Cloud Piercer

Twenty Seven

I didn't mean to seek Killian out, but I find myself approaching him when Cadence goes to swim with Jakob. Perhaps I'm just like everybody else, unconsciously gravitating towards him without my knowing.

A group of girls from my class surround him where he stands, but when he notices me watching him as I lean against the tree on the opposite side of the clearing, he excuses himself and glides towards me, that ever present half-smile on his face.

"It's rude to stare, you know," he says when he reaches me. "Though I can't say I blame you."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're much more handsome before you open your mouth?"

"You think I'm handsome?"

I roll my eyes, feigning nonchalance despite the warmth rushing to my cheeks. "I'm surprised you showed up. Isn't there something more important you should be doing? You know, for tonight?"

"But what could be more important than protecting the deserter's greatest asset?"

"Protecting? From who? Professor Fin's boring lecture?"

"You're right," he says, "it was a little more 'Killian, make sure that little village girl doesn't back out and run her mouth.'" He shakes his head. "Can you believe she didn't even say please?"

I wrinkle my nose. "At least she didn't call you 'that little village girl.'"

"Perhaps, but there is great power in being underestimated."

"You think I'm more than what Trina sees? I'm flattered."

"I think you're more than even you see."

My stomach flips, but I keep my face straight. "Well, one thing is certain, the deserters certainly aren't known for their good manners."

"That we can agree on."

"I was including you in that, you know."

"Oh, I know." He leans closer, eyes gleaming. "I never claimed to be a gentleman, Freya."

I lean back, creating more space between us and take a shaky breath, forcing my gaze out to the lake where Cadence is swimming with Jakob. Cadence is throwing her hands up in the air, a sour expression scrunching her face. I can't help but smile.

"Do you think tonight could result in somebody getting hurt?"

"We know what we're getting ourselves into."

"I wasn't talking about the deserters." I turn to look at him, biting the inside of my cheek. "I mean somebody from the village. Cadence, or Jakob, or... or just someone."

As he stares at me, it's like he can see right into my mind, his slender fingers sorting through each of my most private thoughts. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No."

"It's okay to be afraid. What you're doing is not small."

I frown, opening my mouth to protest and deny his allegations of my fear, but as our eyes meet, the words die in my throat.

It's hard to know what I can and can't say. With Killian around, many eyes follow us, and people draw closer. Part of me wants to draw him away, where onlookers can't peek through the trees, intrude on our conversation. But for now, the only privacy is from the low hanging branches.

"Cadence said something to me before," I murmur. "She said that I can't do anything for Samu if I'm dead, and I hadn't really thought about that, about the fact that I'm just me, potentially going into a den of wolves."