Vanish (Firelight #2)(27)

I sneak a fearful glance at Cassian, silently willing him to say nothing—to hold silent and spare Will’s life.

His expression is tight, almost pained as he stares intently at me. “Please,” I mouth, all I dare risk as Miram steps up, her arms folded across her chest in a militant pose.

“Hiker?” she asks.

Still staring at me, Cassian answers, “Looks like it.”

“They gonna try Tamra out on him?” Corbin wonders aloud.

“Probably,” Miram says, stretching on her tiptoes in an attempt to peer into the group to see the hiker.

I resist moving closer, not about to look too curious and alert them that Will and I aren’t strangers.

“He’s young,” Miram muses. “Cute, too.”

Az snorts. “For a human, I guess.”

“For a human,” Miram agrees, sending me a sly glance. “What do you think, Jacinda? You’re the expert on cute humans. How does he compare?”

Heat tingles in my face, and I fight to look blasé, calm in the face of her jibes.

“That’s enough, Miram,” Cassian snaps.

“Look,” Corbin quickly says, “they’re taking him into the house.” He laughs low. “That guy won’t know what hit him.”

Will doesn’t look in my direction as he’s led inside the cottage, but I know he’s as aware of me as I am of him. My entire body hums in response to him. What was he thinking? He had to know how dangerous it would be to come anywhere near the pride. The truth is painful to face. As much as I tried to forget him, he never forgot me. Did that make him stronger than me? Or weaker?

Everyone goes inside except the two guards. They remain just outside the door. If all goes smoothly, Nidia will do what she does best, assisted by Jabel. Tamra, too, I suppose. Then the panicked thought hits me that Jabel’s talent will work on him. What if she succeeds and he comes out of there confused and bewildered, with a head full of lies, unable to discern reality from fiction?

I twist my fingers until they ache. There’s nothing I can do except wait. And hope he remembers again.

And what then? He knows where the pride is . . . where I am. He’s seen me. He’ll come back. If he’s caught again they’ll know he’s different—that shading won’t work on him.

“C’mon.” Cassian takes my arm. “I’ll walk you home.”

I resist only a moment. Of course I should go. The last thing I should do is linger here and give anyone cause to suspect that the trespasser means something to me.

Turning, I let Cassian lead me away. One thought pounds through my head in beat with my thundering heart: He kept his promise. He came for me.

Unable to help myself, I start to look over my shoulder, but Cassian’s voice stops me. “Don’t look back, Jacinda.”

I force my gaze forward. He’s right. The fact that Will remembers and came for me changes nothing. I can’t go with him. I won’t let my heart overrule logic. Nothing has changed. We’re a dangerous combination. Like fire and oil.

Cassian says nothing else until we reach my house. “Where’s your mother?” he asks.

I motion for him to wait as I go check on Mom. She’s asleep with the television on in her room, her features relaxed in a way I never see anymore. I quietly ease past the bed and turn off the TV. Closing her door, I return to where Cassian paces the living room.

His liquid-dark gaze cuts to me. “How did he find—”

“I’m sure it was simple luck. He got too close to the township and patrol picked him up,” I quickly insert, not wanting him to realize that Will might be resistant to shading.

He shoots me an exasperated look. “Jacinda, he’s no innocent hiker.”

“Yeah. I know.” I fold my arms across my chest. “He’s a hunter.” A heavy silence stretches as I stare at him. “So why didn’t you say anything?”

“How do you know I won’t?”

“Will you?”

He sets his jaw at a stubborn angle, like he wants to say yes, but then he blows out a deep breath and briefly looks away, and I can’t tell whether he’s angrier with me or himself.

“So you can hate me? So I can watch them kill him? I would get no satisfaction in that.”

I can only stare, no longer so surprised that Cassian might truly care for me. Me and not simply what I am. He’s not my enemy. I believe he wants to help me. Why else would he bother protecting a boy I shouldn’t even care about?

“You have to let him go, Jacinda.”

I nod, but the motion is painful, makes my temples throb. “I know.”

“But he needs to know that,” he says, his voice heavy with meaning.

I meet his gaze, understanding dawning slowly. “You want me to speak with him?”

“Once he’s a good distance from the pride, you need to confront him and explain to him that it’s over between the two of you. I know he might be confused after being shaded, but you need to get through to him.”

I can’t look at him just then, not with what I suspect—that Will can’t be shaded. Would Cassian be as willing to let him go if he thought that?

Cassian steps closer and turns my chin to look at him. “Tell him to convince his family that this area is dry. That there aren’t any draki here anymore. We’ve moved on. They’ll listen to him.” The implication hangs there unsaid. They’ll listen to him because of the blood. Because he’s connected to us. Cassian lowers his face so close I can feel his breath on my cheek, and the memory of our kiss intrudes. If that isn’t enough to make me recoil, then his next words are. “If I see him here again, I won’t hide the truth anymore—whether you hate me for it or not. I won’t protect him again. Understand?”