Curse Breaker (2)

21

The canopy of leaves acts as a cover as we shelter from the stares of the shifters. Sunlight streams through the gaps in the leaves, creating a patchy light on the planes of Elex's face as he watches me walk towards them off the path. His posture is tense, eyebrows pulled together, forming a deep wrinkle in the center.

I try to avoid his gaze as Casimir steps aside to make room for me. "What did he want?" he asks.

"Huh?"

"Killian." He clenches his jaw. "He grabbed your arm."

"Oh, nothing." I glance over my shoulder as if expecting to find Killian standing on the beaten path back to the carriage. "I don't think he trusts me. What I said I'd do."

"And why should he?" Elex says. His voice is low and calm, but even I can hear the rage in his tone. "What you're saying, Freya, what you agreed to, is blasphemous."

"To who? The deserters? King Ereon?" I shake my head. "I hold no loyalty towards either group."

If he's offended by my dismissal of the deserters, he doesn't show it. "Maybe you don't. But we don't all have that luxury." His gaze shifts from me to Casimir. I don't miss the softening around his mouth, the desperation in his eyes. "Casimir, you know Trina will take this as a betrayal. Whether or not you are her son."

"I know."

Elex shakes his head, grabs Casimir's arm. "She'll never welcome you back."

"I know. Elex, you saw the cloud. What it can do. As much as I wish she wasn't, Freya is right. Everything the deserters have done, all we've worked towards our whole lives, none of it will matter if we're all killed by the cloud."

They stare at one another with an intensity that makes me feel like an intruder. Elex's voice is so quiet I barely hear his next words. "She's your family."

"Family is the most important thing in the world to me," Casimir says softly. He turns his head to look at me, a sad smile tugging at his lips. "But Trina isn't my family, she never has been."

I reach out the grab his hand, wrapping it in my own. Casimir's one of the strongest people I know, but that doesn't stop his hands from shaking when he squeezes mine back.

Elex's shoulders drop, his eyes glassy. "Nothing will change your mind, will it?" Casimir shakes his head, jaw locked. "So that's it, then. You're going with the shifters."

"We're going to stop the cloud," I say, but it's like I haven't even spoken from the way neither of them can drag their gazes from each other. I squeeze Casimir's hand one more time. "I'll wait for you by the carriage."

Neither of them speaks as I turn around and walk back the way we came, a lump in my throat. I force it down, digging my nails into my palm as I reach the stream. Following the curve of the bank, Killian and Lei's murmured voices drift towards me. They fall to a lull as I emerge from the trees, only Killian visible outside the carriage.

He turns, glancing over my shoulder. "Good, you're back."

"Is something wrong?"

"We might need your help."

Lei pulls the sheet to the side constructing the cabin door. A grin marks her face, but there's nothing humorous about it as she holds her arm towards me, scratched up. "For such a tiny human, she's got some claws."

My heart skips a beat. "Cadence?"

A whimper is the only response. Lei jumps from the carriage, giving me a full view of the interior. Cadence huddles on the ground, raising her head slightly at the sound of my voice.