“Promise, Scout. Promise you won’t leave me.”
“I won’t leave you, Lil. Never, ever, ever.”
She met Trey’s eyes, and he brushed the hair away from her burned, dirty face. His hands shook and tangled in her curls, and he swore under his breath.
Beautiful. He was so beautiful.
“Ashra? Are Havik and Iros…?”
Ashra had gone to Havik’s side, but now she looked over her shoulder at Scout, her wings moving restlessly. “See for yourself.”
Havik heaved himself to his feet. His chest was one big, open wound, but his head rose majestically. Aella slid Iros’s arm around her neck, helping him stand. He looked nearly as bad as his unicorn, but he met Scout’s eyes and smiled.
“We live,” he said, and although she couldn’t hear him, she could read his lips.
And she nodded.
“Let’s go home,” Trey said, scooping Scout into his arms. “Ready, Lil?”
Lil Bit nodded as Trey carried Scout to Ashra’s back.
“Will you ever stay conscious for one whole battle? You’re making a nasty habit out of this.” Ashra sighed as she secured Scout and rose into the air.
Trey lifted Lil Bit to her unicorn’s back, and Tate and Liam rode next to him. Behind them, Kylin, whom Scout had entirely forgotten, was helping others to unicorns and showing them how to stay on. She met Scout’s eyes with a coldness that was frightening.
As they flew to the split in the sky, she rode up next to Scout. “I managed to stay alive during the entire battle. You didn’t. Who’s the mighty warrior now, Scout?” With what sounded distinctly like a hiss, she flew away.
“I didn’t die,” Scout mumbled.
“Melete says she is sorry for her rider’s rudeness. But seriously, try staying awake next time, huh?”
“Quiet, you big bird.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Paradesos was teeming with people. Not souls, although many remained, but people and unicorns. Huts were multiplying in the little valley, and the space itself seemed to expand. Trey watched it all as they soared through the sky. They landed and were immediately surrounded by Leerhas. Scout was blocked from his sight, and he had a momentary sense of panic until they moved and he could see her again.
“Is she okay? Can you heal her?”
“She is healed.” The Leerha moved past him, her magic floating over him and healing his own superficial wounds.
Lil Bit had already found her way to Scout’s side and leaned her head on her sister’s shoulder. Scout smiled up at him, a broken, exhausted smile, when he fought his way to her side.
“I just need a shower. For, like, a week. Then I’ll be good as new.”
He chuckled. “I think that’s possible.” He lifted her to his chest, carrying her across the valley to her hut. “Come on, Lil. Let me show you your new place.”
“Home. I’ve missed it so much,” Scout murmured as Trey ducked through the hut’s little doorway.
Funny how this was the home she’d missed, not the one back in Columbia Falls. He was hit again by the sense that this was where Scout belonged. Here in this valley with these unicorns.
He only prayed he belonged here, too. Because if Scout didn’t go back to Columbia Falls, neither would he.
“Rest, okay? I’ve gotta find my brothers and then I’ll be back.”
He laid her carefully on the bed, and she nodded, her eyelids already falling shut, shower forgotten. He pulled the blanket up around her and Lil Bit tugged off her shoes and tucked them underneath the bed.
“We’ll have to get you a bed in here. I’ll talk to Iros.”
“Okay,” Lil Bit said cheerfully. She kissed Scout on the forehead and skipped out, little warrior gone and the child replacing her.
“I’ll be back soon, baby. Sleep sweet.” He kissed her, gently because her lips were still burned, despite the healing, and left her to rest.
He wove his way through the crowds toward Torz, trying to find his brothers. A small, blond form blocked his way, pushing her hands against his chest.
“Trey.”
He glanced down. “Hey, Kylin. Nice job back there. You fight really well,” he said distractedly. “Have you seen my brothers?”
“I know you think you’re in love with her, but let me tell you this, Trey. She walked away from you. I won’t. You should remember that.” She rose on her tiptoes, her lips crashing against his, their teeth grinding painfully.
He threw himself backward, out of her reach. “Not gonna happen, Kylin. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
He brushed past her and stormed through the crowd. It was thicker the further in he went, and he realized Havik and Iros stood at the center. Havik was healed now, and Iros bent, speaking to someone Trey couldn’t see. Tate and Liam, however, stood close by, so he shoved himself to the front. Ashra and Torz surrounded their leader, listening closely.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he neared Torz.
Torz just nodded his head toward the circle. Trey leaned between the two unicorns blocking his way so he could see what held everyone’s attention.
Lil Bit stood in the center, her small hands on her hips. Trey didn’t catch the first half of their conversation, but he clearly heard Scout’s little sister’s last sentence.
“Tell your unicorns to be ready, Iros. Because I’m bringing them an army.”
About the Author
Wendy Knight is the bestselling author of the Fate on Fire and Riders of Paradesos series. She was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentri-cities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call, no touching the knives…you get the idea). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big—her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S.
You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, wearing ridiculously high heels for whatever the occasion. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.
Also From Astraea Press
Chapter One
Joy
Ever since I’ve been old enough to kick off on a condor with my own two chicken feet, I’ve been drilled to mind my own business.
Mind your own business, the first of the American Ten Commandments.
It’s not one I subscribe to, even though in our community, not minding my own business means more than social suicide; it’s a crime when we ascend above ground.
For thousands of years we deeems have kept away from the creatures running over our heads with their five-toed feet. So if anyone in my community gets wind of the risky job I’m on these days, I’m practically a goner. But that doesn’t stop me from shadowing a certain teenage fivetoe.
There’s also a totally different occupational hazard involved in this position I’ve created for myself, one I’m suffering from right now: this job occasionally makes school seem relatively stimulating. Yawn. I’ve played too many Angry Condor games to count since Starra got involved in some fantasy book a couple of hours ago and lost contact with the real world. Even if I knew how to become visible to the fivetoe eye and suddenly revealed myself, I bet she wouldn’t notice me, the cute teen perched on her windowsill.
Time simply refuses to advance, and I have to resort to counting the spider eggs cocooned in their nest on a nearby tree branch. A sudden sigh interrupts my lame occupation. There’s a starry look in the big eyes, and I notice the novel is slipping out of Starra’s dreamy grip. This is my window of opportunity! I finger the starchy edge of the book jacket and coax the book forward.
Thud. The book falls to the floor, and the movement seems to bring Starra back to her senses. At last she grabs a hoodie and sets out, probably for one of her night excursions on the Vista Del Mar Path. Are we running or biking tonight?
Running it is. I jog b
ehind her, finding the excursion by the shoreline an improvement to watching her read. At least we are moving.
She runs for half an hour, at a speed faster than the sea turtle pace usual for fivetoes. Then she slows to a stop at a jagged rock, half-submerged in the ocean. I groan quietly and contemplate leaving. From experience, I know she’ll climb to the top of her rock and dream away. I start backing off, but when I’m some fifty feet away, I look back. Starra makes a pretty picture there, her silhouette perched high on the rock. Her long legs are tucked under her, and her head hangs back as she keeps her gaze on the stars above. If only she would let loose the heavy dark mane of hair she always twists up at the back of her neck, she would truly look like a mermaid risen from the sea.
Something pulls me back to her. I can’t explain it, but I have a feeling trouble is lurking nearby, waiting to snatch her in its net.
My chicken feet make an about face and follow Starra home as she takes the shorter route through town.
Table of Contents
Warrior Everlasting
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
About the Author
Also From Astraea Press
Warrior Everlasting Page 18