Page 108 of Thorns of Youth

“You can’t promise that.”

The moonlight caught her face, giving me a full view of the young woman she’d become.

“I am promising it,” I said. “No distance, event, or anything else will ever stop me from talking to you again.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes and I reached to wipe them away before they could fall.

“I love you,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “I haven’t been a good sister to you or our siblings, and I haven’t been a good daughter either. But I will be going forward. I promise you that.”

She nodded.

“I love you too, Sienna. It’s been hard not seeing and talking to you.”

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly. We remained like that until we heard a branch snap behind us.

I stiffened, my eyes darting around us, but all I could see amid the darkness was the light of the moon.

Then another sound followed. Footsteps.

“Maybe Dad’s looking for us?” asked Saoirse, her voice a breathless whisper.

I spotted four men in the distance, scouting between the trees. They moved carefully, weapons visible beneath their jackets.

“I swear they came this way,” one of them hissed. “Those bitches couldn’t have gotten far.”

My pulse kicked hard and I reacted, shoving Saoirse behind me, just as I heard a crunch of leaves behind me.

I looked over my shoulder, trying to decide the best way to get back to the safety of the castle.

“Sienna—” she started, but I put my finger on her lips and softly mouthed, “Shhh.”

I backed up, keeping Saoirse blocked with my body, my gaze frantically darting left and right.

A figure stepped from the darkness behind us and I let out a relieved breath.

“Hey,” I greeted Kai, my voice a whisper, as I pointed to the far end of the forest. His eyes immediately swept over the trees, telling me he must have spotted the men.

“Guards?” he mouthed.