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“The girls?” I ask, and they jump to answer my question, probably hoping that I will forget what I just saw. But there is no hope for that.
“Most are accounted for,” Cyra says.
“Most?” My stomach drops as I look up at him from where I sit on the ground, my body completely drained of energy and spent after the Breaker’s cruel search for the orb.
Cyra gives me a somber look and nods.
The last few hours were nothing but chaos and mayhem. No one could have predicted the outcome. But the guilt now seeping into my chest, making it hard to feel the air hit my lungs, does not want to listen.
I asked them to trust me to lead them out of the dark and help them find their light and strength, only to turn around and abandon them not a moment later.
A spear of dread shoots through me when I remember the reason I am here and not with them.
“Leora?” I ask, my body growing more and more stiff the longer they don’t reply.
“Leora?” Kestral asks with a confused frown.
“Oryn’s sister. She was here with me before, in the hall. Levon used her to lure me out.”
Kestral’s eyes grow cold and hard. “You knew he was luring you, and yet you still followed?”
“I had no choice. He was going to kill her.” I stay calm. Too calm. Too quiet. Too empty. Toobroken.
“We haven’t found her, but I’m sure she is safe with the others,” Asra says, giving Kestral a look, but he will not yield on this, his rage already starting to boil over.
“You—” Kestral starts, but I cut him off, already looking to Veles for the distraction I desperately seek. To think of anything other than my failed attempts to help those women and Leora. I can only hope that she and the others are safe and unharmed.
“Veles?” I know none of the other three males around me will tell me the truth of what I saw. They will try to cover it up somehow. The look they shared when I first asked about the shield told me just that.
But Veles cannot lie to me and feels the need to answer my questions because of our blood-bond vow. He willhaveto tell me. Whether he wants to or not.
“What happened when the shield cracked? I saw it. Tell me everything you know.”
Veles sighs as he looks to the others. But I stay focused on his face as he slowly gives in to my request and nods.
“Let us move you someplace more comfortable first and away from here.” He glances to the right of him, and I follow his line of sight to find the Breaker’s body completely broken. It is as if someone has literally ripped him apart.
My eyes find Kestral’s steely gaze.
“She needs a healer,” he grits out.
“I will make sure she is looked after,” Veles tells him with a wary expression.
Kestral clenches his fists but nods once. “We will not be far.”
He heads back toward the palace, and Cyra follows him, but Asra stays for a moment, staring at me as if he wants to say something but is stopping himself, thinking better of it, before giving me a sad look and leaving.
I turn to Veles. “Veles?—”
He stops me with a look. “I will tell you everything. You have my word, and you know I will only tell you the truth. Let’s see to your injuries first and take it from there.”
Veles helps me up, practically carrying me inside to the palace, where a healer is already waiting. Once I’m healed, I move to the long hallway I first met Kestral in and gaze out at the view of the sunrise.
“It has something to do with the Fae, doesn’t it?” I ask as Veles walks toward me and climbs onto the small wall between the columns, using one to lean against.
I climb up to the same wall and sit opposite him, and he gives me a small smile when I do.
“I’m hoping you won’t hate me too much, because I’m only half. Whereas…” He pauses and glances out at the rising sun.
