The Year of the Tiger (Book 3 of The Almair Series) (Completed)

Chapter 33

"So, what was so important that you had to hang up the phone?" Shardul asked when I walked into his house. He looked like shit, his eyes bloodshot from crying. His hair was disheveled from running his hand through his hair since she was last seen.

"I had to get some information," I replied gravely.

Shardul frowned and raised an eyebrow. He didn't say a word, but I knew that he wanted me to tell him.

I shook my head. "Can't tell you, not yet," I said solemnly. "You have to trust me. I will do whatever I can to protect and free her."

"Even if it means trusting the wrong crowd?" Shardul asked, and I knew that he was talking about the Snakestons.

I moved closer to him, making sure that no one else could hear me. I wasn't that surprised to find his house busy, knowing full well how a clan can form together if a child was missing.

I mean, it did take a village to raise a child, and Bethany was going to be a very important figure to them. However, that was if we got her out alive.

"The Snakestons will help, but they can only do so much. There are only a few that I, surprisingly, trust. If someone goes against me, then I will kill them. They know this but will still stand by my side."

"They are dark and soulless creatures. I have met them long ago, Martha," Shardul said. "It almost cost me my life."

"Are you able to tell who is good or bad, Commander?" I asked, turning my face a bit to look at him. I watched as he stiffened. "I don't trust them that much, and I do get warning bells when they are near." I paused. "However, I am learning how to tell who is good and who is bad."

Shardul scowled and narrowed his eyes. "And, what if they are using you for their personal gain? What then?"

I took a step back and regarded him silently. "Perhaps, they are," I said, finally. "Or, perhaps they aren't. One of them lost someone to the Dark Forces. She lost her lover to them and tried to help the old Almaire. She had trusted someone that she shouldn't have."

"And you aren't?" Shardul asked, and I shrugged. He narrowed his eyes, and I could see a small flicker of doubt appear.

My heart started to ache, and I hated that he was starting to doubt me. "Maybe I am," I said. "But I have to worry about that later. If I don't, then more lives could be lost than what had happened in the past."

"Like yours?" Shardul asked, and I shook my head, no. "Whose?"

"Yours and your clans," I replied. "The whole Halfton clans could perish if I take the wrong step, do the wrong thing. That is why I had talked to them and am in contact with them. They know that they could die at any moment by my hand or his, whoever he is."

"Do you know who he is?"

I shrugged. "They call him "Master," so... it is probably someone that thinks themselves as very important and very powerful with more years of experience than me."

"Then why do they want to help you when they have someone more powerful than you as their leader?"

I shrugged. "I guess I bring them one thing that he doesn't offer," I replied.

Shardul raised his eyebrow and stayed silent. He folded his arms around his chest and regarded me with a guarded expression.

"I somehow give them hope," I said, shrugging my shoulder. "That is what they want, and I somehow can give it to them."

"How?"

I shrugged my shoulder. "Don't know," I replied. "But, whatever I am doing is working because they haven't crossed me yet. And if they do cross me, then they will be killed by my hands. That is something that they already know, but it doesn't shake their belief in me."