Daughters of the King |✓|

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Have you thought of a name?" Zelle asked me one evening, after Wolfe had left.

"Not really," I admitted.

"I've always liked the name Lua," she said. "Or Ada."

"Those are nice." I wasn't really listening. My mind was with Wolfe, with our plan.

"Where's the major gone to?" she asked instead, once she realized I wasn't quite paying attention.

I forced myself to focus on the present. "He's not a major anymore, Zelle. He's deserted the army."

"It's better that way." She lifted her chin. "The army doesn't serve our Gods anymore. Not now that they're trapped in the claws of your mother."

I didn't mention that they'd always been trapped in someone's claws. I didn't mention that Wolfe was actually one of the savages.

"Wolfe has gone to set up a plan to rescue Gunnar from the City of Roses," I answered her earlier question, if only because I needed to tell someone—needed to talk about it.

"You're going to rescue Gunnar?" she repeated, disapproval strong in her tone.

"Yes."

She shook her head . "How—how can you think of yourself in times like these? The world is ending, and you're thinking of yourself—you're being selfish."

I cut my gaze to hers. "The world is ending; how can I not be?"

She didn't know how to respond. She stared at me a long time. There was so much distance between us now, a whole divide of misunderstandings.

"You're the reason the Gods have condemned us," she said finally. "You and all the people like you.

"No, Zelle." I leveled her with a stare. "I'm the reason you're going to survive. You, and Gunnar, and this baby, and the whole damn camp."

She suddenly looked horrified, and in her gaze, I saw a reflection of a previous version of myself. I could recall feeling a similar way towards my mother. The terror of a person who can claim strength and power out of thin air.

I suppose we weren't that different, my mother and I. But that didn't mean we would make the same choices.

...

I was watching from the second-story window on the day Wolfe returned. I was sitting in a chair I'd pushed into place specifically for this. I was looking out over the front lawn, waiting. Waiting wasn't sitting well with me these days. Nothing was sitting well with me, as I waited for news about my plan. But, despite my impatience, it felt like it was too soon, when I saw the car coming.

I kicked up onto my feet and ran down the stairs, pushing past Narumi in the hall. I was outside within second, opening the car door before the car even had the time to properly stop.

Wolfe's face broke out into a smile at the sight of me. "It's almost like you're happy to see me."

"What did Bjorn say?" I clutched the front of his coat to pull him out. "Tell me everything. I want to know."

He resisted my efforts and climbed out of the car slowly, deliberately, without answering any of my questions.

"Wolfe," I stressed.

"Let me catch my breath," he said, putting his arm around my shoulders and guiding me back to the house.

I barely noticed his hands on me. I was full of anxious anticipation, overflowing. "Tell me now."

Zelle stood in the open door, watching us with her face hard as stone, her stare like ice, but she said nothing, and I didn't care to ask what was wrong. Not right now. She quietly moved out of the way when we reached her, so we could step inside. Wolfe lead me into the den, sat me down in a chair, before collapsing in the one opposite, the breath leaving him in a huff.