Page 210 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
It was all she could muster knowing what she planned to do.
Her mother would have no choice but to mourn her. It wasn’t fair. Life never was. But she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Don’t be sorry. Just come home with us.” Her mother’s voice broke.
Hallie swallowed hard. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m needed here.” She scrubbed at her eyes, trying to stop the tears before they started. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve not been the daughter you needed or wanted, but I can’t leave now. I’m the only one who can stop this madness.”
Zelda shook her head, but her father pulled her to his chest and said, “What do you mean?”
Hallie’s head was pounding. She really didn’t want to go into it all, not with them. They wouldn’t understand. But how else was she going to convince them to let her do what she needed to do? It’d been hard enough trying to convince Kase, and she hadn’t even succeeded.
“I need to stay,” she said lamely. “I need to use my power to stop what’s coming, and…and when I do…”
Thankfully, someone else entered the room and saved her from some tense conversation that would only lead to hurt feelings and reopened wounds.
“Hals?”
Kase.
Hallie searched his face intently. No new scratches or evidence of harm other than the scar along his cheek. Under hiseyes, dark circles were beginning to form, but Hallie was certain hers mirrored his. They looked a little redder, a little damp, but no tearstains gleamed on his cheeks. Still, her heart broke to see it.
But he was okay. He hadn’t suffered any ill effects from the dragon battle nor the argument with his father.
“Oh, sorry, I’ll just wait out here,” he said as he spotted her parents, like he’d forgotten he’d let them in.
Her father shook his head. “No, it’s all right, son. Come on in.”
Before Hallie could respond, her parents walked toward the entrance. Her mother glared at Kase as she passed but held her tongue. Her father placed his hand along his wife’s back. “We’ll just be outside.”
Hallie turned her eyes back to Kase once her parents’ silhouettes appeared outside of her little cell. It was kind of nice to be given one of the more private ones, even if it meant the medics were unsure if her recovery was certain. She pushed herself up further, grimacing at the pain, and ran a hand over her hair. She must’ve looked a fright and was slightly embarrassed Kase had to see her in this state, but the look on his face drove away any of that.
“Saldr says Skibs is going to be okay,” he said quietly as he sat on a crate that had been placed in there as a makeshift seat. He pulled it close to her cot, setting his hands on the blanket, hands folded as if in prayer. There wasn’t a whole lot of room in her cell.
Hesitantly, she placed her hand over his. A little bit of warmth flushed over her at the touch. “That’s good.”
Kase didn’t say anything, only took her hand and rubbed a thumb over her knuckles. He hid his face with his other hand. Her parents’ shadows withdrew a little more.
“Why did you do that?” he asked, voice muffled in his palm.
Hallie tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
He looked at her then, his eyes dark. “Why would you risk yourself for him?”
Hallie opened her mouth and closed it again. She’d thought it obvious. Of course, she hadn’t meant to overexert herself and lose control. It was just further proof the pilot goggles were not her Relic. “I couldn’t let him die. Not even after everything he’s done.”
Kase clenched his jaw and looked down at their hands. “Thank you.” He took a breath and then said, “After what he did at Myrrai and what he did here, I didn’t think I wanted him to survive, but now that he has, I…just thank you.” He then took Hallie’s face in his hands. “But if you ever do anything like that again, I willneverforgive you.”
Ouch.
She pulled back, and his hands fell away. She shook her head. Her headache was abating, but it still twinged a little at the motion. “Without me, he would’ve died.”
“Yes, but…” He buried his face in his hands again. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. When you wouldn’t wake up, I thought…”
Chest aching, she reached out again, holding his wrists. “Kase.”
