ever need anything here, but don’t ever tell him you’re my mate. If he knew that’s why he was at the borders…” Kai’s smile grew. “He used to train me, Rhydian, and Jonah while we were preparing for the guard. Ameera too before she went into the warrior program, and before he became a delta. He’d bash my skull in, but he’d do it because he cared.”

Isla’s face contorted into a grin a mix of confusion, concern, and slight amusement. “Right.” But then she went over the first part of Kai’s words, and her lips fell. “Who else can I trust?”

“Ezekiel,” Kai answered almost immediately, and Isla worked to fight off her scowl. “I told him that if he tried to shove you in a safe house, I have no problem with you kicking his ass. Or I would—but I felt like you’d enjoy it more.” Isla’s beam returned, and Kai chuckled again. “And you say I don’t know you.”

Isla rolled her eyes before asking with some levity, “Anyone else?”

Though, any mirth of hers dissipated when Kai’s face went serious.

“I’m still working on that,” he said, his voice a soft rumble. He paused. “And I think you could help me.”

Isla’s steps slowed enough to ruin their rhythm. “What do you mean?”

Kai’s throat bobbed as he darted his eyes around them. Isla mirrored the action, and it dawned on her that she’d blindly followed him down a different path. One that veered away from that which she’d taken from the hotel to the shop earlier. With this, there was no chance of encountering anyone, cutting along a dirt road through sparse forest.

“In a couple of days,” Kai began before she could question the detour, “we’re having a banquet for a retiring council member. General Eli was added to the guest list, and I made sure he was allowed a plus-one. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to ask you.”

Isla averted her eyes from the surroundings and back to him. Was this all about Eli? “I would never go with him.”

“You have to.”

“Why?”

“Because I trust you, and you’re of Io.” Kai shoved his hands in his pockets, a muscle fluttering beneath his cheek. “I need you to work that charm of yours. Be the woman I saw from across the room at the feast. I need you to tell me everything you hear, everyone you talk to. What they say, how they say it. If they came up to you or if you sought them out.”

“What are you looking for?”

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