Storm From the East by Joanna Hathaway

Author:Joanna Hathaway [Hathaway, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, Young Adult, romance, adventure
ISBN: 9780765396440
Goodreads: 45043929
Publisher: Tor Teen
Published: 2020-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

30

ATHAN

North of Madelan

With the encirclement broken, Army Group North and Army Group East join forces for the first time since war began. Evertal took Irspen all on her own—which, rumour has it, caused a little love lost for her beloved Arrin, the one who ran himself right into a trap and abandoned her. But it was still an astonishing victory, only made possible after our codebreakers in Thurn cracked the Resyan cipher, allowing Evertal to discover an enemy feint on her left flank. She exploited the maneuver. Crushed them and pierced through.

And when Arrin himself broke through the Resyan lines and arrived in the dawn light, standing on a halftrack, victorious, I saw the thing I knew I would see, but somehow still didn’t expect. My father waiting for him—relieved.

Relieved.

The expression is barely detectable on Father, but it was there, and it said enough. Never mind his drunk words to me last spring. Never mind the promises. I was never the favourite.

It’s always been Arrin.

And I don’t know why I care.

As I wait for Moonstrike’s next orders, sitting on a discarded box of ammo at the side of our latest runway, the celebration of our sortie has already dissolved into more hammering against my skull. I try to recapture the elation. The pride. But every weary soldier from the encirclement that passes me—haggard, smoking, completely oblivious to the truth of Seath’s betrayal—guts me with guilt. Safire blood now soaks the Resyan earth, thousands of lives snuffed out in a matter of days, and they don’t even know that we gave the Nahir those weapons. Funds swapped, guns delivered under the cloak of secrecy. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. My father might be ruthless, but he always has a sharp purpose. Nothing’s gained without a very precise sacrifice.

This …

What kind of man can throw everyone into the same furnace? Northern and Southern alike? Seath has just betrayed the only person in the entire world who might have spoken for him—my father—and ruined two armies at once.

For what?

“Hey, there’s the lucky charm!” someone calls behind me. “Practically a captain now!”

Thorn Malek’s hand is gripping my shoulder before I can turn. He grins down at me, still wearing his flight suit and goggles, dust baked to his face. Must have walked right off the tarmac.

I shrug. “Lead one op. Nothing official.”

I’d like to muster more for Thorn, the kind of grin Trigg always has on hand, but nothing comes. The emptiness returns. The nothingness.

“Yeah, one op right out of a damn encirclement! And three batteries ruined for life.”

“Lion’s Paw helped out,” I admit, then pause. “We lost Ollie Helsun.”

Thorn’s grin fades. “That’s a shame. He was good. I’m up to six gone in my squadron. Trying to keep track of the replacements now.” He blocks the sun with a hand. “Been to Madelan yet? I just took a little spin over the prize and it’s a nice way to get a few more marks on the plane. No resistance left. Like cherry-picking those Resyan fighters.

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