Chapter 23
KALLIE
Kallie tightened her grip on the dagger’s hilt as she snaked her way through the forest. For the first time that night, she was thankful for the rain as it covered the sound of her footsteps.
When she came upon a large branch, she stopped in her tracks and took a slow breath to steady her racing heart.
Fear pounded against her chest, and sweat pooled at her nape. She scanned the trees, searching.
Then, she heard it—a low growl quickly followed by rattling branches. But this time, it was directly above her.
On trembling legs, she forced herself to look up.
Twisted high in the branches was a large form bathed in shadows, blocking the moon’s light. She squinted at the blob, trying to identify it, but she couldn’t make out a single—
The wood splintered, a crack ripped through the forest, and a horrendous screech came from the form.
Kallie stumbled backward, and her heel caught on a wet log.
She hit the ground with a teeth-clattering whack, and the air left her lungs.
She choked on a gasp and scrambled back on all fours, her legs refusing to stand as the sky fell.
Leaves, branches, twigs, and the shadowed form rained down.
A mangled roar filled the forest as Kallie’s back hit a tree trunk.
A gust of wind smacked into her chest, forcing her eyes shut as the ground shook.
A few seconds passed, and a harrowing whine sounded.
Hesitantly, Kallie cracked open an eye and peered through the dust plume. She stifled her cough as she inhaled a puff of dirt. Swatting away the debris, she spotted the ball of shadows beneath a pile of broken branches and swallowed her scream.
She should run.
She should flee.
She should do anything other than stare.
Yet Kallie couldn’t get herself to move. Her feet were locked to the ground.
Something akin to a groan spilled from the heap, and Kallie’s lungs dropped to her stomach. The sound was not animalistic, but human. That couldn’t have been right, though. What kind of human was—
The heap moved, and something shiny and black caught in the moonlight.
Was that a…was that a wing?
Shit. Shit.
Where was her dagger? She scanned the area, searching for it.
Two feet away, steel sparkled in the sliver of moonlight that spilled onto the ground. Without hesitation, Kallie dove for it, snatching it. The hilt was slick from the rain, and she tightened her grip around it.
They’d come. The drakonises. Domitius' army. They were here. They had found her.
The wing moved, and red orbs popped open. Kallie’s jaw dropped. She recognized that snout, that lopsided tilt of the drakonis' mouth.
"Nyrri? What are you—"
A black leather saddle with brilliant stones that sparkled in the moonlight caught her eye. One of the straps was broken, its edges frayed.
Kallie sprinted forward.
Her knees smacked onto the ground. Ignoring the spike of pain vibrating up her bones, she frantically lifted and pushed the drakonis, searching, searching, searching.
She was wrong. She had to be.
Graeson wouldn’t have risked flying here. He wouldn’t have been so impudent as to do something so stupid as that.
Her movements became frantic; her breathing labored. Tears stung the backs of her eyes as she failed to move Nyrri, her body too slick from the rain. Was Nyrri wounded, too?
"Nyrri, you need to move. I can’t—I can’t lift you," Kallie cried out.
The drakonis released a short whine and lifted her wing that was tucked against her body. The dim light of the moon caught on raven-black hair.
Graeson.
Kallie scurried over to the other side, nearly trampling Nyrri to get to him. Her knees slid across the wet ground. Her hand trembled as she reached out. This was all her fault. She knew he would follow. If she had just gotten on that stupid boat, this wouldn’t have happened.
He had to be alive. He had to be. She would know if he was dead. The bond—
Kallie hadn’t accepted the bond, though. Was that even how the soul bond worked? Would she have known if he was dead if she had?
Her vision blurred, and her throat seized up.
Nyrri uncurled herself around Graeson, revealing his limp form. Mud was smeared on his face. His shirt was soaked and stained, but Kallie couldn’t make out the color in the dark.
"Graeson?" she called out, her voice hoarse.
He didn’t move, didn’t even flinch.
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 you fly here?" 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, where she 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.
"It’s his fault for dragging you out here," Ellie said, scratching Nyrri beneath her chin. "We had expected him to take a horse, not put you in danger."
Nyrri released a soft humph as if in agreement.
"Wait," Graeson said, eyes bouncing between Kallie and Ellie. "You knew I’d follow?"
Ellie shrugged. "You’re rather predictable."
Graeson sat up on his elbows and hissed out.
"Are you hurt?" Kallie asked, hurrying to help him. She scanned him, trying to identify the source of his pain.
Graeson ignored her concern. "Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?"
"Well, I’m going to go…tend to the fire," Ellie said, spinning on her heel.
"The fire is probably—" Kallie’s words fell to the wind as Ellie scurried into the woods toward the campsite.