A Karthan's Kiss by C.E. Higgins

Author:C.E. Higgins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sweet Lemon Press

Chapter 23

We should talk about this, Blake. Please, stop running away from me.

“I thought I was ready, but I’m not,” Blake shouted. He leaped over a fallen log and continued his brisk run through the forest glades surrounding his childhood home.

You can’t close this jar after it’s been opened.

“Watch me.”

Blake! She shouted the words with such force that he flinched and the back of his head started pounding.

He continued to dodge trees and hop over bushes. He rested at a small brook and used his hand to drink the cool water. Ka’rin’s body rippled, her hair pulsing rapidly despite the still air. She must be pretty mad at him.

He held his hand out in front of him, water slowly dripping off. It shook. He clenched and unclenched both hands and took off again. He ducked under a low-hanging branch and tripped over a hidden tree root but managed to keep his footing. She glided right alongside him, easily keeping pace. Then she shot off ahead and he was left alone.

He stopped and took deep gulps of the cool night air. The sun would rise in a few hours, but for now, he was blanketed by night. As soon as he’d said his fear out loud, his entire being had screamed in protest. He’d pushed open the window, jumped the two stories to the ground, thrown up his dinner, then started running. If he kept running, his past would never catch up to him, right?

He felt Ka’rin probe his mind. He sent a sliver of connection to her. Worry emanated from her, masking the anger he knew was still underneath. He opened his mind to her tentatively.

Blake. Something’s happening. The patrols are disbanding.

“Disbanding?” He followed her to the edge of the forest, where they hid in the shadows and watched the cars from the blockade discontinue their constant circling of the area and veer left towards the city.

“Why are they...disbanding?” He said between breaths.

I think you know why.

He frowned. They wouldn’t disband unless they were no longer needed. Which meant...

“No. I dropped her off safely at the keep. She’s too smart to go out into the open, and they couldn’t know where she is. There’s no way they could have her.”

Perhaps she doesn’t even realize she’s in danger.

“You mean Knowledge Keeper is one of them?”

Possibly. Ka’rin shrugged. We don’t really know the extent of the cult’s reach.

“She seemed positive she could trust him.”

Then perhaps he put her in danger unknowingly. I trust her judgment, but do I trust her friends? Nope.

Blake rubbed his scratchy jaw. “That seems more likely. Elle!” he huffed, throwing up his hands and glaring at the retreating patrols. “I leave her alone for one day and she walks right into the belly of the beast!”

Ka’rin stilled and turned away. Ah, well. I suppose it’s none of our concern now, right?

Blake blinked. She was right. He had said he was through with her once he’d safely seen her to the keep. Elle was no longer his responsibility. So

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