Chapter 24

24

KASSANDRA

“ I don’t like this.” Cayetana paces in front of me, her hands clasped behind her back and her spine perfectly straight.

I’m not sure this female has ever slouched a day in her life.

“You’re not the only one,” I sign, thinking of my parting conversation with Faye.

Cayetana whirls on me, her light eyes blazing. “Treyton assigned me to protect you. How can I do that when you’re waltzing off into the deadly Forest on your own?”

“I won’t be alone,” I point out. “Treyton, Blaze, and Aleksander will be with me.”

Cayetana’s lips pinch as if she just ate something sour. “That doesn’t boost my confidence.”

She turns to stare out the window, studying the Forest through the glass pane. It seems particularly malicious at the moment, almost as if each tree is actually a monster waiting to devour us whole. It’s almost too still, like the wind is unable to breach it.

A stone of dread lodges in my throat.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be walking through that Forest.

And I may or may not come out alive.

How often did I think of my mortality when I was under Madam Herra’s thumb? I’m not sure if I ever prayed for death, but there was always a piece of me that imagined what it would be like to drift away. Become obscure. Lose myself to the abyss that death provides.

I’m not sure I want that anymore.

“Cayetana.” I wave my hands in front of her face to garner her attention. When she finally stops pacing and turns to stare at me, I offer her a gentle smile. “I have to do this. I know you don’t know all the details…”

“Only what you told me just now,” she says with a stiff nod.

“But the Mark of Chaos has to be removed. This is the only way to do that.”

“But why?” she stresses, moving forward so she can sit beside me on my bedroll.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the intimidating fae warrior sit before. It somehow demotes her from terrifying to approachable.

“You told me yourself that you haven’t noticed any difference since you received the mark. Are you sure you can trust Aleksander and the others?” Her earnest eyes ensnare my own as she allows that thought to sink in and marinate.

She’s right, of course. I haven’t noticed any difference since Patric touched my arm and branded me. However, there’s a tiny voice in the back of my head warning me that this is only the beginning, that chaos will ensue if I don’t get the mark removed. I’m not necessarily sure if that voice is my intuition, but it’s screaming at me relentlessly, demanding I listen and give in.

“Sometimes you have to make a deal with a few demons to defeat the devil himself,” I tell her resolutely.

I can tell Cayetana isn’t pleased with my answer, but she doesn’t protest. For a long moment, we simply sit there in companionable silence, but then her gaze dips to my gloved wrist.

Her golden brows furrow. “Where is your harbara ?”

A harbara is a mythical weapon forged with magic I can’t even begin to comprehend. It’s almost sentient in nature and can change its form depending on the situation. Most harbaras only have two forms—aguela and begula, respectively—but some have been rumored to have up to a dozen.

I absently touch my wrist, missing the comforting weight of my bracelet. “I don’t know. I didn’t have it on when Calan took me?—”

“I have it,” a gruff, rumbling voice says a tick before Blaze steps through the doorway.

The three males were supposed to wait outside while the two of us talked, but I should’ve known they wouldn’t listen. They’re too damn nosey for their own good. No doubt, Blaze’s been watching us this entire time.

I should be furious at the invasion of privacy, but I’m not. The unease that normally prickles along the back of my neck in the prince’s presence is nowhere to be seen. If anything, I feel…content with him here. Safe.

What in Gaia’s name is wrong with me?

“I should’ve told you sooner, but I honestly forgot.” Blaze’s voice rings with sincerity that’s impossible to fake. He reaches into his pack and removes a familiar silver bracelet.

An indecipherable emotion punctures my heart as I take the harbara from him and clasp it around my wrist. This unnamed… feeling tunnels into my throat and forms a thick ball of tension that’s impossible to swallow around.

Cayetana narrows her eyes at Blaze. “How long have you been lurking there?”

He grunts something noncommittally, choosing not to respond to the accusation in Cayetana’s question.

“Can I trust you to take care of Kassandra?” Cayetana asks suddenly, and the abrupt change in topic gives me whiplash.

I expect Blaze to be offended or to growl at her and threaten bodily harm. Instead, he nods seriously, his expression grave, his eyes as hard as granite.

“With my life,” he vows.

That answer seems to appease Cayetana, who relaxes marginally.

“Good.” She nods stiffly and then turns towards me, but I can’t pull my gaze away from Blaze.

I beg the oxygen in the room to fill my glass-coated lungs.

A weight eases from my shoulders and slides down my arms, almost as if I’m removing a cloak. Hearing the sincerity in Blaze’s statement…

It comforts me.

Fills me with an emotion that feels an awful lot like adoration.

Slowly and surely, these males are taking hammers to the walls I’ve built around my heart and are systemically smashing them down. I shouldn’t care about them the way I do. They’re demented, cruel, and downright savage.

And yet…

My breath quickens the longer I stare at him, and Blaze wets his lips with a sound of regret. He forces his eyes away from me, focusing on nothing in particular.

“You have a few orbits left before we should head out,” he tells me, his tone raspier than normal. Husky, almost. “Cayetana, before you leave, would you mind walking Kassandra through a few drills? I want her to brush up on her harbara training before we leave.”

Cayetana blinks after his retreating back in surprise. “A crowned prince? Asking me for help?” She turns towards me, her eyebrows dancing up to disappear into her hairline. “Just what is this world coming to?”

I don’t have an answer to that.

I just pray that it’ll be better than what it currently is.