Page 153 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

“Now listen to me, you little shit, you will open this door right now, or your career is over,” he threatens, his voice cool and calm. I shrug.

“If you want through that door, you’ll have to get through me first.”

“Gladly. Do you want to die quick or painful?” The way he looks at me tells me he means it.

The door behind me opens, and Jared sends me a frustrated glare as soon as he realizes I’ve trapped him behind my shield. Blackstone looks even angrier when he notices it, too.

“You will let me to her right now, or gods help me, I will rip you apart with my bare hands,” he growls.

“Only if you promise you won’t take her to the healers,” I tell him. “Otherwise, I will fight you.”

This takes him by surprise, and his mouth opens slightly.

“You know?” So Ara lied when she said she never told anyone before.

Jealousy burns through me. Blackstone is a good-looking man, with his intimidating physique, dark hair, and blue eyes, but he’s surely ten years older than her.

If he used his position to get his fingers on her… I will destroy him.

“You know?” I echo his words.

“Clearly, I don’t know,” Jared pipes up from behind me. “Gods, Tate, can we discuss this inside before someone else comes along and demands to know, too?”

Blackstone and I stare at each other until I give a small nod and take the shielding off the door. Blackstone rushes past me and through the door, falling to his knees next to Ara’s lifeless figure.

He pulls her into his arms, and Jared clasps a hand on my shoulder to hold me back.

“No.” Blackstone’s voice sounds choked. He buries his face in her hair. “Little sparrow, don’t you dare die on me.” He pulls back and strokes her face with such tenderness that I think I’m going to burst. He loves her. My heart twists.

“Is she your lover or something?” Jared asks the question burning through me.

Blackstone’s head snaps around, and he sends Jared a glare.

“She is my sister, you sick fuck.”

Holy mists, his sister?

Jared’s stunned expression tells me he didn’t expect that either.

After that outburst, the tension in the room lessens noticeably, and for the first time since I brought her here, a flicker of hope lights my chest.

I explain my plan of healing her as soon as she wakes up, and it takes some convincing, but finally, Blackstone agrees to leave her in my care.

“I’ll keep everyone off your back, but you will get me as soon as she wakes up,” Blackstone demands, then explains where to find him. I gladly agree. He’s visibly torn about leaving but then straightens. His face relaxes, and I would never have guessed he cares at all.

“Impressive,” Jared comments while Darren Blackstone leaves and closes the door behind him. “And here I thought you were an anomaly.”

I only grunt at that, settling back against my desk, watching Ara.

She has to wake up.

Ara

Everything hurts,but that means I’m still alive, right?

I notice the scent—Tate. I relax. I’m safe.

Steps move from next to my head to my feet and back again. He paces. Whatever got me here has to be bad.

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