Page 49 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

My eyes fly from him to Venti and back. What is going on? And why did someone try to kill him?

“Dead enough for you?” Kyronos snaps at me, and I nod numbly.

How did he die?

My eyes fly to the body, searching for injuries. He’s dressed in black, and the light is low, but what if there aren’t any? The curse had been eager to suck in his magic and had protected me. What if I killed him—the curse killed him—without me even noticing? I managed to control it while Kyronos healed me, but … shit, if I killed him, they’ll know what I am.

I need to know, but I’m afraid to ask.

Kyronos gathers up all he found and gets up, striding away.

“Keep up, Summer, unless you aren’t fine after all.”

I rise, sucking in a breath when my body protests.

“You need help?” Venti asks.

“No, I’m fine,” I grumble and follow Tate, only to realize he waited for me a few steps away. Ass.

Venti, Kyronos, and I make our way over to the low fire someone started in the middle of the hastily thrown-up camp.

Now or never.

“How … how did he—” I stammer.

“Die?” Kyronos completes the sentence I don’t seem able to. He stops and turns to me.

I nod.

“I killed him.”

Sure, doubt my abilities to kill a man, why don’t you?His earlier words come back to me.

I freaked out for no reason at all.I release the breath I have been holding and catch Kyronos still watching me.

“Good,” I answer, breaking the connection by walking past him and over to the fire.

Two runners tend to the flames, but apart from them, only Joel and the other squadron leader are present.

Where is everyone?

“Update,” Kyronos barks, and all persons present snap to attention.

“We are still searching the perimeter, Centurion. Guards were doubled as ordered, and the rest have set up the tents for the night,” Joel reports.

“Check on the guards and the search,” Kyronos orders, and Joel sends me a worried glance before he and the other rider hurry away.

Kyronos and Venti squat down next to the fire, and my centurion opens a bundle, laying out its contents and looking through them.

The things he found on the attacker.

No one is paying me any attention, and I’m curious. I get closer, peering over Kyronos's shoulder. My gaze catches on a small two-pointed crystal. I gasp, and Kyronos's head whips around, leaving only a few fingers of space between us since I’m still leaning over his shoulder. I swallow and ease back.

“Sorry, I’m … ah … is one of the birds around?” I whisper even though I know this crystal only transmits location, not sound.

“Why?” Kyronos and Venti ask simultaneously.

“This crystal is called a Tracer.” I crouch down between them and run a finger over the smooth surface. “They are from the Ice Coast, I think.” I look up, my gaze jumping from Kyronos to Venti and back. “They come in pairs, and one is used to track the location of the other.”

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