Page 136 of Seasons of War
Zayne wouldn't trust anyone else this time. He'd extricate Kira from the capital personally and travel as far as he could with her and Brock. Getting her out of thecity wasn't a problem for him. The rest of the journey, especially the mountains, required help.
Even if the United couldn't have gotten Kira out immediately, they could have hidden her in the meantime. They preferred the easiest solution, so Zayne wasn't working with them again. The Followers had the best pipeline out of Ciondo. It may take longer with them than with the United, but they might be able to get Kira out.
People rarely escaped Ciondo because of the intense security—facial recognition, drones, checkpoints, untamed mountain ranges. The Followers survived those traps every day, though. Sure, they were partnering with the United, but Zayne could make deals of his own. Deals that he knew the churches trapped within this country would want to take.
This time, he'd only work with people his mother personally vetted within the Followers' network.
Two hours of shooting passed before Zayne's watch buzzed with an alarm reminding him of the daily briefing on security at his parents' house. The entire time, his mind raced with plans for how to do this better, safer, next time.
Zayne returned to his parents' estate as evening approached and entered the living room to see Kira reading beside the floor-length windows. The cat sat on her lap while she reclined against the bookshelf, sitting on the ground despite the furniture in the room. Her fingers absently ran through Pumpkin's fur while her focused eyes moved along the page she read. Dusky light fell upon her hair.
One look at her undid all the distance he spent the day fighting for while in training. He relived each painful heartbeat that separated the moment the soldier reached for his gun and the one when he pulled Kira into his arms, realizing she wasn't dead.
The cat stretched and started for him, drawing Kira's look. When their eyes connected, it was like a spark from striking flint. Her gaze burst with all the shock and emotion from the night before.
Zayne lived beneath his mask these last few weeks with Kira not recognizing him, banishing three years of protecting her from his memory.
Now she knew. And he couldn't pretend he didn't.
That changed everything.
“Hi.” She sounded breathless. Something he refused to feel loosened in his chest. “You missed breakfast.”
He wouldn't insult her with an excuse. They both knew why he avoided the meal. It was the same reason he hid from her for years, even after she begged him to see her one more time.
Every single second he spent running from her came back to haunt him, like he only stowed the attention away rather than evading it, and now he reaped thousands of missed moments.
Beyond Kira, the leaves budded on the walnut tree outside the living room window—all of them and not just a few early sprouts. He spent so much time climbing that tree as a child before the war and the Phaedra consumed his life. Looking out at it reminded him of how it felt to be carefree. That boy who played out there would be ashamed of him for running and hiding like a coward.
Zayne tore his eyes from the window that preserved the only part of the past he didn't need to run from and looked to a future he wanted to fight for. To Kira's future. “Want to find the first flowers?”
“Like you used to with your mom?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
A soft smile.
On the way out, Zayne grabbed a sweater from the coat rack he'd noticed Kira wear before. “It's not very warm today.”
Her lips parted and her steps hesitated, surprise flickering over her. The smallest act of consideration shouldn't still her. Shame and regret weighed his steps as they walked into dusk together. A pink hue licked the rippling waters of the lake down the hill and little green buds dotted the tree line, intermixed with sparse white blossoms.
When they reached the woods, Kira slid her hair behind her ear, her glance sheepish. “It's like meeting for the first time. I'm Kira.”
He sighed. Why not? “Zayne.”
“I feel like I figured out I'm dreaming while asleep but can't wake up.”
“Shock.” Zayne eyed the bangs covering the scraped, reddened knot where she hit her head. “Show me.”
Kira touched the injury. “It's fine.”
“Now.”
Hand on her hip, her eyes hardened. “Then I want to see your side.”
“My side actually is fine. Let me see—”
“So is my head. You don't get to check on me if I don't get to check on you.”
