The Silver Siren Read Online Free PDF Page B

head immediately for Haven. I took your horse and
went after you, promising that if I found you, I would do the
same.”
    “ You mean you left them
there to fight off the Septori alone?” I gasped.
    Kael scoffed at me. “When I left,
there were no Septori remaining. Except for the girl. They didn’t
even try to rescue her or take her.”
    “ What happened at the
cave? I saw you enter and I tried to warn you. Why in the world
would you walk into a trap?”
    Kael’s eyes hardened and the muscle in
his jaw line twitched. “They’re dead. Well, not Talbot, but he ran
at the first sight of me.”
    “ But how? You were
outnumbered.”
    Kael refused to speak for a moment.
“It was a trap and a poor one at that.” He looked at me sideways.
“I doubt you really want to know how, do you?”
    The look he gave me sent chills down
my spine. I had seen him fight; I had seen Kael kill ruthlessly. I
didn’t need any gory details.
    “ We couldn’t save the
farmer and his wife. By the time I got there, I was surrounded by
an army of Septori.” Kael’s fists clenched and I reached out to
touch his hand. My touch instantly made him relax.
    “ I know you tried,” I
spoke softly.
    “ How did you know? How did
you know about the fire?” Kael asked and nuzzled the back of my
head with his chin.
    “ Would you believe me if I
told you I had a vision? I saw it before it happened, so I tried to
stop it.”
    “ Did you know about the
Septori?” He asked.
    I had a feeling he already knew the
answer. “Yes,” I whispered meekly.
    “ It was why you sent me
out of the barn after the farmer wasn’t it?” Kael growled into my
ear. He was angry and I couldn’t blame him, but I wasn’t afraid of
him.
    “ Yes.”
    “ You are one of the most
stubborn, stupid, selfish people I know. Do you realize that?” Kael
was furious and I let him vent. He needed to vent. I had put him in
a position where I knew the outcome and almost made him break his
promise to my father to protect me.
    “ Do you realize what you
did? The barn almost came down. You could have died!” Kael’s breath
was coming quicker.
    My silence was all the affirmation he
needed. He pulled Faraway to a stop and pulled me by the shoulder
so I had to look at him.
    “ That was you? Were you
trying to get yourself killed?” His disbelief and anger made me
comprehend how foolish I was.
    I dropped my head in shame. I had been
trying to kill myself, and Kael must have realized that, because he
wrapped both arms around me and hugged me.
    “ Don’t! Don’t you do
anything like that again? Do you hear me?” Kael rocked me in his
arms and I cried.
    “ You don’t understand,
Kael. I felt the monster I was becoming rise to the surface. It
loved power and didn’t care whether people lived or died. I had to
try and kill it before it consumed me,” I sniffed and tried to look
away from him, and not show him my silver eye.
    “ You have been touched by
it, but you’ve survived. You are stronger because of it.” Kael
grabbed my chin and made me meet his eyes. “I won’t let the monster
get you. I promise.”
    And like before, I believed him. Kael
pulled back to stare over my shoulder, eastward. His eyes took on a
faraway look, and I could see the muscle tick in his jaw as he
pondered something.
    “ I want you to come
somewhere with me,” Kael said, never taking his eyes off of the
distant mountains. “There’s something I need to do.”
    “ Where?” I asked and
turned slightly to see where Kael was gazing. It was the mountain
range to the southeast. A dry and barren range with little to no
life.
    “ Why so many questions?
This will be just a little detour,” he said.
    “ What about the others?
What about Hemi and Joss?”
    Kael pulled away from me. “Thalia, I
promise you will get to see them again. It’s just been a very long
time since I’ve been this close.” His gaze drifted to the barren
mountains again, and I could hear longing in his voice. It became
soft