Chapter 17: The Thief in the Dark
991 Words
Destiny’s hand flew to her throat.
Bare skin.
No chain.
No pendant.
For one disbelieving second, she simply stared.
Then fury hit.
“My necklace.”
Kael was already moving through camp, eyes sweeping tracks, shadows, tree line, every possible exit at once.
“Report,” he barked.
Cassian rose from beside the fallen guard.
“Alive. Knocked unconscious from behind.”
Lyra held up a bloodied dagger.
“I nearly improved the thief’s personality, but they were fast.”
Destiny dropped to her knees in the snow.
Footprints.
One set entering camp.
One leaving.
Light. Narrow stride.
Not a large man.
Not clumsy.
She pointed toward the northern ridge.
“There.”
Kael looked once and nodded.
“With me.”
Cassian stepped forward.
“I’ll take three men.”
“No,” Kael said. “You stay and secure camp.”
Lyra rose too.
“I’m clearly the favorite choice.”
“You’re loud.”
“I’m effective.”
“You’re loud and effective. Stay.”
She looked offended.
Then delighted.
“Fine. Bring me back gossip.”
Destiny was already grabbing a cloak.
Kael caught her wrist.
“You remain here.”
“No.”
“Destiny.”
“You said the pendant matters.”
“It does.”
“Then I’m coming.”
His jaw set.
“Whoever stole it attacked my camp.”
“And stole my mother’s last gift.”
The words cut through the cold.
Kael held her gaze for a long beat.
Then released her wrist.
“Stay behind me.”
She almost smiled.
“That line is becoming a habit.”
“You keep developing enemies.”
---
They rode hard through moonlit snow.
Only two horses, no extra men, moving fast and silent through the pines.
Destiny clung to the saddle behind Kael, one hand gripping leather, the other braced against his coat.
Every breath smoked white.
Every second sharpened her anger.
He glanced back once.
“You’re freezing.”
“I’m furious.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“I know.”
He reached behind without slowing and pulled her closer by the wrist.
“Better.”
Her pulse stumbled traitorously.
Now was not the time to notice how solid he felt.
Absolutely not the time.
Tracks cut cleanly across the ridge and down toward a narrow gorge.
Kael slowed.
“Too obvious.”
“So it’s a trap.”
“Yes.”
“Then why stop?”
“Because you’re learning.”
Before she could reply, an arrow hissed from the dark.
Kael twisted the horse sharply.
It struck snow where they had been.
Three figures emerged along the ridge.
Masked.
Cloaked.
Waiting.
Kael dismounted in one fluid motion and lifted Destiny down behind him.
“Stay back.”
“I hate when you’re right.”
“Get used to disappointment.”
---
The fight was fast and brutal.
The first attacker rushed low with twin blades.
Kael broke his arm and threw him into a tree.
The second came from the side.
Destiny grabbed a fallen branch and swung on instinct.
It cracked across the attacker’s temple.
He collapsed.
She blinked.
“I helped.”
Kael, currently choking the third man unconscious, replied dryly—
“Thrilling milestone.”
The remaining attacker fled toward the gorge.
Something glinted in his hand.
The pendant.
Destiny ran.
“Destiny!”
Too late.
She sprinted across packed snow, boots slipping, lungs burning.
The thief glanced back once and leaped down into the narrow ravine.
She followed to the edge—
—and nearly fell.
A hand locked around her waist.
Kael hauled her backward against his chest.
“You cannot keep doing that.”
“He has it!”
“He also has gravity.”
Below them, the ravine twisted into darkness.
Then a voice rose from inside.
Female.
Calm.
“Send the king away if you want the pendant.”
Destiny froze.
Kael’s grip tightened.
A hooded figure stepped from the shadows below, moonlight touching the lower half of her face.
Young.
Sharp-featured.
Silver eyes.
Destiny’s breath caught.
The woman held up the pendant between two fingers.
“You look more like her than I expected.”
“Who are you?” Destiny demanded.
The stranger tilted her head.
“Family.”
Kael’s entire body went still.
“Impossible.”
“Rarely,” the woman said.
She looked at Destiny, not him.
“Your mother is alive.”
The world dropped out from under Destiny.
“What?”
“She sent me.”
Kael’s voice turned lethal.
“Prove it.”
The woman tossed something upward.
Kael caught it one-handed.
A ring.
Plain silver, engraved with the same crescent-and-star symbol from the vault.
Destiny knew it instantly.
It had been drawn in the letter’s margin.
Her throat closed.
The woman smiled faintly.
“She said you’d trust evidence over charm. Sensible.”
Destiny stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
“Hidden.”
“Take me to her.”
“Maybe.”
Kael’s tone sharpened.
“No.”
The stranger finally looked at him.
“Still possessive. She warned me.”
Destiny almost laughed from shock.
“You know my mother?”
“I was raised by her.”
The woman’s eyes returned to Destiny.
“My name is Serah.”
She tossed the pendant up next.
Destiny caught it with shaking hands.
Then Serah stepped backward into the ravine shadows.
“You have three days before the hunters find the Sanctuary.”
“Wait!” Destiny shouted.
Serah’s voice echoed once more through the dark.
“If you want answers, come alone.”
Then she vanished.
Silence swallowed the gorge.
Destiny stood trembling, pendant clutched in her fist.
Alive.
Her mother was alive.
Beside her, Kael spoke very quietly.
“You are not going alone.”
She turned.
“I might have to.”
His silver eyes met hers.
“Then you’ll have to outrun me first.”
- Writer
