Chapter Twenty-Five

 

Zeke

 

I swam over to the guards, not really sure what I was going to say, and when I got there, words steadfastly refused to present themselves.

But then, talking was just an excuse anyway. I’d needed to get away from the campfire. Being near Niall, near Chloe, was harder than I’d expected. It was great that Ren’s guys had found Liana. Great that he believed me – finally – about Chloe.

Yet nothing was really over. The Sylphaen were still out there. Dad was still dead. And I couldn’t shake the fear that they’d come after us again. That whatever they’d wanted – because I couldn’t believe for a second this’d all just been to capture Chloe – they’d still try to get.

I’d almost lost Niall. Ren too, insufferable ass that he was. Ina and I had probably just escaped by luck. I didn’t want to go through all that again.

And I didn’t want to risk anyone hurting Chloe either.

Behind me, I heard Niall call out to her, asking to talk, and I kept myself from turning around. I couldn’t imagine she’d tell him what happened, though Niall was charming as hell when he wanted to be. And it wasn’t important anyway. The minor fact I’d kissed some girl wouldn’t exactly be shocking to him.

My stomach twisted at the rancor of the thought. She wasn’t just some girl. She hadn’t been for a long time, though damn if I could figure out why. But she mattered, in a way that had nothing to do with crazy cults or her strange landwalker heritage.

And when I was around her, I barely knew what to do with myself anymore.

I grimaced, pretending to check the food a guard was preparing simply so I could look busy. She was coming back with us, though. And I wanted that. I’d hated the thought of her leaving, hated it more than I had words to describe, and for her to be returning to Nyciena with us now…

It was great too.

Except for the part where she didn’t want to go.

My gaze twitched back toward her. Things would be different this time. She–

She was gone.

And Niall was too.

My brow furrowing, I glanced to the guards. “Hey, did you all see where they went?”

The guards looked to each other, appearing confused.

I swam toward the rest of the campsite. Maybe they’d gone behind the rocks, though why the hell they–

“Your highness?” one of the guards called.

“What?” I replied, not turning around.

The man circled in front of me, cutting me off.

“Hey–”

“We need your assistance,” he interrupted.

“With what?”

“The path back to Nyciena. You said you saw Vetorians.”

I shook my head, dismissing the implicit questions. “Later,” I said, moving to go around him. Why would she and Niall–

“But highness,” he countered, staying in front of me.

I stopped, taken aback. “Didn’t you hear me, soldier? I said later. Now get out of my way.”

His face tightened. He didn’t move.

I glanced to the others, but they remained seated by the preparations for food.

“What is this?” I demanded.

No one would respond.

I looked at the man blocking my path. “Answer me.”

His gaze went to the others briefly. “Prince Nialloran asked for a moment with the young lady. In private.”

My brow twitched down. “What?”

“Apologies, highness. The young lady seemed most… interested in time alone with him. I believe he intends to let her down easy.”

My confusion deepened. “Wait, she…” I shook my head. “Chloe’s not…”

“He asked that you not disturb him.”

I looked back at the other guards. To a person, they watched me with sympathetic expressions and a hint of readiness to intercept me if I moved to go after Niall.

My gaze dropped to the ground. This didn’t make sense. Chloe hadn’t shown any interest in my brother. She’d hardly even mentioned Niall, except to ask if he and Ina were alright.

Though maybe that’d been more than just polite concern for him. Maybe she’d actually…

I shoved the thought aside. Bullshit. Chloe never gave one sign of that, and I was pretty damn good at reading women. If she’d been into Niall, I would have seen something.

And regardless, I wasn’t going to let some guard say Chloe had lied to me this entire time and let that be it.

I looked back up.

“Huh,” I commented, barely keeping the fury from my tone. “Hopefully not too easy, eh?”

Disgust tugging at my face, I started to turn away.

The guard relaxed and moved to follow me.

I twisted and kicked hard in the water. With a startled cry, he grabbed for me as I shot past.

He missed.

I rocketed across the camp, scanning the area as I went. I couldn’t pick up any sign of them close by, and as I whipped around the boulders on the far side, they weren’t there either.

But they wouldn’t have left camp. There wasn’t any reason for that.

Unless he’d changed his mind. Unless she’d wanted some privacy…

I shook off the thought. The guards were coming.

Spinning, I darted past the veil and sped away from the campsite. Murky twilight surrounded me, blue and endless with only rocks to break the monotony. There was hardly any life in this place and even the current seemed still compared to the tides we’d left behind.

Three forms tickled the edge of my senses far ahead, too small to be sharks and too fast as well.

A breath left me and my heart began pounding harder. Three people, not two. Whatever the guards’ stories, this couldn’t be good.

Fighting for every bit of speed I could get, I raced after them.