Page 234 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“Jack!” In spite of herself, she laughed at the vision of poor Kase under attack by a handful of hens—then sobered. “No, he didn’t hurt me. He would never, he…it’s…”
Where did she even start?
“I love him,” she confessed. “Kase, that is, but if…if I’m here, that means I…” She took a deep breath. “It’s probably best if I start at the beginning. We’ll be locked in here for the night, right?”
Jack got up and fetched two soup bowls and a loaf of bread from the cupboard. “You may as well go ahead and start, because the soup is ready, and I have a feeling this is gonna take a while. Not that I mind.” He set a bowl before her and smiled. “I’m glad I’m here to listen.”
Chapter 46
I LOVE…
Kase
WITHOUT ANY HESITATION, KASE HURRIED behind Saldr and the Stradat Lord Kapitan out of Skibs’ cell. Fely and Skibs followed, and not even his father tried to stop the man who had been under arrest not even five minutes ago.
Because they all knew the awful truth: they didn’t have time. If they didn’t stop whatever was causing the screaming, everyone would die.
Kase didn’t have a weapon. He’d lost the King Arthur knife, and he hadn’t had any time to figure out where his Cerl pistol went.
Jove ushered both their mother and Clara to the back of the ward. “Get out. Go into the city and hide. Now.”
Clara grabbed his brother by the shirt and pulled him to her. “You come back to me, you hear? I won’t lose you a second time.”
He kissed her. “Keep Samuel safe. I love you.”
“Jove!”
But he didn’t turn around, only ran after the rest of them. Kase thought he heard his mother call his name, but he didn’t stop to find out. His side throbbed with agony as they sped through the little corridor with its hanging linen cells and gas lanterns dotted along the way.
People ran in all directions—medics, nurses, and patients alike all toward whatever exit they could find. Harlan unsheathed his sword. Its pale, almost-white Zuprium blade shone like a light in the darkness. The runes etched along it seemed to glow.
His father had a legendary sword. For some reason. It still hadn’t sunk in.
They turned the corner.
General Marcos Correa’s eyes weren’t nearly as black as Eravin’s, but black veins snaked down his temples and into his neck. He looked even worse than he had in the hangar.
He smiled, freezing in his tracks, and looked past Kase. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Neither his father nor Saldr seemed to care that the man before them resembled some monster. They held their weapons out.
“Stop, Uncle.” Skibs pushed past Kase, holding out his hands. “We must work together to save Yalvara. Jayde is not our enemy. Jagamot is.”
Every breath was a knife to Kase’s side and the brittle silence before them. The shadows on Correa’s face were deeper, deadlier.
Correa spat onto the ground. “You would say that, wouldn’t you?”
Ragged and worn, Zuprium streaks on her hands, Fely stepped up beside him, though Saldr reached out to hold herback. She sidestepped his hand. “Filip is dead. If we’re to stop Jagamot, we need to work together.”
Both Skibs and Correa froze. Skibs spoke first. “Dead? He’s dead? How?”
Correa recovered quickly before his face contorted in one of rage. “Didyoukill him?”
Fely shook her head. “No. Abram Loffler did, with Kainadr’s sword. All isn’t lost yet. We can still save Yalvara if you tell us where Hallie Walker is.”
“Except your sole purpose was to make sure that he made it to Kyvena, you—” Correa took a threatening step toward Fely, and Saldr sidestepped in front of her.
Saldr lashed out with his ink dark blade, and Correa barely avoided it. The cold glare he fixed on Correa was almost more frightening than the soul-sundering blade in his hand.
