The Girl Who Dared to Endure (The Girl Who Dared #6)

I hadn’t forgotten, and I definitely didn’t want to drag this out any longer than I had to. But this was important; it could help me find another legacy, possibly the one who was in charge of everything. “Your people have been here before, haven’t you?”

The two exchanged another silent look. “We have no idea what you’re talking about,” the man replied. “We’ve never been here before.”

He was lying. Or if not lying, manipulating the truth in some way. His last sentence had included the word “we,” which could mean just the two of them, or all the people on the vessel who had never been to the Tower. But it didn’t change the fact that they knew things about our lasers and the lack of guns, which was an indication that they’d had some sort of contact with the Tower. Or they knew someone who had.

“Let me try it like this,” I offered as I lowered the gun some. “Twenty-five years ago, someone you knew or someone famous to you discovered the Tower and then took home stories about it. I’m guessing that the area was made off-limits to you for some reason, but in a desperate moment, you reached out to us because you know that we have excellent medicine. You decided that it was worth taking the risk of being blown out of the sky.”

There was a long pause, and then the man took a few steps closer to me. I kept my gun pointed low, toward his legs, but still high enough that I could shoot him, just in case he tried anything. As he slid closer, the details of his face became clearer, first revealing a square jaw, darkened with the beginnings of a beard, and then a strong, straight nose. Just his sheer physical size was enough to be overwhelming, but as he turned into the light, what made my breath catch and my heart spasm was a pair of light gray eyes rimmed in long, sooty lashes. They sparkled with a deep intelligence and cunning, as if he were sizing me up for signs of weakness. “Who are you?”

I met his gaze head on and offered him a tired and lopsided smile. “Me? I’m just the girl who’s going to save your ass and keep you alive. Now, are you going to answer my question and tell me the truth, or are we going to stand here playing games?”





18





A soft breeze kicked up as the man and I squared off in our silent battle of wills. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t feel like backing down was an option at this point. I had laid out my terms, and they knew what was at stake.

But that didn’t stop me from feeling queasy at the thought of an injured woman being on board the ship, possibly dying while this exchange went on. I didn’t want anyone to lose their mother, especially to violence. The wound it left was a raw, gaping, thing—even if our relationship hadn’t been that great.

That meant a compromise.

Of sorts.

“While you’re busy pondering that little enigma,” I started, keeping my voice low, “I would like to send my medic and a guard on board. But I need to know how many other people there are before I do.”

The gray eyes boring holes into my own blinked in surprise, and his brows drew together. “You’re… still going to help her?”

I pulled my face into a carefully placed mask, so I revealed nothing, and choked out the only words I could think of that would make him understand. “My mother died less than a week ago.”

His head cocked inquisitively, and I met his gaze without flinching, trying not to let him see how much saying those words had cost me. In fact, my mother had died five days ago, and trying to pretend that wound wasn’t there, on top of being drained mentally, physically, and emotionally, was a herculean effort.

But somehow, I managed.

The girl took a few hesitant steps down the ramp, reached out to wrap her hand around his arm, and stepped delicately around him. As her features came into view, I realized there was a striking resemblance between them. Not in their coloring; her hair was picking up just enough ambient light for me to see that it wasn’t red like I had initially thought, but a rich chocolate color that turned red in the right light, while her almond-shaped eyes were a luminescent green, so bright they practically glowed like a cat’s. She gave me a sympathetic look, but her next words were for the man beside her, and rich with sadness.

“Check out her eyes, Thomas. She’s got the look.”

I frowned and shifted my eyes back and forth between them. “What look?”

Thomas pressed his silky lips together in a solemn line, the weight of his silvery gaze making me distinctly uncomfortable. “Our parents have the same heaviness in their eyes as you have in yours.”

He said that as if I could somehow extract meaning from it, so when he didn’t continue, I gave him the most obnoxiously annoyed look I could manage, and then squinted my eyes at him. “You do realize that literally none of that explains what the hell she’s talking about, or answers my damn question? I mean, do you want that girl’s mother to die? You called us for help, for crying out loud.”

“Yes, but we don’t understand why you’re meeting with us,” he explained, and the slight snap of teasing condescension made me bristle. Sure, he was sexy as sin, but anyone who fell for this man would be in a world of trouble, trying to keep him from running all over them. He practically oozed command. “I believe you when you say that your mother died, but…” Trailing off, he looked at his sister and clamped his mouth shut, the look on his face telling her it was her decision.

She studied me a second or two longer, and then nodded. “There are only two more in the cargo bay,” she informed me. “Our cousin, Helena Vox, and her mother, Amberlynn Ashabee. I’m Melissa Croft, and this is my older brother, Thomas.”

Thomas gave me an imperious nod, and I rolled my eyes, unimpressed. “My name is Liana Castell,” I informed them. I started to open my mouth again, but suddenly Quess was speaking.

“Her name is Champion Liana Honorbound Castell, Wayfinder, Defender of the Gate, and leader of the Knights of the Citadel.”

My eyes drifted closed as I tried to keep the embarrassment off my face, but I thoroughly planned to murder Quess later. The only reason to give all the details was to brag, and that really wasn’t my style. Not to mention, they had no idea what any of that even meant.

“What happened to Devon Alexander?” the girl asked curiously, and my eyes shot open. She knew the former Champion’s name? That solidified the fact that they were a part of the same group who had come here before. Devon Alexander had been on the council twenty-five years ago, and the fact that they knew his name and that I had taken his place was incredibly revealing. I wanted to know more about what happened—because I was certain that something in that story could help me figure out who exactly had escalated the destruction of Scipio since that time.

And if I knew that, perhaps I could use it to keep them from getting any worse.

“Champion Castell killed him,” Maddox informed them, her voice carrying a dangerous undercurrent.

And just like that, I added Maddox to the murder list. I loved my friends, and I knew they meant well, but this was not the best start to fostering a positive relationship. Rolling my eyes, I let enough of my displeasure show as was socially acceptable.

“To be fair, he tried to frame me for murder and then kill me.” I paused as a secondary thought occurred to me, and added, “Technically, I didn’t even kill him.” I sometimes forgot that little detail. Everyone in the Tower believed that I had done it on Scipio’s orders, but it was Leo who had actually killed him, right after Devon tried to kill Grey by shorting out his net. “Quess, Maddox, get on the ship and see what you can do for their aunt.”

I gave the siblings in front of me a searching look, letting them know that the ultimate choice was theirs, and Melissa nodded. Quess and Maddox immediately broke off from Leo and Alex, leaving the five of us alone as they went up the ramp.