LOGINIke's POV I was halfway to the door when it opened again.Zara walked in.One look at her and my chest tightened. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes, her shoulders slumped in a way that told me she hadn’t slept. Not really. She looked like someone who had spent the night fighting a battle she couldn’t win.I stopped.She lifted her gaze to me, and I already knew the answer before I asked.“She didn’t change her mind, did she?”Zara’s lips pressed together. For a heartbeat she looked like she might try to lie, like she might spare me the truth. Then sadness flickered through her eyes and she shook her head.“No,” she said quietly. “I tried. I really did. But she’s just… she’s too afraid of these people.”Something squeezed painfully around my heart.I watched as tears welled up in her eyes, the kind she was trying desperately not to let fall. Zara was not someone who cried easily. Seeing her like this made anger coil tight in my gut. Anger at Maduro. At Hera. At every sing
Zara's POV "I am not leaving!" Ike glanced up at me, a deadpanned look on his face. "We have to leave. For now." "I am not running away and leaving Ko... Kali here with these snakes! Who knows what they would do to here!" "We are not running away. We will definitely come back for her, but right now, I need to make sure you return to Shadow clan in one piece. If I start anything here, you could get hurt. And I am only one man. I need our army, I need Aiden. And most importantly, we need a plan." He sighed, then placed both hands on my shoulder. "I know you want to save her, but it would be foolish of us to do anything that might get you hurt or even Kora. Besides, Maduro has the most of the other clans behind him. We need to think our next plan throughout." But I could not be convinced. Not with the guilt gnawing at me. It was my fault Kali came here. If I hadn't insisted.... I shrugged his hands off. "Then you go. Come up with whatever ever plan you want, then come back
Kali's POV I wish I could disappear. Go back to Aiden's warm cottage and listen to Cecil. I wish I were Cecil. She was brave and fearless. She was brave enough to burn down the house that caused her so much pain. I wish I could do the same. Burn this house down along with the people that ever causes me harm. I sat stiffly in my seat, my spine straight, my hands folded in my lap like they belonged to someone else. Someone calmer. Someone braver. My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure everyone at the table could hear it, could see the fear leaking out of me through every shallow breath.I wished I was brave enough.But I wasn’t Cecil.I wasn’t Zara.I was just Kali.Helpless, shaking, small.A bitter chuckle slipped out of me before I could stop it. It sounded wrong in the quiet dining room. Every head at the table turned toward me.The sound of cutlery stilled. The air tightened.Maduro’s eyes settled on me, dark and curious, like I was an insect he had just noticed crawli
Zara's POV "Are you crazy?" The words left my lips before I even had the time to stop it I whipped my head around, staring at Ike and waiting fo him to back me up. Ike's face darkened, his hands clenched into fists on top of the table. My head spun back at Maduro. "No! We came here with Kora and we will leave here with her!"My heart began thudding painfully inside my chest. If I could, I would crawl over the table and punch that smug smile off Maduro's ugly face. Maduro wiped his lips with a napkin. "Here I am, trying to do you people a favor by taking her off your hands and here you are trying to make a hassle.""We don't need your favour," my eyes darted over to Kora, her head was bowed and both her hands tucked between her thighs, "and we love her just the way she is."Her head snapped up and she stared at me. But he's eyes showed no emotion other than fear. "We hand a deal. You give us Kora in exchange for our help," Ike's voice was a low angry growl. I can't even i
Zara's POV The door to the sitting room fell open and we walked in. Maduro's face lit up in a wide smile. "I am so glad you could make it for dinner." Maduro sat at the head of the table, Hera sat at his right hand and Kora sat at his right, looking petrified even though she smiled at me. And beside Kora was the other Kora, the cute one like she called herself, she had a smug smile on her face, tapping at empty seat beside her. I glanced at Ike briefly, he had a frown on his face. "Come on, make yourself comfortable. Let's eat," Maduro continued. I took the empty seat beside Kora and Ike took the seat at the other end of the table. I pushed my food around my plate, lifting small bites to my mouth more out of obligation than hunger. The flavors barely registered. Everything tasted like tension, like the air before a storm breaks. Across the table, Ike hadn’t touched his food at all. His plate sat pristine, untouched, as if it were nothing more than decoration.Maduro notic
Zara's POV I rushed back down the corridor, my boots slapping against the polished floor, my pulse pounding far too loudly in my ears. I turned a corner too sharply and nearly collided with a solid wall of muscle.Ike.He caught me by both arms instantly, steadying me before I could even think of stumbling back. His brows drew together as he searched my face.“What’s wrong?” he asked, sharp and immediate.I swallowed and glanced over my shoulder, my eyes flicking down the corridor we’d just come from. For half a second, I was certain someone would be standing there, watching, listening. But the hallway remained empty, quiet in that unnerving Redpeak way.“Let’s go back inside,” I said quickly. “Please.”That was all it took.Ike didn’t argue. He turned, opened the door behind him, and ushered me inside before closing it firmly. The click of the latch sounded too final, too loud in the silence that followed.He stepped back, folding his arms over his chest, his posture guarded now. “







