71. CHAPTER 71
Zayne
The Before-Times
The Capital
Kallum, Ciondo
830 P.C. [Post-Collapse]
PXI dust burned in the sky, and no one could stop it.
All the people on the streets of Kallum stared at Kira's words on their way to work and school, captivated by the sight. A forbidden thrill of excitement swept through the other emotions tangling their faces. Military vehicles patrolled the streets, with orders booming from the loudspeakers.
“Do not stop. Report to your designated location or return to your homes. Do not linger.”
A block ahead of him, Zayne kept line of sight on Kira while she traveled to the market. She blended in well, looking like the rest of the civilians, rather than the mastermind of this city-wide panic.
The rush of her kiss still flooded him. If not for Zayne's father bombing his phone with messages, vibrating incessantly against his wrist, he might not have left her.
He didn't know what came over him. Maybe when he lost Nadia, he lost his mind too, but one breath of Kira, and he couldn't stop himself. He burned with the need to catch up to her and finish what they started.
But the emergency meeting with his father and the Phaedra was only twenty minutes away.
And he had to sit in the same room as his brother for the first time since finding him with Nadia three months ago.
Ordinarily, the thought shot Zayne into a rage, but today it only raised his heart rate because he was too focused on every vehicle that passed Kira.
If anyone came for her, he wouldn't have long to make a move.
Not that he knew how to save her from this. Only that he wasn't letting anyone touch her.
She turned, and Zayne crossed the street, glimpsing her as she entered the market. Rows of wooden stalls lined the gravel lot where Kira worked on sunny days, the vendors already setting up their shops in the early morning despite the commotion.
Looking convincingly innocent, Kira entered a stall and donned an apron, stepping behind a table full of apples. The breeze caught her long, fiery hair, tossing it behind her. He ran his finger over his thumb, feeling the smooth strands still.
Sirens wailed, soldiers shouted, civilians shuffled along.
The truth blazed in the sky over the Phaedra's tower.
All the work of this one woman.
Another message pulsed against his wrist. He looked at her one last time, certain that he'd never meet another woman who surprised him as much as she did. Who fought the Phaedra so well?
Whatever happened, from this day forward, Kira Stiles had his protection.
Zayne would not let the Phaedra or his empire crush her.