Page 40 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“Already defying the High⁠—”

“Are you guys done?” Kieran asks. “Don’t you have anything better to do right now?”

“Like sleep? Sure, but we aren’t going to do that until you get back to camp with her,” Elias points out. “While it may be safe, we aren’t taking any chances.”

It’s thoughtful of them to think that. They really seem to care about Kieran and me. Or maybe it is just Kieran who they are worried about, and since I’m with him, they are worried about me as well. I don’t know but whatever it is, they are sweet for that.

“Let’s speed up,” Kieran says. “I want to spend some time with her and get her warmed up before she goes back home.”

His grip on me tightens as he holds me even closer to him.

“I’m going to run. You’ll be safe. Just relax,” Kieran gently explains to me. “We’ll be there in no time, and the fire will warm you when we’re there.”

He places the blanket over my head, keeping me cocooned, as he starts to run. I tense, expecting to be jolted around, but I’m not. There is movement, but it’s so smooth that it starts to put me to sleep.

I bite my lip and continuously blink to keep myself awake. I don’t want to fall asleep yet. I want to talk to him when we get to his camp. I have so many questions to ask him about how he found me. That shouldn’t have been possible, but somehow I managed to call out to him.

“Almost there.” His voice rings out.

I need to hold on a little longer, stay awake for a little longer. But with each passing second, my eyes start to droop, threatening to close for good. Panic flows through me as my body relaxes. I don’t want to fall asleep. The thought of never waking up is circling in my mind.

“She asleep?” Zayden asks.

The blanket is pulled from my face, and Kieran smiles at me. “No, she isn’t.”

Kieran’s friends burst into laughter

“With how tightly you were holding her, I thought she would be,” Everett chimes in. “Stubborn.”

“Exactly,” I whisper. “I want to talk to you.”

Kieran is still smiling at me, his eyes twinkling with something I can’t make out. “Good. I was hoping you wouldn’t fall asleep.”

Butterflies flutter in my stomach at the notion of him wanting the same thing as me. I was worried he would be mad at me for not resting when I had the chance.

“But I don’t think that’s the real reason,” he murmurs.

My eyes go wide as I stare at him. He knows? “We’re here. I’ll see you guys in the morning when we report in,” Kieran tells his friends.

“Bye, Adeline. Nice to meet you,” Elias says, and the other two call out their goodbyes.

Kieran walks into a type of tent where a fire is burning, continuing to hold me close.

“I think there is another reason you haven’t fallen asleep.” Kieran gives me a pointed look as he sets me on the ground next to the fire. “I could feel your heartbeat against me. The way it slowed down like you were about to fall asleep, but it sped right up soon after.”

Clenching my jaw, I look away from him. I didn’t think he was paying that much attention to me, but I was wrong. Why didn’t he say anything at the time?

“What were you so scared of?” he asks, leaning in from where he’s sitting right next to me. “Were you scared that my friends and I were going to do something?”

I shake my head rapidly. That hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“Then what was it?” he asks. “No lying.”

“I didn’t want to die,” I whisper, my voice shaky.

“Die?” His eyebrows furrow.

I nod. “I was so close to dying before you came and found me. How did you find me?”