She stopped just before Viviane, letting the firelight illuminate her face, so that she might witness her fury.
Let her see what her betrayal has caused, Josie thought viciously.
“And what of my family, hm?” Josie pressed. “When you were so sure your precious rebels would cause no harm, did you consider us in such calculations, or were we always meant to be collateral damage?”
A tear slipped down Viviane’s cheek. “Josie, please—”
“I loved you!” Josie fought against the tremor in her voice as she scrubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. “I loved you, and that love cost my family everything. That love hurt me.”
She shook her head as she sniffed, her jaw clenching as she tried to stop her tears. She would not waste them on Viviane. “If you truly believed this was not where we’d end up, then you are a fool, Viviane—one I refuse to continue to suffer.”
Vi opened her mouth, a broken sound falling from her lips. Her throat bobbed, and she tried again. “I—”
“Josie!”
The sound of her name again sent her reeling, but this time, it was joy that flooded her, joy and relief, as she peered past to Viviane.
“Cole,” she breathed.
She pushed past Vi, her legs trembling as she rushed to her friend and threw her arms around him.
“You’re alive,” Josie breathed, holding him tighter. “You’re alive.”
Cole’s wiry curls tickling her cheek as he tucked his headagainst hers. “I won’t be for much longer if you keep squeezing the life out of me.”
A strangled noise escaped her, half laugh, half sob, her tears flowing freely as she pressed a kiss to the side of Cole’s head. She kept her hands firmly planted on his shoulders as she pushed him back so she could inspect him fully.
She couldn’t see much in Viviane’s torchlight, but she could see he was filthy, his fighting leathers still wet with salt water, his skin caked in sand and blood.
“Are you hurt?” she asked, her eyes tracing the blood on his face.
Cole lifted a shoulder. “Nothing permanent.”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“Aleissande,” he answered.
Josie frowned. How did the general know this was where she would be? She started to ask Cole that very thing, but the pained look on his face stopped her. Cole wrung his hands together, his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he let out a heavy breath.
“She’s hurt, Josie. Badly.”
Josie’s arms went slack, her hands falling from his shoulders as she took a step back.
“Where is she?” she demanded.
“With Natali. They were fetching one of the Anima studying here to see if they could help.”
Josie let out a hard breath, her shoulders rolling as she tried to keep herself steady. “Can you take me to her?”
Cole dipped his chin. “Of course.”
He turned toward the door, and Josie took a step to follow him, but she paused when she remembered who stood at their backs.
She glanced over her shoulder to find Viviane watching her, that same sadness still lingering on her face.
“I don’t know why Natali seems to think keeping youhere is wise. But I’ll say this,” Josie muttered. “Betray me again, and I will kill you myself.”
She didn’t wait to see Vi’s reaction as she turned back to Cole and followed him inside.
