Chapters (42)
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION PAGE
- CONTENTS
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
He gave me a small smile but said nothing. Henry glanced at Malachi and then leaned forward, recapturing my attention. “This isn’t funny, Captain. We need to know why you jumped in front of my bolt to save that Mazikin.” His expression changed, like a mask falling away, and in that instant, he allowed me to see the true effect of whatever horror and tragedy he carried inside his head. “I could have killed you. Do you know what that would have been like for me?”
“I understand,” I said calmly, determined not to take this out on him and make his suffering worse. I got to my feet, needing to move. “You don’t know me, Henry. So I get why you might be confused, why you might think I’d protect the creatures we’ve come here to exterminate.” I glared at Malachi. “But you know me better than that.”
Malachi didn’t flinch. “Did you think she was human? Because then—”
I shook my head. “I knew she was a Mazikin.”
His dark eyes bored into mine. “You could have told Henry to stand down.”
“There wasn’t time. Henry can verify that.”
Malachi rubbed the back of his neck. “Then you could have captured a different one. Unless perhaps you thought this Mazikin had special knowledge about Sil and his plans?”
“No. I had no reason to believe the female Mazikin had special knowledge of their strategy.” In fact, I’d had every reason to believe she had special knowledge about me, and still I’d risked my life to keep her alive.
Malachi’s fists clenched. “You took an arrow to the chest for this creature, Lela! And I don’t—” He stopped short, some realization dawning, and swept the other Guards with an authoritative glance. “I will talk to the Captain alone.”
Jim shrugged. “Fine with me. I’ve got homework.” He turned and walked up the stairs.
Henry stood up slowly, looking me over. I could tell that whatever fragile trust he’d had in me was shattered the moment I’d forced him to shoot me, and it would take a while to rebuild, if that was even possible. But it was clear by the way he looked at Malachi that he trusted him. After a few seconds, he turned on his heel and headed for the basement.
“Why didn’t you just tell us you knew her?” Malachi asked quietly as soon as the basement door clicked shut. He closed the distance between us slowly. “That’s it, isn’t it?”