Memphis stepped forward, seething. “Why didn’t you agree? What do you think is left for you here?”
“Memphis Carter, my parents just died back there. Our home has fallen. One of my closest friends just betrayed...” she faltered and sucked in a shaky breath. “Do you honestly have the nerve to think I would let my parents dream die? For nothing?” Her voice cracked like a whip, and Memphis pressed his lips into a thin line.
Howls cut through the air, falling and climbing over one another in a haunting tremble.
Whipping around, she searched the fading light. “We don’t have much time.”
The howls grew behind them, sounding too close, too fast.
“Brokk,” Emory said.
It was just his name as a whisper, but she could feel his tension crackle like lightning behind her.
His voice was husky as he spoke, “No. Absolutely not. We are in this together. We have always been in this together.”
The wintery winds blew around her, as Emory steadied her breath. This was her home— her kingdom.
Turning around, she drank in the sight of Memphis and Brokk. The Academy had been their universe, where their friendship had bloomed.
Her heart stuttered at the thought that she would never be able to truly tell Memphis that she dreamed of them being together. And Brokk. How could she ever put into words that he was like the sun to her, radiating happiness.
Love wasn’t always clear, wasn’t always intimate, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. It was shown in their support; the boys in front of her had almost laid down their lives to find her. It was the fact it killed her to imagine her life without them. Love was their adventures, their bonds, and loyalty. They had found each other in this life—they would do it again. They were her best friends, and that bond could never be broken.
Lifting her gaze to meet Memphis’s, her pulse stuttered, his ice blue eyes cutting into her. Chewing the inside of her cheek, her words felt bitter as she said, “Adair killed my parents. Do you really think he will stop until any threats are out of his way? The entire school is gone.” Pausing a moment, Emory gathered her thoughts. “I will not let everything whither into nothing. My parent’s dream of peace can’t die because of Adair Stratton. I need time, and Kiero will fall under his madness for a time. Until we can fight back.”
Memphis scoffed. “You wish to disappear, but to be brought back? Impossible. Where could we hide from his army?”
Emory locked eyes with Brokk, lips pressing thin. How could she ask him to do such a thing? But Adair wouldn’t stop, and the Fae lineage had to survive. She would take back Kiero—she had to. Memphis’s gaze flickered between them as his voice dropped into a dangerous whisper, “What do I not know?”
The howls climaxed, and she could practically see the dabarnes’ gleaming teeth, how they ripped flesh so easily. How in hours, they had demolished some of the strongest people in Kiero.
The time was slipping by too fast. The army could be upon them at any moment, Adair leading them.
“Brokk, I am begging you. Please.” Her desperation bled into her words.
“You do know that I barely understand it myself? That this power in me is unstable.”
Emory threw her arms out. “I think you understand it better than you know, but you are afraid to give into such a strong ability.”
“Yeah, I am. Our world literally just entered another war that we barely understand because of forces rushing against us. We just lost our friends, our home. I almost died; Memphis almost died; you almost died. Our only safe passage just left because you are banking on me to do something I’m not even sure I can do.”
The cold air formed into fog as she exhaled hard. “I get that you are scared. I am too. But you didn’t see Adair. Didn’t see the look in his eyes as he saw his own mother and destroyed her without batting an eye. Gortach...” she waved her hand at the lifeless body. “...a seer who only knows the truth assured me that Adair is the reason this is happening. I lost him weeks ago, and no one, especially me, saw the change because we were all so wrapped up in what was happening around us! About kings and queens and a legacy!”
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her voice was hoarse as she jabbed a finger into his chest. “Brokk, you can get us all out of Kiero. We can be safe—you, me, and Memphis together. Like it always has been. Please.”
The snow drifted down around them, the afternoon bleeding honey-colored light, and if they were suspended in this moment forever, it would be chaos trapped in the breathtaking beauty of their world.
Brokk was visibly vibrating, and he swore, turning to slam his bloodied fist into the nearest tree trunk. It exploded, bark splintering around them, disappearing into the drifts. He didn’t turn around, but his words came out like poison, “Something happened when Bresslin had us. Whatever this is in me, I have always felt it there, but I don’t want to be more. I think you would all be scared, too, since being a shifter puts people on edge. But to also...” he paused then whispered, “but to also have the power to manipulate time. To jump through it.”
Memphis tensed, looking at his best friend as Brokk turned to them both, a darkness sweeping through his features. “It’s torture to feel that alive, when all I want is a shot at a normal life.
