Page 137 of Wings of Betrayal

I can’t help but laugh. Kyle frowns.

“Do you know what she said before she pushed me? She told me you werehermate, not mine.” I wipe at my tears, and Kyle stares at me in shock, as if he’s potentially starting to see it.

“No matter what you say, she did this.” I’m through discussing her because the pain I’m in is almost more than I can bear. But I have to ask. “Where’s Finlay?”

His brows draw together. “He’s still down in the cave. We’ve been looking for you, but always planned to get him back to Zarquon. And we will, I promise.”

My bottom lip quivers, and I bite it to try and stop the tears, but it’s useless. They fall uncontrollably, and Kyle pulls me against him and holds me.

“I know it doesn’t feel like it in this moment,” he whispers, “but it will be okay. Finlay would want you to carry on and complete this mission. If for nothing else, do it for him.”

He couldn’t have possibly said anything better to snap me out of this emotional state. He’s right. Standing here crying isn’t going to help anyone. It won’t bring him back, it won’t save Astelle, and it certainly won’t stop Zalore or Amaros.

Pull yourself together, Zarla. There will be time to grieve later. You need to focus.

I step back, swipe my fingers over my cheeks, and sniff deeply as I compose myself once more.

“Thank you. You’re right. We’ve got to keep going for Finlay. But she’s got to go.” I stand firm on the last point, and I will not budge on it.

She needs to get out of my sight before I kill her.

Kyle nods then heads toward the others. The sounds of voices arguing echo down the tunnel, but I don’t bother looking back until footsteps come up behind me. I spin around to face Em as she storms past me, not bothering to look my way.

Good. If she had, I probably would have punched her again. Or tripped her. We don’t need her. We never did.

Once she’s out of my sight, I’m able to relax a little. I will never forgive her for what she’s done. Ever.

Suddenly, I remember something Finlay told me. I hurry back to the group, and Lacinda hugs me, followed by Demetros.

“We’ll get through this, I promise,” she tells me.

I pull back and give her a brief smile. “Finlay told me you guys found Astelle. That she’s with Zalore, but she’s heavily guarded. Is that true?”

Demetros nods. “It is, but it feels like a trap. Like he knows you’re coming.”

Shoot. How in the gods would he know? Regardless of that, we still have to do something.

Kyle comes over then to join us.

“Come on. Show me where he’s keeping her. We’re not leaving without her,” I tell them.

Lacinda grabs my arm. “Hang on. Did you get the weapon?”

I nod. “I did. When I touched it, I absorbed it into my body.”

She gasps, and Kyle takes hold of my face between his hands.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “You haven’t told us what happened when you were sucked into the realm.”

I swallow hard. “I spoke with their leader. They do not want this war. They do not want to be controlled by anyone, and heasked me to stop it. He gave me the weapon he had. I absorbed that one, too.”

“Fuck…” Kyle breathes. “We don’t know what that will do. It could be dangerous, Zarla.”

I shrug and gently caress his cheek. “I had no choice, but I’m okay, I promise. If anything, it helped me. It seems to have supercharged my ability.”

Sighing, he drops his hands. “All right, then. Lacinda, can you guys show us the way?”

We follow Lacinda and Demetros back through the tunnels, up the stone staircase, and into the castle above.

---