"It will fade."
Her eyes lifted to mine, and I saw fear there. Real, deep fear. "They came for us in our room. We aren't safe there."
I had no reassuring words for that because she was right. The Citadel was supposed to be the safest place in Elucia, protected by dragons and the elite warriors of the Dragon Force. But Elusitor's converts could be anywhere, wearing familiar faces and waiting for the right moment to strike.
"We're here, and we are alive," I said. "That's what matters. We can think of what this means for us in the future, tomorrow."
"You saved my life. If you hadn't shot him..." She swallowed hard, wincing at the pain in her bruised throat. "He was going to kill me."
"I know."
"You made an impossible shot. You could have hit me."
"I didn't."
"But you could have." Her grip on my hand tightened. "You took that risk because it was the only way. Because if you didn't, I'd be dead. That was incredibly brave of you. I don't know if I would have been able to do the same."
I cupped her face gently, mindful of the bruises. "I know you would have done the same. I will always choose the chance to save you over the certainty of losing you, and you will do the same for me."
As tears spilled down her cheeks, I gathered her carefully into my arms, letting her cry against my uninjured shoulder. The medic had left us alone, giving us privacy, though I could hear her moving in the other room.
Ravel arrived a few moments later. "You two are being moved to a secure location."
"What about the rest of our quintet?" Kailin asked. "We wouldn't have made it without them."
Ravel nodded. "They will be moved as well. The five of you need to stay together."
"The prophecy," Kailin said softly. "That's why they want us dead. Someone knows about the prophecy."
Ravel looked skeptical. "I doubt it. They came after you, not the others. They wanted to eliminate the Hero of Elucia."
32
RAVEL
"Emotion clouds a commander's judgment. Step outside, observe with detachment, and gain clarity to guide your path."
—General Tharion, Leadership in Times of Crisis
As the medic left with her charges, their friends followed, and I was left alone in the wreckage of what had been Kailin and Alar's room.
Glass crunched beneath my boots as I surveyed the destruction. Freezing night air rushed through the broken window, stirring the scattered papers. Furniture lay in broken pieces. Blood stained the floor in several places, some from the dead attacker, and some from Alar's shoulder wound.
Fury burned in my chest, hot and corrosive.
They had rappelled down from the landing platform above and crashed through this window with the specific intent of murdering the Hero of Elucia in her bed. While she slept. While she was drugged and vulnerable.
If Alar hadn't sensed them coming, Kailin would be dead. They both would be.
I forced myself to breathe slowly, to bank the fire rather than let it consume me. Rage was a luxury I couldn't afford. Right now, I needed to be a commander and an investigator, not an avenging fury.
"Sir." Lieutenant Varek stood in the broken doorway. "The prisoners have been secured in the detention cells. The dead one is being transported to the morgue."
"Good. No one speaks to them until I authorize it."
"Understood."
"What about the cleanup crew?"
