Page 124 of Ashes of Gold
I’m standing here because I love my people too much to not.
And that fuels like nothing else.
“I will not kill you.” I push off, letting her weapon go as we circle each other.
She straightens her crown but pushes too much and it leans the other way, lopsided.
“You can’t want something so bad that you lose yourself gettingit. You gotta remember who you are, Kai, where you come from.”
“Ahhh!” She twists on her feet, her anger erupting, and throws her javelin. It streaks through the air, a blur of gold.
“Feey’l.” I shove the air and the path of the arrow shifts, missing me by an inch. I step back, bumping into Taavi. Kai’s weaponless, but something other than fear or anger flickers in her eyes.
“Do it!” Kai yells… not at me… but to Taavi behind me.
Jhamal’s expression shifts.
I turn and am face-to-face with Taavi. Time slows, my heart thudding in my throat.
“I’m sorry,” Taavi whispers, and something presses into my side. I’m cold all over like ice has been injected into my veins. I see myself shaking as if I’m being tased, but I feel nothing. I try to pull away, but I can’t move. Words hang on my lips, but my mouth is stiff.
I’m weightless.
Frozen.
Paralyzed.
The metal box in Taavi’s hand presses harder to my side as tears stream her cheeks. How could she do this? After all her screwups I looked past, everything I did for her people. Toxic thinking is lethal. It spreads like a cancer. Tears pool in my eyes, but I have no way to even blink to stop them.
“I hate that it had to come to this, saisa.” Kai pulls out a dagger strapped to her thigh and throws it. It pummels through the air, end over tip, heading straight for my chest. I try to breathe, move, get out the way, but fear stills whatever fractured part of me there is left. I close my eyes.
This is the end….
I did all I could.
Literally.
And it wasn’t enough. The wind rustles the bells in my hair. But I am Ghizoni, blood of the Beerchi, brave and loyal, and blood of the Yakanna, loving and fearless. We die with honor, fighting for what we believe in, not living an oppressive lie.
I lived my truth.
And I will die for it.
I wait for death to rip through me, hoping it doesn’t hurt. Hoping it means I’ll get to see Moms and my daddy again.
Then brown and gold dent my peripheral.
Jhamal flings his body in front of me, knocking the metal box aside. Kai’s dagger slices through him and he collapses.
Her shrill cry rips the air.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
JHAMAL!”
His head is cradled in my arms, blood is everywhere, soaking through my pant legs. A tangled mix of rage and sorrow rips through me. I grab a Beerchi by the wrist. “This is your brother, get him to safety. Whatever it takes.”
Kai weeps on her knees, hands cupped to her face.
