The Coalition (Book 1)

Chapter 52

At first it seemed that someone was calling Shai to get her attention, but Aliah saw the glint of something shiny between the fingers of their upraised fist.

Kael.

Shai reacted first. She pressed her lips together, dropped her bag to the ground and walked towards him with her hands curled into fists at her sides.

Aliah suppressed a smile. Something must have happened between them to cause such tension. If they were keeping score this would be a small victory for Aliah.

When Shai reached Kael he bent over panting and coughing, his face bright red with purple blotches. His hair stuck out in damp clumps around his head. Large, dark patches on his bright blue shirt revealed where he'd sweat through.

Aliah left his bag with Shai's and moved a few steps closer to them.

"Shai... I... had to get... this to you." Kael straightened, the green of his eyes deepening when he looked at Shai. Aliah ground his teeth into his lip. The way Kael looked at Shai was the way Ava had looked at Aliah earlier. Kael seemed oblivious that anyone else was there other than Shai. He wiped his face on his sleeve then held out the glinting object. A thin silver key with a red jewel that caught the sun.

Recognition flashed inside Aliah. He turned to look at Remiel, but Remiel had gone.

"You came all this way to give this to me?" Shai took the key from Kael and Aliah glimpsed their fingers touching, lingering longer than he thought was necessary.

"I uh, knew it was important when I first saw it. You're pretty protective of it so when I discovered it under your mattress I knew you couldn't have left it behind intentionally, unless you meant for me to bring it to you."

Aliah gave an exaggerated cough and Kael jerked his eyes away from Shai as though he had just realized the two of them weren't alone.

Shai tucked the key into her pocket without taking her eyes off Kael. "Why did you come all this way to give it back to me? You seemed more interested in warning me than helping me."

Aliah raised his eyebrows. He'd like to know the answer to that too. Kael's sudden interest in Shai made Aliah even more wary.

Kael looked at the ground briefly then back at Shai as he reached for her hands. "You're special. Different. In the short time I've known you I realized I've never met anyone like you."

Aliah smirked. Nice recovery. Kael even sounded sincere.

"But we've been gone for several days. You came all this way to give me a key that I think you'd rather destroy. Am I right?"

Kael glanced at Aliah who crossed his arms and waited for an answer. The Coalition scared Aliah because he didn't know anything about it other than what he saw on the page. But Aliah was certain the Coalition scared Kael because he did know about it, and Aliah wanted to know what he knew.

Certain words had been jarring his memory over the last few hours, but his memory was still a mess. His mind was like a stack of half-opened boxes, their unidentifiable contents spilling out. If Kael could shed some light, then Aliah was ready to listen. And Shai deserved to know too. Anything Aliah might be able to tell her she wouldn't listen to anyway. Her anger towards him consistently simmered below the surface, distorting everything he said.

But how much did Kael actually know? Would he reveal the truth or twist it just enough to serve his own agenda, whatever that was.

Kael leaned closer to Shai. "The Book describes three keys, each belonging to the three rebels known as the Coalition. Their leader is called the Son of Thunder."