LOGINAlexander’s POVThe stench of smoke and iron still clung to my clothes. Even after hours on the battlefield, I could still taste the ash in my throat; it was bitter and unrelenting. We had pushed back, broken through their defense, but the defense was already done.The village was nothing but ruins
He was surprisingly awake despite the amount of blood he lost and how much pain he must be in. He flinched, though, when I touched his face, like he was afraid of me, and it made my heart ache even more.“It’s okay,” I told him, my voice trembling as I suppressed my tears. “I’m not going to hurt you
Joanne’s POVIt was a boy.He was so small. Thin and short in stature, he couldn’t have been older than 10, though he looked so much younger. He was curled in on himself beneath a half-fallen tree. His skin was streaked with soot and ash, his shirt torn nearly to ribbons. His hands trembled where th
It wasn’t until I reached the medical tent that I found out why.George looked exhausted, as though he was awake all night working when he should have been sleeping. Instead of asking him if he was okay, I asked him the only question that was truly on the tip of my tongue since waking this morning.
Alexander’s POVHer breath was still on my lips when the silence closed around us… warm, stunned, and absolute. I didn’t miss the way her body melted against mine, the small whimper that escaped her lips, and the rapid beating of her heart. It made me tighten my hold on her even more, to never want
“Come,” he said, the order coming out soft, like a whisper. “You need to eat, and you need to rest.”“There’s still work to be done here,” I tell him, my voice soft as well. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of my face.“George can handle it from here. It’s time for you to rest,” he to







