Page 31 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
His pride twisted into dread.
What if Nar was easily overtaken because Hallie had destroyed the airfields? Because they couldn’t mount a better response thanks to the hovers in the hangar being mangled into heaps of metal?
Kase vowed he would do anything to make sure she didn’t suffer the consequences of her actions if they both survived this war. How could she have known that her actions would’ve led to the Cerl takeover?
Of course, it would have been a crime regardless, and Kase might not be…available…to defend her in court if it came to it.
He didn’t know whether he’d prefer the firing squad to hanging. Firing squad was probably quicker. Maybe. That would depend on how much the shooters wanted him to suffer.
It wouldn’t do to dwell on the possibilities. He could only focus on getting himself to Kyvena and warning them of the danger to come—if it wasn’t too late. It was better to own up to his mistakes than to run from them. The universe had taught himthatlesson loud and clear.
If he hadn’t run, Hallie might still be here with him.
That is…if she would’ve still wanted him. The adventure to Stoneset had only brought them closer. Without that shared trauma, would they still be what they were—whatever they were?
Kase tripped on an exposed root and cursed.Blast it. Focus, you dulkop.
“You all right up there?” Stowe asked.
Kase nodded and waved him off.
Nope, but I’m not telling you about my hypothetical scenarios involving your daughter because I’ve discovered I’m rather insecure about it all. You’re at my back with a machete and a flashpistol.
This wasn’t at all how he’d imagined getting to know his future father-in-law. That is, if…well, now Kase might be getting ahead of himself.
A few more minutes, trees, and intrusive thoughts later, a line of blue hovers—about five—came into view. To their right was a heap of metal that took up most of the right side of the area. Someone had begun to clear the debris, but something must have interrupted the progress.
The hangar. He muttered another curse. At least this one was softer.
Kase could barely tell the structure had been a building once, not a grotesque pile of ruins. What in the blazes had done that? Had that really been Hallie?
His blood chilled. He prayed it wasn’t solely Hallie’s doing. Because if so, his fear of her actions crippling any palpable response to an attacking Cerl Airforce was very much valid.
Kase gripped his pistol harder. Stowe shifted beside him, his thoughts probably running along the same lines. He shouldn’t have told her father what she’d done.
Her only saving grace might be that the Cerls had probably killed anyone who would be able to identify Hallie as the one to blame for the catastrophic defeat.
Soldiers in dark blue uniforms waited on the outer perimeter, spaced at regular intervals amid the ruins. Kase looked back toward the town once more, looking for any sign of life, but all he could see were structures that used to be homes and shops—now marred with blackened stone and gutted streets.
Kase’s stomach turned. He swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise. Maybe they ought to shift the plan—keep going on foot, steal a hover or motorcoach from the next town, and avoid Nar entirely. There was nothing he could do to help these people now, if there were any survivors at all.
But walking might take weeks—weeks Kyvena didn’t have.
Shocks.
He scratched the patches of beard along his jaw. He needed to think this through. The reality was, stealing a Cerl hover was his best option. Not the safest or the smartest, but the best.
Still, not only would he need to get one of those hovers and figure out how it worked in a matter of minutes—seconds, more likely—but he also had to keep Stowe alive. His palms went slick with sweat despite the slight chill in the air.
But he was Kase Shackley, the best stars-blasted pilot in the realm. If anyone could pull it off, he could.
Bravado had proved it could get him most anywhere. Hopefully it wouldn’t fail him today.
Bravado,he thought firmly, wishing he could say it to Niels’ face.Not arrogance.
He inspected the airfield’s defenses once more. The soldiers weren’t going to be as gullible as the dragon in the forest, but if he shot something on the other side of the airfields…no, that wasn’t going to be enough. They might be jumpy, but theyhadtaken out an entire Jaydian unit to conquer Nar, with or without Hallie’s unwitting help.
Kase’s head hurt from chasing after a plan that might work. He stared out at the hangar ruins. If Hallie was here, she’d already have a plan—a brilliant, if deadly and foolhardy, plan.
