Kiss the Sky

15

I looked her in the eye. “Everything I’ve told you is true. I may keep secrets, but I’ve never lied.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that.” She looked at me with the pity I’d been trying to avoid. That was why I didn’t tell people this stuff. I didn’t need anyone’s pity, and certainly not hers.

I lifted one shoulder casually. “It was a long time ago.”

“Can I ask what happened to your family?”

My lips pressed into a tight line briefly. “They were killed by the Crimson Dragon, like yours were.”

Her face paled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I looked away with a scowl. “Because I didn’t want you to think this makes us connected in some way. Sark is the Black Dragon’s enforcer. He’s killed a lot of families. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“But we are connected, and now I understand you a little more. Or better than I did, anyway.” She rose to her feet and moved toward me with sympathy on her face. “The Dragons both took away our families. Did they think your parents were part of the Resistance too?”

“They were in the Resistance,” I snapped. “They got themselves killed, along with everyone they cared about, all for their stupid cause.”

“How is that stupid? They died for their ideals. We’re fighting for the same thing now—to stop the Dragons.”

I crossed my arms. “Trust me, that’s not my idea. If it were up to me, we’d find a nice island to hide out on until this all blew over.”

She stared at me with fire in her eyes. “You think we should run away?”

“If it saves our lives, then yes. If my family was smart, they would never have gotten involved with the Resistance—and they’d still be alive today.”

She gestured wildly. “And what about all the people who will suffer if we don’t stop the Dragons?”

“How is the suffering of the entire world our problem?”

“Because the Gods chose us!”

“And like I said, the Water God chose wrong.”

With those words I would normally have stormed off, but all I could do was walk to the other side of our cell and face away from her. Gods, what was I even doing? And why had I come back to Kira? I had no desire to stop the Dragons or represent a God. I didn’t want to be involved in this impossible fight. We were only going to get ourselves killed—including Kira.

Her small hand rested on my back and I stiffened up. “I don’t think he did,” she said.

I spun to face her. “You’re wrong. I’m no hero. I don’t care about saving the world. I don’t even know why I’m still here.”

Her fingers brushed against my jaw as she looked up at me in a way that made my chest clench. “I know why. Deep down you have a good heart, even if you won’t admit it.”

I took her beautiful face in my hands. “I’ve been many things in this life. A thief. A w***e. A killer. But I have never once been a good man.”

“It’s not too late to start.”

My thumb ran across her lower lip and I was seconds away from kissing her hard and showing her that I wasn’t good at all, when the door opened. Kira and I jumped back as Slade was thrown into the prison with us. The door was locked again before I could even summon a shard of ice. Dammit, there went my plan of escape. If I hadn’t been distracted by Kira, I’d have been ready.

“Slade!” Kira threw her arms around him. I tried to ignore that touch of jealousy twisting in my gut, along with the realization that I would have kissed her if he hadn’t interrupted us.

I turned away and crossed my arms. It was better that we’d been interrupted anyway. Everyone I’d ever loved was dead, and I refused to love Kira and have her meet the same fate. But for some reason I wasn’t able to walk away from her either. Gods knew I’d tried, yet here I was. Drawn by this invisible string to her side, no matter how much I wanted to fight it or escape it.

And in the end, it would probably get us both killed.

12

Kira

I

pulled back from my tight hug to examine Slade for any injuries. “Are you all right?”

He nodded as he leaned against me, his hands still bound behind his back. “They asked me some questions and roughed me up a bit, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The biggest problem was that they think we kidn*pped Auric.”

“Of course they did,” Reven muttered, as he bent down to cut the bindings on Slade’s wrist.

I gestured for Slade to get on the cot and then pulled up his shirt, revealing his hard muscles and smooth dark skin. As I pressed a hand to his ribs, he inhaled sharply. He’d definitely taken a beating and would likely be black and blue soon, not to mention whatever was going on inside of him. A broken rib maybe. I closed my eyes and willed his body to heal, causing his cool skin to warm under my touch.

“What did they ask you?” Reven asked him.

Slade’s eyes were closed and when he spoke it sounded pained. “They wanted to know what we were doing with Auric, how we had captured him, and why we had returned. I didn’t tell them anything. I wasn’t sure they’d even believe me if I did.”

“Probably not,” I said.

After I finished healing Slade, the door was thrown open and Jasin was pushed into the room by a guard. He stumbled forward and hit the ground on his knees, with a trail of blood trailing from his lip and his left eye puffy and swollen. Gods, what had they done to him? And why was he so much worse than Slade? Had he given them a hard time?