Page 124 of Ash and Feather

“I mean it. You really have grown strong.”

She didn’t move.

Neither did I.

But the space between us felt like it was shrinking, forcing us closer and closer.

Why did I let myself get so close to her again?

“I’m sorry you had to be so strong, Karys.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Yes, it does.”

I shoved past her, heading for the door.

She caught my hand. Held it gently, uncertainly—it would have been easy to pull away from the timid grip.

But I didn’t.

“I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered. “For everything.”

Her grip on me tightened. Something inside of me crumbled—one of the countless walls I’d built around my heart breaking apart, parts of it settling like actual bricks in the pit of my stomach.

And I forgot, just for a moment, about leaving.

Chapter 30

Dravyn

The stairsthat led into the prison hold reeked of sewage and sweat.

The same escort who had brought me to my brother also accompanied me now, announcing my presence and purpose to every other guard we passed—of which there were dozens. He trailed me to the lowest point, falling farther and farther behind as we descended, as though reluctant to venture so deep underground.

Fresh air soon became a distant memory, warmth along with it, and the foul stench grew so overpowering it nearly took my breath away.

At the bottom of the stone steps, my escort rallied his courage and soldiered ahead once more, leading me to the very last of several barred cells.

A single torch flickered on the wall outside of this last cell, enough to light a path into the dismal chamber yet illuminating nothing inside of it. My vision adjusted well enough to thedark, however, allowing me to make out Cillian’s shape huddled against the far back wall.

He stirred at the sound of the guard’s keys clinking and rattling against the lock, lifting his head in a slow, dazed motion.

I commanded the torch beside me to glow brighter, until the firelight reached nearly to Cillian’s boots. The divine symbols blazing on my body brightened the area even further with every breath I took and every bit of power I exhaled. My escort backed away as light and heat rolled off me, nearly tripping in his haste to put space between us.

Cillian stood, hand grappling against the wall for balance as he watched me approach.

“You’re alone.” His voice cracked out of him, brittle and dry, as though it had been some time since his last sip of water. “Karys was not interested in another chat with me, I take it?”

“I’m sure she would be, if such a thing were possible.”

“…What do you mean?” There was a touch of genuine concern in his tone. It tempered the irritation that had been smoldering in my veins since I’d stepped foot into this city; despite his mistakes, he’d always seemed to be one of the few whose affection towards Karys rang true.

Hopefully, he was feeling affectionate enough that this next part would not require force.

“Where is she?” he asked.

“That’s what you’re going to tellme,” I said, slipping inside the cell and dragging the barred door shut behind me. My escort was no longer anywhere to be seen.Coward.

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