Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Adelasia
Saddiq stands at the border of the trees to their little camp, looking beyond into the darkness. There’s a gloom over him today, and I know why.
Goodbyes always feel like endings, but I know better than to ask him or his men to join us on our journey. No more blood needs to be spilled for me, least of all his.
“I should come with you,” Saddiq says, his heart always so strong for me, though his voice is rough with emotion.
I force a smile and step forward, holding his remaining hand. He laces his fingers with mine without hesitation.
“No,” I whisper back. “It’s time for you to go home. Be with your family, Saddiq. Don’t let this world steal any more time from them.”
He sighs. “It feels wrong to leave you alone.”
“I know. But I’m not alone.”
His eyes move to the men behind us. Rowan, with his sinful gaze still eating me alive as it was last night, and Kaius, tense but steady and ever watchful.
“As long as you trust them.”
The bond lines running up and down my arms tingle. “With everything. With my heart and soul and everything in between.”
He smiles, though it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Then I trust them too. But Adelasia,” he pauses for a long moment.
“You will always have a home with me. If you ever need to run away from the world, find me in the desert where the sand dunes reach higher than mountains. The fires will be warm and welcoming to you.”
My eyes sting. “Thank you, Saddiq.”
Then, he turns to Kaius and Rowan. “Take care of her,” he says.
“We will,” they answer at the same time.
We didn’t wait for the men to finish packing. With one last hug, I left Saddiq at my back, Kaius, Rowan and I melting into the darkness of the forest, toward an uncertain future.
I look to my left and right, one on either side of me and lift my shoulders with a false confidence. “Let’s finish this.”
Three souls. One bond. Scared. But ready.