“That’s why I loveyou.”
His eyes went glassy, and then he seized my face, hauling me against him. His mouth crashed into mine, and the taste of tears salted our lips. His arms wrapped aroundme so tight I couldn’t breathe, and I didn’t care. I wanted to crawl inside him. I wanted to fuse us together.
“Kairos.”
Uther’s voice cut into the tent.
Kairos went rigid, snarling. “Not now.”
“Scouts are back,” Uther said tightly. “It’s bad.”
My stomach dropped, and the murderous tension in Kairos’s shoulders shifted.
“Fine,” Kairos muttered. “We’ll be right there.”
Uther walked away, his footsteps disappearing quickly.
Kairos turned to me again, cupping my face. His thumb wiped the last tear from my skin.
“We’re not done. You and I…this isn’t finished.”
My chest tightened. “I know.”
He kissed my forehead and slid off the bed. He began strapping himself in his armor. Piece by piece, he sealed himself away—the black plates covering the runes, the softness, the fae who’d just whisperedI love you. But nothing could hide what had changed between us.
I love you.
Kairos glanced up, his mouth twitching.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
55
THE RIDE INTO RUIN
The night sky screamed.
The vortex above Skalgard churned like a wound tearing itself wider, red lightning stabbing down in violent bursts below, Vaeris’s army was falling apart. Tents ripped free of their stakes and cartwheeled into the darkness. Soldiers scattered across the plains like ants fleeing a kicked nest. A bolt struck the center of the camp, and the explosion sent bodies flying.
“The scouts said half their army deserted,” Uther called over the wind.
Whole squadrons broke ranks as lightning lit up the earth, leaving blackened craters.
Kairos grunted. “This is our opening.”
Elwen stared at him. “You expect us to ride throughthat?”
“Yes. We’ll have a better chance if they’re—” Kairos stopped, his nostrils flaring. “What is that?”
The wind blew hard, rippling canvas tents as a sound rumbled. It started as a vibration in my chest, then it climbed into a hair-raising wail.
Uther clapped his hands over his ears and Elwen doubled over.
Runebreaker.
Tazurel’s voice boomed inside me.
I grimaced. “I hear you.”
