Chapter 47 #2
“You want to know what’s going on inside me?
” She hits her chest with a broken laugh.
“The ground is crumbling beneath my feet while I’m trying to outrun it.
And saying too much causes holes that make me stumble.
But if I fall, it will not just hurt. It will shatter my life into jagged shards ready to carve up everyone I care about.
” Tears run down her face, and she looks down as if she is trying to hide from me.
But I tip her chin up, bringing her eyes back to me.
“It feels like the fates hate me,” she whispers. “Like I can’t get anything right, no matter how hard I try… And then this past week…” She closes her eyes for a moment before looking at me again, and the pain, the despair in her eyes, shreds me. “Having you back, keeping us a secret, knowing—”
The need to comfort her, to take her pain away, is overwhelming, and her sentence breaks off in a surprised gasp when my fingers glide along her jaw until I frame her face. Her brow furrows, her eyes jumping between mine, and I close the distance, sealing her lips with mine.
They taste salty from her tears, and for a heartbeat, she tries to pull away, but my hands keep her in place. Her surrender is like a sigh, like something settling in both of us.
Her arms come around my neck, and I pull her closer, trying to erase the distance caused by the trial. She angles her head, letting me in, while her urgency, her desperation, color a kiss that suddenly seems to have a predefined timeline.
Can’t she feel I want her, no matter what the fates have to say about that? I slide a hand into her hair, and I tilt her head back, holding on while I get lost in her.
Whistling and clapping register dimly, but I only pull back once we come up for air.
“Fuck the fates,” I tell her while kissing the tears off her face.
“And I can’t walk away, I’ve tried.” A stray tear runs down her cheek, and I catch it with my thumb.
“I love you, Ara, and nothing you say or do will ever change that.” Her beautiful eyes fill with hope, and I get lost in them.
“Trust me to stay—you own me anyway, body, heart, and soul.”
“Finally!” Jared shouts, shattering the moment, and I flip him off without looking. Laughter swells up, and Ara’s lips curve into a small smile. I tuck her into my side before turning to our friends.
“Whew,” Zaza comments. “Now I’m hot and bothered.”
“Oh, I can help with that,” my best friend purrs and laughs when Zaza slaps him. “You want me to show you?” He wiggles his eyebrows at her, and she huffs out a laugh.
“Watch it, Venti. There would be a lot of sounds but no laughter when I’d take you up on your offer and crawl into your bed tonight.”
I chuckle when my best friend swallows, scrambling for a comeback.
“That’s what I thought,” Zaza says, winking, while Jared looks slightly dazed.
“Better watch out.” Tanner slaps Jared's back. “You just heard it. The girls of our flight don't take prisoners … they take slaves. Isn't that right, Kyronos?” They all erupt in laughter at my rude gesture.
There is a lot of teasing and laughter while we amble through the streets, but I don’t mind. Not with Ara by my side.
Miller offers to be Ara’s slave too, making her laugh while I narrow my eyes at him.
“You don't even want to joke about that,” Jared advises. “Those two are more possessive of each other than a dragon of its treasure.” And he may have a point there. I kiss Ara’s temple, marveling at the fact that I can do so while out in the open.
We are close to the house when Ara tenses.
“What is it?” I ask, but before she has the chance to answer, three figures step in our way. My eyes take them in, gauging the situation, while I pull Ara behind me.
“There are more,” Ara whispers, her hands settling on my sides.
People flood the street, dressed in dark clothes, their faces partially hidden behind cloths despite the balmy temperatures. Even without precognition, it’s obvious they are up to no good.
“Jared and Cassius stick to Ara like flies to honey. Tanner, Boko, Zaza, you take the back. Ilario, Tethys, Miller, you're with me. Don't let them push us back. If they can maneuver us into the crossing back there, they can surround us.”
“They are above us, too!” Ara shouts, and a quick look up confirms it.
“Don't worry about them,” Daeva tells me.
“Solaris and I are already on it.” By the blank gazes of the other flight members, they are calling their birds as well.
So we don't have to worry about anyone coming at us from above, but the alley we are in is too narrow for our birds to get us or be much help down here. No one doubts that this isn’t a coincidence.
I should’ve seen it coming. I varied our training schedule, so the official contests were the only times they had a chance to plan an ambush. My eyes find Ara's, reassuring myself that she's here, and we'll be fine.
A horrified scream ends in a sickening thud, telling me our birds are working their magic already. The sound catapults our enemy into action. Steel meets steel and reverberates from the surrounding walls, soon joined by curses and grunts.
We act as a unit, standing side by side.
While Zaza’s team guards our back, we take on everyone coming from the front.
Ara, Jared, and Cassius stay between our lines, jumping in wherever a hand is needed, keeping an eye out for additional danger, and warning us when necessary.
Keeping Ara safe is a need so deeply ingrained in my bones that I wouldn’t be able to shake it even if I wanted to, especially with everything that has happened in the past months.
Our lines are steady, eliminating the enemy strategically, mercilessly. But there are only ten of us, and a lot more of them. They didn't underestimate us this time. If anything, the opposite. The narrow street is the only thing saving us from being overrun.
Slash follows slash, magic sparks, shouts, and curses bounce off the walls, but we hold our ground.
Another attacker collapses to his knees in front of me, burying the body already occupying the floor, and I chance a look behind me, assuring myself that the other side is holding up, and Ara is fine.
Fallen bodies and enemies turned to stone by Cassius’s gift slowly create walls on both sides, making it easier to defend the space we carved out for us, but closing us in at the same time. I don’t know how long the fight has already lasted, but when Ara screams my name, my heart nearly stops.