Page 18 of Ignite
Relief floods through me, but it doesn’t last long.
“We all did,” Leda rasps softly enough for only me to hear.
I can feel her heart pounding against my own, her emotions fierce and strong. Her breath comes out in quiet, short pants, and I realize just how afraid she is—how spent her body is from holding Daimon off.
The thought ofLedabeing afraid…
My palms begin to sweat, and I pull back.
“How did you get here?” I croak, my throat scratchy.
She jerks her chin up and to the right, her gaze now worn and dull. “We,” Leda shudders, “flewhere.”
She gestures to the sky, her face twisted in distaste.
“Aster showed up after a wall of clay separated us from youand Daimon,” she explains, her voice low. “We had no choice but to follow him. Brielle dropped just as he showed up, and if it wasn’t for him…”
I nod, knowing that if Aster and Willow hadn’t come when they did, none of us would be here.
Calix snorts and pats my back. “OnlyafterAster promised you were being brought here too,” he adds. The humor in his gaze is gone—his voice empty.
I give him a weak smile, my body beginning to grow heavy as the adrenaline slows in my veins.
Sidra and Orla come up beside us, their eyes wide as their gazes bounce from me to the village. Orla’s deep brown irises lock with mine, sharp to her surroundings but softening when she takes me in.
A mirroring softness fills me when I realize they look to be safe, the tightness in my chest beginning to ease when Sidra gives me a reassuring nod.
“It’s good to see you, Lu,” Sidra whispers quickly, her strawberry hair braided to the side with wind-swept strands sticking out and framing her freckled face. “Glad that we got out of there.”
All but Graylen.
My breath is nearly knocked from my lungs at the thought. We got away, but he didn’t. He’s stuck with Vidaris, trapped in a place where I can’t get to him.
I can’t stop my mind from drifting to the image of him disappearing. He could be barely hanging on, his sanity slowly slipping. Or Vidaris could be draining his very essence, leaving him at death’s door. It haunts me that Graylen—the complete and utter idiot hero that he is—put his own life at risk. I may not have had a say in what he did, but he stilldid it. Still sacrificed himself for me.
Tears burn my eyes, and Sidra reaches for my hand, squeezing it lightly.
Leda catches my eye again, her gaze softening as if she understands where my thoughts drifted to.
“I’m going to get him back.” I half-whisper the promise to Leda, while a part of me hopes it carries on the wind to Graylen, too.
She gives me a sharp nod, and her hand lands on my shoulder, squeezing it tightly. It doesn’t help quell the rage, fear, and restless energy burning in my veins, but it still needed to be said.
Because Iwillget him back. No matter the cost.
Seven
Charoite
Someone clears their throat,and Leda’s expression shifts into pure hatred, her eyes flashing with crackles of light. A familiar slender frame steps from behind her, his hair disheveled and eyes hollow.
I finally let my gaze settle on him, the bitter taste of anger coating my tongue as his golden eyes meet mine.
Adrian. The market boy who I thought was my friend, the prince who became king, the man who wanted to put me in a pretty dress and call mehiswithout any regard for whether that’s what I wanted in the first place.
Every feeling that has run through me over the last day races in my mind as I stare into the face of someone I used to trust. Someone I canblame.
Adrian came here with Reichardt and the Lyle boys—he abandoned his throne, none the wiser that he left it to his uncle,who wasn’t just the duke, but a bloodthirsty, corrupt human who deals with dark magic.
