I put my free hand on my stomach, staring at the ceiling, trying to breathe evenly. “We were caught in some kind of skirmish, and Zeph pulled us to the side.” Kairos squeezed my hand, and it made my mouth tremble. “They killed so many people, Kai,” I whispered. “There was so much blood—and then Rian—Rian was just—and they were going to—”
I couldn’t take a deep breath, couldn’t breathe properly at all, and Kairos pulled me up, sliding me closer and hugging me tight. He rubbed my back and held me, whispering to me. “Hush, sister. Hush, you can’t upset yourself like this. You have to calm down and protect that sweet girl in there,” he told me.
Hiccuping and taking a stunted breath, I asked, “You think my child’s a girl?”
He nodded against my head. “A tiny little princess.”
“Is this a sense, or are you making this up?” I asked him.
“A little of both,” he said, and I heard the smile in his voice.
“I used my power,” I whispered to him. “I didn’t mean to. Someone was going to kill Rian, and it just … happened.”
He pulled back a little, meeting my eyes, dark and serious. “Don’t ever tell anyone that, Shy.”
“I know.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “You don’t. Something isn’t right. Something awful is going to happen, and I can’t see it. But I feel like your husband will do it, and I feel like you will pay the price. And whatever it is, it’s … awful. Unimaginable.”
Shivers of cold ran over me. “What kind of awful?”
“I don’t know,” he said, his mouth tilting up. “ ‘Unimaginable’ means I can’t quite picture it.”
I touched my head to his, wishing he could share the vision—or feeling, or sense, or whatever it was—with me. “We’ll be all right, Kai. We’re together. We’ll be fine.”
He hugged me tight. “I hope so, Shy.”
I drifted off after a while, gripping Kairos’s hand in mine, and I woke when he tried to pry it away. “I’m not going anywhere,” he snapped, but the words weren’t for me, and my heart sped up.
Sitting up quickly, I felt dizzy but still stood from the bed. There were soldiers in the bedroom, and Calix was with them, and Zeph and Theron were nowhere to be seen.
“Seize him, then,” Calix ordered the soldiers, and I grabbed Kai’s arm as the men in black uniforms came toward us.
“Calix, no, what are you doing?” I screamed. They grabbed Kai, but they wouldn’t touch me, wouldn’t separate us.
Calix stormed up to us and pried my hands off him until I cried out, pushing me back so I stumbled and fell.
“Don’t touch her!” Kairos roared, throwing off one of his captors and punching another.
They cracked a sword hilt over his head. “No!” I shrieked, struggling to my feet. “What are you doing?”
I tried to run past Calix, but he raised his arm and cracked the back of his hand squarely across my face. The blow was blinding, so hard and fast that I was on the floor without remembering how I got there, pain bursting over and over in my face. Blood dripped onto the floor, and I wasn’t sure where it was from.
Everything had stopped. The only thing I could hear was Calix, breathing hard, his face in a snarl as he looked down at me. Kairos had stopped fighting, but he had murder in his eyes, staring at my husband.
“You disloyal desert bitch,” Calix spat. “You know what we found when we chased down the information we collected? Rian d’Dragyn. Little wonder you didn’t want me to act on it. You thought you could trick me?” he growled. He stared at me, cowering at his feet, and then turned to look at Kairos. “You and Kairos must have been in league with Rian this entire time. Going behind my back, feeding him information—you both will tell me everything you know of the Resistance. Take him and question him,” he ordered.
“Make no mistake,” Kairos said, his voice a dark and deadly snarl. “I will repay every wrong you inflict on my sister. I am a Dragon of the desert, and nothing will slake my thirst for vengeance.”
“I’m fine, Kairos,” I lied, shaking to say it. “I’m fine. Please just go with them.”
Kairos didn’t even acknowledge my words, and they pushed him out of my chamber.
Calix paced, and I shifted slowly to curl against the wall, still huddled on the ground. “You saw him,” he accused. “You had to know he was here.”
I shook my head. “You promised me,” I told him. “You promised me you wouldn’t hurt our people. You were executing them in the streets.”
“I lied,” he said. “And I’m glad I did. Now we will see what else you’re deceiving me about,” he said, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him.
I pulled away from him, shrinking in a tight ball, protecting my head with my knees.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Danae’s voice was clear, and I knew it was her, but I didn’t raise my head.
“Her brother—” Calix started.
“Did you hit her?” Danae asked, and the voice sounded closer. “You struck the mother of your child? Your wife?”
“She betrayed me!” he roared, and I recoiled, curling tighter. “Rian is in the city—she had to have known about it! She’s been helping him all this time. For all I know she’s lying about the child too! To manipulate me!”
“Three hells,” Danae snapped. “Rian d’Dragyn has been in the city since Father died. She had nothing to do with his being here, and it doesn’t sound like you have any proof that she’s helping him with anything. She isn’t lying, and she isn’t deceiving you.”
There was a long pause. “I want Rian d’Dragyn dead.”
I raised my head at this, but Calix wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at Danae. Issuing the order.
“Then it will be done.” She looked at me. “But you let your temper get the better of you, Calix, and you could have killed your wife and child. And you’re wrong. I will kill him only when you find a way to make this right with your wife.”
“Kai-Kairos,” I stammered, looking at her.
Danae frowned. “Kairos? Is he all right?”
“My men are questioning him. Which they will continue to do,” Calix snapped. “He may still know something.”
“I will stop them, Shalia,” she told me.
I nodded, and Calix turned toward me. I cringed.
He sighed. “I was wrong,” he said. “Get up.”
“Leave,” I told him, staring at my knees.
“Shalia,” he said, coming closer.
“Please,” I said, huddled against the wall, shutting my eyes and wishing it would change what I found when I opened them. “Please leave.”
I knew he was angry, but I didn’t care. I didn’t look up or move, either, so I suppose that belied my bravery.
“Go,” Danae said. “You release her brother, and I will take care of her.”
I jumped when I heard the door shut. I felt her shadow on me and heard her moving nearby, but I didn’t look up until I felt her hand touch my foot.
She was sitting in front of me on the ground, leaning against the wall in the same way I was, reaching out to me. She sighed when I looked up, then stood, getting one of the damp cloths the ishru had left. She knelt down, touching the cloth to my face, and I winced. It came away bloody, and I stared at it.
“There’s a cut on your cheek,” she said softly. “And it looks like your mouth was bleeding a little too.”