Page 42 of War Of Fire and Fortune
He glanced at me then, his eyes distant. "Yeah, just concerned," he replied, his voice barely above a murmur. "I haven't heard anything from Rhet. He normally communicates with me through his shadows, but nothing has come to me for our entire trip."
"I'm sure he's fine," I assured him. "He will meet us when we get there. Maybe he just hasn't gotten a chance to sneak away to communicate." The words felt hollow even as they spilled from my lips. I knew better than anyone how quick and easy it was for Kade to communicate with his shadows.
Worry crossed Cyran’s face before he masked it with a nod, but not before I saw the tumult of his thoughts mirrored in his eyes. Doubt started to worm its way into my chest again, and with a clenched jaw, I forced it down, down, down.
We didn’t have time to think the worst. We were readying for battle.
Atreya stopped and turned from her place at the front. Everyone’s eyes were immediately on her, her very presence demanding authority. An Earth Dryad made the ground rumble, and then she was being lifted on a pedestal of dirt before she began addressing everyone.
"We will stop and take a break here in the clearing," she signed and said, her stern eyes sweeping over us, "but don't get too comfortable. We will continue our journey in one hour." The earth lowered her back to our level as some started to disperse, while others stayed where they were and quietly chattered amongst themselves.
Ace, with his easy swagger, drifted toward Luana, intent on sharing a moment of reprieve. I could practically smell the sex wafting off both of them.
Then, a fleeting touch from shadows grazed my hand, sending a jolt up my arm.
Kade stood next to me, close enough for me to sense the turmoil roiling beneath his calm exterior even more than before. "Can I?" Kade's voice was a whisper against the forest. His hand hovered in the space between us.
I didn't take it. Instead, I couldn't restrain myself any longer. I surged forward and wrapped my arms around him, pullinghim into an embrace that melded our bodies. I settled my head against his chest, and his breath hitched as he folded me in his arms with desperation that mirrored my own.
His head buried in the crook of my neck, his breath warm against my cheek. He murmured a curse, his voice rough like gravel. The rest of his words were muffled against my skin.
"I know there’s no apology in the world that could ever truly erase the pain I’ve caused—no words that could undo what’s been done." The world seemed to shrink until there was nothing but Kade and the heartache that still faintly throbbed in my chest. “But still, with everything in me, I need you to hear this: I am so deeply, achingly sorry for what happened to Ace. This entire trip, the only thing I’ve wanted—the only thing my heart has reached for—is you." His fingers tightened on my back, as if he could press the truth into my very bones. "I only want to hold you close, look into your eyes, and finally say what’s been buried in my chest for far too long: I love you. More than I’ve ever known how to say." Tears welled in my eyes, mingling with the sweat and grime of the days we’d spent marching.
He pulled back just enough to search my gaze. “But I also need you to know that I’m not sorry for the distance I put between us, for lying about who I was—what I was to you. I would walk through every year of torment all over again"—his voice broke—“every stretch of silence in my shadows, every mile of distance, if it meant you were safe. If I could still live in a world where you existed, where there was still the smallest chance of hearing your laugh, knowing you were out there." His hands shook as they cupped my face, thumbs brushing away the moisture that had escaped my lashes. “But losing you when Ace returned, when you were right here in front of me?” His eyes brimmed with sorrow. The shadows around us seemed to still. “Nothing I’ve endured, nothing I ever could, would match the unbearable ache of not having you when you’re right here." I watched thestruggle play across his features. “But I know you need time, and I will take your anger, your sorrow, your pain, for however long you need me to because I love you, Emelyn." His voice trembled on my name. “I love you and I’ll take whatever you can give me.”
"Kade, I—" My voice was a whisper. I was about to tell him how much I loved him too, how much I wanted to move past all of this. How much I wanted him.
"Wait." Kade's voice sliced through the tender moment. His body tensed and his gaze shifted, eyes narrowing into slits as he stared intently beyond the trees.
"What is it?" I whispered. Kade's shadows skittered across the forest floor like a nest of snakes. The mood shifted palpably. My fingers grazed the hilt of my axe, my instincts going into overdrive.
"Ember soldiers . . . they're already here."
A vibration tremored through the ground beneath my boots, subtle at first, then growing stronger. They knew we were coming and were going to cut us off. And by the sounds of it, there would be more soldiers than we’d anticipated.
"Kade," I murmured, but he was already moving, shadows pooling around him like dark tentacles ready to do his bidding. They darted through the trees as I grabbed my battle axe.
Atreya's shout pierced the stillness, making everyone snap into formation. Weapons gleamed with lethal promise, hands steady despite the tremors beneath us. To my right, Ace palmed two of his daggers, and I could feel the wind building around him as he made a few others float in the air surrounding him. His wings weren’t healed enough to fly yet, so he would be on the ground with us.
Cyran's fingers twitched and then he glanced at me, the raw power of his wind ready to unleash destruction on our enemy. But I could see the pain in his eyes. Everhet wasn’t here, which meant something hadn’t gone to plan.
And then the Ember soldiers came, swarming us in the clearing like locusts. Their numbers were staggering, a sea of malice that threatened to drown us in blood and iron. Valla led them with a smirk on her lips, as if she’d already won.
Across the clearing, Atreya stood resolute. Her eyes met mine. There was no fear there, only the unyielding will of a leader who would see us through, come hell or high water.
Her nod was subtle, but it was enough to covey her commands. We would not falter. We would not break. Then, as if that were a signal for the world to descend into madness, everything erupted. The ground shook with the charge of our feet, and the air filled with the screech of swords being drawn and the roar of men as everyone collided in battle.
Chapter Thirty
Shay
Emeris roared from the skies above. Ember soldiers had lit their blades with their wicked flames and moved forward like a tide of fire. Sweat slicked my skin. They had turned the battleground into an inferno.
“Stay close to me!” Baron shouted. Together, we felled one Ember soldier after another, our movements synchronized since we had fought together for so long. The babe stirred in my belly as I killed another foe, pain rippling through my frame, but I pushed on. Baron's hand found mine for a brief moment. The man knew me too well. I hadn’t been able to hide my discomfort from him.
"Shay, be careful," he murmured close to my face, a note of desperation creeping into his voice. I nodded, though my heartpounded as another sharp pain shot through me, but I shoved it away as another soldier barreled in my direction. The pains had been growing closer together through the trek, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, especially now.
Three swings of my sword and the next soldier was grabbing at the gaping wound in his neck, looking at me as if I could save him. I moved to the next, and then another, and another.
