Page 58 of A Storm in Every Heart
With anger and an unexplained panic rising in my chest, I turn on my heel and march out of the kitchen toward the front door.
“Where are you going?” Aurelia calls after me.
“To look for Dessa.”
“There’s no point! I told you, they left already.”
I hear her, but I don’t care. I need to check absolutely everywhere. I can’t believe Odessa would actually leave like this.
Except, why can’t I believe that?
She was perfectly clear last night about the fact that she intended to go—that she wanted to do something useful and that whatever happened with us was a one-time event. She told me exactly what she wanted. It just isn’t what I want.
I ball my hands into fists as I step out into the courtyard in front of the manor, my thoughts already racing. Rationally, I know that this is a firm dismissal on her part and I need to accept it calmly.
Except that “rational” and “calm” are two things I can’t even remember how to be at the moment.
It must be the siren magic.
That has to be why. Because there’s no other rational explanation for why I feel so bizarrely possessive of Odessa, when she’s gone out of her way to avoid and ignore me for over a year. There’s no other reason why I suddenly can’t stand the idea that she might be in danger. That has to be the reason my wings appeared last night. That must be the reason.
The door bursts open behind me, and Jett strides outside, Daemon right behind him. They’re mid-conversation, and I only catch the end of what Jett is saying. “—just run back to the barracks and pack. I can leave in less than an hour and can probably still catch them.”
I turn on my heel. “What are you talking about?”
Jett runs a hand through his messy black hair and turns to walk backwards toward the barracks. “If Odessa really left with the emissary, then they’ll have to take the train. If I leave now, I can probably still catch them at the station.”
“I’ll go with you,” I say, aggression leaking out of my tone.
Daemon claps a hand on my shoulder. “You can’t, mate.”
I throw his hand off and glare at him. “Don’t fucking pull this with me, Daemon. I don’t want to fight you, but I will.”
Daemon raises both his eyebrows and puts his hands up. “Easy, Kas. I don’t want to fight with you either—partly because I’d put you on your ass.”
He’s obviously joking, trying to lighten the mood, but I don’t crack a smile. “You want to fucking test that?”
“Absolutely not,” he says lightly. “Calm down and think about this. We’re talking about Hydratta, remember? You can’t go there. If even a single guard spotted you, it would be an instant death sentence. Unless you think you can take on an entire army alone?”
I press my lips together in a flat line. I want to point out thatInever toldhimto “calm down” when he was so obsessed with keeping Alix safe that he made Fox, Jett, and me watch her door around the clock.
But isn’t that kind of the point?
Alix was Daemon’s soul-bond, and Odessa isn’t mine. This isn’t like me. I don’t act irrationally. I don’t pick doomed fights I can’t win, and I definitely don’t challenge Daemon’s leadership.
Deep breath in…
“I won’t go to Hydratta,” I say on an exhale. “Jett just said he’s going to catch up with her on the train.”
“And you’re really going to turn around and come home after that, are you?” Daemon says skeptically.
No.
“Yes,” I insist through gritted teeth. “I just want to make sure she’s alright.”
Daemon stares at me with obvious skepticism and exasperation on his face, and I suddenly know exactly how I must have looked last year when he was trying to convince me to lock him in a bathroom to keep him away from Alix.
I really don’t like the comparison.
