Father had done when they moved, but with a clearer understanding of why. Niko—who had slipped away while she slept the night she’d rejected him—had implanted in her a fear of the marketplace that neither Jordan nor Father had been able to do. She’d never felt so alone.
Well, except for Fig, whose rope she gave a tug.
“Come on, Fig, we’re almost over the top and we can see what’s on the other side. Then I promise we can eat.”
The black goat tore another clump of grass and looked up at her, blades disappearing into her mouth as she chewed. Cassandra found her months ago, tangled in a dead fig tree and the weeds growing around it. She’d been bleeding from many gashes, her front leg broken and her eyes already glassy. Anyone else would have put her out of her misery, but Cassandra saw injuries she could heal, the promise of milk and cheese and, even better, companionship for the first time since Niko left. So she freed the nanny, hauled her to the cave she’d stayed in for most of the winter and nursed her back to health.
“You can eat, anyway,” Cassandra corrected herself as she tugged again on the rope. “I’m all out of food and don’t share the same taste for grass and weeds as you.”
She’d made it through winter, barely, surviving off the occasional small animal she’d been able to hunt and Fig’s milk and cheese. The earth was just now beginning to green again, but her edibles were not yet ripe for picking, except for a few early berries she’d found. And already eaten. What she ached with longing for was bread—for the feeling of mixing the grain and oil between her fingers, for the savory smell as it cooked, for the warmth and satisfaction only bread could provide to the mouth and belly. She hadn’t had a bite of bread since the night she’d crushed a beautiful man’s heart.
While her body craved bread, her soul yearned for Niko. Too often she questioned her decision in sending him away. Her head knew it was best for both of them, but her heart felt differently. It had wanted to chase after him that next morning when she awoke and he was already gone. It wanted to feel his arms around her again and the jolt through her lips when he brushed them with his. She hadn’t gone a day without thinking about him and wondered if he ever thought about her.
“There you go again,” she admonished herself as she always did when her mind found its way back to him. “He has a life. There’s no reason he’d be thinking of you, unless with anger and disgust. He offered everything to you and you turned your back on him.”
Fig bleated at her, surely recognizing this same diatribe Cassandra always gave herself, probably seconding her opinion or telling her to quit thinking about him.
“You’re right, Fig. There must be something else to think about,” she agreed just as they crested the hill. She sucked in a breath. “Oh! Well. Look at that.”
A village spread out from the bottom of the hill. Cassandra hadn’t noticed the usual indications—nearby fields, flocks of sheep or worn down paths—and hadn’t expected to come so close to a town. Her eyes followed the hills in the half-ring around the valley and she blew out the breath with annoyance. The only way to skirt the town at a safe distance was to turn back the way they’d come and follow the base of the hill and the next one, entering the valley on the far side. At least a day’s worth of walking and it was already afternoon.
She dropped the goat’s lead, shrugged off the bags and pouches that contained her few belongings and plopped onto the ground under a stand of cypress trees. She meant to think about what she would do next, but her mind kept wandering to the village. To the grain and olive oil she could buy to make bread. To the fresh cloth to replace her raggedy peplos. To new sandals she needed before another strap broke on hers and she was forced to go barefoot. To the marketplace she knew she should avoid but wondered how much longer she really could. There were just some things she couldn’t find in the wild and without Father or Jordan to bring them to her, she had no other options. If only she had something worth trading … and the courage to even go down that side of the hill.
Voices jerked her out of the internal debate and her head snapped in their direction. Two figures had crested the next hill over, heading down toward the town—a young boy and a man. They were too far away to hear words, just sounds floating on the air, but one of the voices almost sounded familiar. Cassandra squinted her eyes, focusing on the man. Her heart stuttered. It can’t be. I don’t know anybody, but I know him!
She knew the way his hair fell into his face, the way he held his broad shoulders, the confident stride of a warrior. But how could it be? She’d just been thinking about how wide and far the earth stretched, how she hadn’t seen a person in weeks, how she’d avoided village after village. And now, at the first town she even thought about approaching, the first person she saw besides injured soldiers was one of only two people she actually knew on this earth. One of two people she couldn’t stop thinking about.
Without a thought, she somehow had her bags loaded on her back and shoulders and Fig’s lead in her hand. Her feet moved halfway down the hill before her brain realized what she was doing. She opened her mouth to call out—
“I wouldn’t,” came a voice from behind, making her jump. And that’s the only other person I know in this world. “It’s a dangerous place down there for a woman.”
Cassandra spun around.
“Jordan,” she shrieked. Pulling Fig with her, she ran back up and into his open arms. “What are you doing here? How long have you been here and didn’t say anything? How did you even find me?”
He chuckled at all her questions, but only answered one. “We are twins. We have a special connection, no?”
She laughed into his shoulder, giving him another squeeze, not thinking about how she hadn’t felt a connection to him in years. Nor about the circumstances of the last time they saw each other.
She stepped back and drank him in with her eyes, but as she did, she noticed something different about him. And not just by sight, but by feeling. He seemed … darker, somehow. He was still blond and blue-eyed, of course, but he seemed to be shadowed. By what, she didn’t know, but she didn’t like the feel of it. She forced her next words out, sure she didn’t really want to know the answer. “Where have you been?”
Jordan’s eyes lit up brightly, like they always did when he told his stories of adventure. “I found others, Cassandra. I found where we truly belong.”
“Others? You mean—”
“Yes, like us.”
“There are really others like us?”
“Not exactly like us, but similar. You should see what they can do. They have many more abilities than we do.”
“Where are they? How did you find them?”
Jordan pressed his lips together, hesitating. “Do you remember the men I told you about? The ones you called demons?”
She gasped. “The demons?”
“No, not them. I found others, some like them and some not. But they’re not really demons. They have demon blood, just like us, but also different—”
“Of course they’re different! Because we aren’t demons. Do you really still believe that?”
“More than ever. You need to meet them, Cassandra. They’re not what you think. Father lied. They’re so much better—better than humans, better than angels, better than anything. They have powers and magick … what?”
Cassandra’s eyebrows shot up. “What? I can’t believe you’re saying this!”
Jordan grinned. “I know. It’s much to accept. But I’ve seen it myself. I’m living it. And they’re promising everything. I’ll become one of their best warriors and when I do, they say they’ll give me everything I’ve ever wanted. And they will for you, too.”
Cassandra shook her head and opened her mouth, but Jordan didn’t let her speak.
“You’re my sister. They’ll see greatness in you, too. I’ll make sure of it.” He took her hands into his. “This is the way it should be. The life we should have. We deserve more than living in the wilderness, hiding from the humans. They should be hiding from us.”
Cassandra jerked her hands from his grip. He’d spit out the word “humans” as if it tasted badly in his mouth. As if he weren’t one. She didn’t know what the demons had done to her brother, but she didn’t like this Jordan at all. She needed to hang onto him, keep him from going back.
“Jordan, you don’t really believe that, do you? I mean, you can’t really still believe that we’re … ” She had to
