He carries me back up the slope, away from the crash site and the Syndicate and whatever answers might have been there.
K doesn’t speak as he navigates a different path. Higher elevation. Rougher terrain. But away from the Syndicate patrols.
He moves too quietly. His feet find purchase on loose scree without hesitation, like he can sense where the stone will hold. Branches don’t catch on his clothes. He flows through the forest like he’s part of it, and I wonder—not for the first time—what he was before he woke up here with no memory.
A soldier. A hunter. Something.
My mind won’t stop racing.
I should tell K. Explain what he’s stepped into. Warn him about the world I’m part of—the dangerous, impossible world of dragons and magic and ancient conflicts that have nothing to do with him.
But how? Without breaking every promise I’ve made. Without exposing the very people I promised to protect. Elena. Caleb. All the others. The world can’t know about them.
We reach a small clearing, sheltered by pines. K sets me down gently against a sun-warmed boulder.
He doesn’t ask questions. Just scans our surroundings, ensuring we’re alone and safe. His movements are precise, methodical. Professional.
Finally, he turns to me. “Those people. They hunt you?”
The question is direct. Simple.
I want to give him a simple answer.
“They’re—” I stop, pinching my lips together. “I don’t know.” I’m lying, but what choice do I have? “I’m so sorry. You don’t need to stick around me if—”
“No.” His voice is firm but gentle. He kneels in front of me, meeting my eyes. “I chose to pull you from the fire. I choose to keep you safe. You did not force this.”
“You’re not worried?”
“Of course not.” He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You are in danger. That is enough.”
The sun climbs higher, warming stone and skin. Below us, the valley holds secrets I can’t speak of. Luke and Ember, somewhere out there. The Syndicate, hunting. And K, pulled into a nightmare he doesn’t understand because I couldn’t die like I was supposed to.
Guilt settles heavy in my chest.
“We should move higher,” K says eventually. “Put more distance between us and their search pattern.”
“Yeah.” I swallow against the tightness in my throat. “Okay.”
He reaches for me, and I let him lift me again. Let his warmth chase away the cold fear.
His arms settle around me, and for just a moment, I let myself sink into it. Let myself pretend this isn’t temporary. That I’m not putting him in danger just by existing near him. That when this is over—when we reach civilization, and he remembers who he is—he won’t hate me for dragging him into a war that isn’t his.
But the pretending only lasts a heartbeat.
Because the truth is, I’ve already cost him too much. His safety. His anonymity. Maybe his life, if the Syndicate finds us.
And he doesn’t even know it yet.
Chapter 8
K.
We’ve been walking for an hour when Mara finally speaks.
“You can put me down now. I can walk.”
I glance down at her. Color has returned to her cheeks, but I see the tightness around her eyes. The careful way she holds herself against my chest.
