Page 153 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
ONE OF LIGHT
Kase
HEART POUNDING, KASE TOOK OFF into the fray. In the time they’d been in the supply tent, the chaos in the ward had only intensified. Hallie still held the bandages in her arms, and Kase still felt like his legs were too heavy and stiff. Sergeant led them both.
If it weren’t for the fact that his mother and Jove had returned, he might’ve tracked down Waylan and given him another black eye. Of course, those actions would further cement in Hallie’s mind that he was exactly like Harlan Shackley.
Hallie had been honest with him. He couldn’t ask for more than that. Didn’t mean it didn’t sting worse than the cut on his hand still wrapped in a stupid sock.
He wished he could take it all back, but he couldn’t undo the past. It only made him realize even more just how much hedidn’t want to lose the woman beside him. He’d do anything if it meant she’d stay.
And never, ever kiss Niels again.
He tried not to think about the last meeting with Saldr, that they were heading toward the end like a speeding hover unless Hallie did something. That only meant it was paramount he not lose her now when they didn’t have much time left. He hardly understood anything about that meeting—only that Hallie was going to have to do things with her power and then lose it. But what did that entail? Or hadn’t there been something about a second Gate?
It was all a mess to him.
He shot her a quick glance. Still stormy. She was squeezing the life out of those bed linen bandages.
Tension still flooded the tunnel air as Sergeant led them to where more dirt-streaked and battered refugees attempted to take care of one another, even though many had no experience doing so outside of the occasional cold remedy. There had to be a few certified medics or medical colonels like Zeke had been, or even village-trained like Stowe, but the volume of people needing attention must have overwhelmed their numbers.
He spotted Hallie’s father first. He was covered in dust, dirt, and sweat, but he was holding up well. Was he simply there to help, or had he been the one to go down into the holes? Kase looked around. Probably the latter, as the hospital ward couldn’t afford to spare anyone else with all the dead and dying sprawled across the cavern floor—especially as his mother and brother had been unlikely to survive such a fall. But they had. Somehow.
Behind Stowe stood a woman whose evening gown hung in tatters on her bruised and battered frame. Her silver-threaded dark hair fell limply down her back in familiar wayward curls. She argued with a female medic with tanned wrinkled skin and snow-white hair.
Kase froze, and Hallie bumped into him. He barely caught her. His heart stopped. His mother was there. Right there. She wasn’t dead.
Hallie’s hand slid into his and squeezed.
“I will be fine. Attend to my son, immediately. He needs the most help.” His mother pointed at someone behind her.
“Yes, but the Stradat Lord Kapitan said—”
“I don’t care what my husband said. You will see to my son first.”
Kase caught sight of his brother slumped on a makeshift chair, hand crudely bandaged like his own, looking like he’d aged a few hundred years in Kase’s absence. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, as if he’d been crying. He was saying something rather forceful to the soldier next to him. The soldier nodded, saluted, and hurried off.
Kase nearly choked on his joy.
“Mother!” He pushed past the guards, Stowe, and anyone else who got in his way. “Jove!”
They both looked up, his mother cutting off her next argument. Jove’s eyes widened, and his mother’s mouth dropped open in a silent gasp before bursting into tears. She lunged forward, slamming into him and gripping him with all the strength she had left. He returned it, tears budding in his eyes. She was okay. Jove was okay. They were here. They had survived.
“My Kase,” his mother whispered. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
A tear escaped and slipped down his nose. “I’m sorry.”
They stayed like that for a few more moments, shedding a few more tears. After everything Kase had been through in his time away from the capital and upon his return, it was nice to feel safe in her arms once more, as if he were a child scared of the dark and she’d just turned on a nightlight. For a moment,there was peace. For a moment, there was nothing wrong with the world.
He was home.
His mother pulled back and wiped her eyes with one hand, the other still holding onto his arm. “Have you seen Clara? We’ve only heard she’s alive.”
Kase nodded. “Yes, I’ve also gotten to meet little Samuel. You made a cute kid, brother.”
Jove just froze, his eyes immediately filling with tears. Eyes that were slightly, worrisomely crazed. “You’re sure they’re okay? They won’t let me leave the hospital ward.”
Kase nodded once more. “Yes, they’re fine. Lady Davey is also here. She got stuck outside the city during the…riots.” The riots he’d been responsible for.
