Feudlings In Smoke (Fate On Fire Short Story) by Wendy Knight Page A

knew they would — they made her forget me. But I saw it, in her eyes. She remembered. She remembered me.”
    “She was going to kill us all.” Ward, one of the very first members of Will's colony and one of the most powerful Carules healers alive, stopped in front of him, arms crossed against his broad chest. Firelight glinted off his smooth head as his dark eyes narrowed menacingly.
    “She stopped, Ward. You saw her as well as I did. When she heard my voice, she stopped. And now she needs help.” Will looked into the face of his long-time friend, and then over Ward’s shoulder at the rest of his Renegade family. “ I need your help. Please, help me save her.”
    ****
    It took two days of tireless healing, but Ari finally opened her eyes. Sluggish, she scanned the room, looking for something familiar.
    Apparently, she didn't find it.
    Will was sitting in the chair behind her head, and he didn't move fast enough. His tiny sister burst to her feet, spells already burning in her hands. She spun in a circle, taking in her threats, her face much too hard for one so young. The four other people in the room froze, hands up, fear making their faces white. No one in the world was as powerful as the little thing in front of them, and no one could kill as fast as she could.
    And then her eyes landed on Will. The flames in her hands died abruptly and she stared at him. “Will?” Tears pooled in her eyes. “Will, are you going to kill me?”
    Of everything he thought she might say, that was last on his list. “Am I—what?”
    Her bottom lip trembled and she shoved back her tangled, matted red and black curls with shaking hands. “They told me you were going to kill me.”
    Of course they had. How else would they get her to hunt him down with such a vengeance? He rose — slowly — and knelt before her, so he was almost eye-level. “Ari, listen to me very carefully.” He waited until she nodded, wide eyes full of pain and fear, studying his face as if she could read the answers there. “I will never, ever, hurt you. No matter what anyone says, I pledged my life to protect you. I tried to take you with me when I left. Do you remember that?”
    She nodded.
    “They didn't let me. I should have stayed, but I couldn't fight anymore. I couldn't kill for nothing. I couldn't be a monster.”
    “Like me,” she whispered.
    His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You aren't a monster, Ari.”
    She bit her lip and looked away. “I was born a monster and I will die a monster.” Such awful words to come from one so young. His heart broke for her.
    He shook her shoulders gently, waiting until she looked back at him. “You are not a monster. You were born with an impossible destiny, Ari.”
    She nodded again, her eyes filling up with tears. “I have to kill the Carules Prodigy. Or he has to kill me. If I don't, hundreds of thousands of people will die—” her voice dropped to a whisper, “—because of me.”
    Will sucked in a breath. Ward finally moved, kneeling next to Will. “Listen, little one. You're safe here. We're your family as much as anything out there,” he said, pointing toward the window. “And you will always be welcome here with us.”
    Ari started to sob. Will pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. “And no matter what, Ari, you will always be the most important thing in the world to me.”

Chapter One
     
    Present Day
    “You seem more on edge than usual.” Dani raised a dark eyebrow at Will as she watched him pace the living room. “Which is saying a lot, because, no offense, but you're kind of an edgy person to begin with.”
    He glanced at her and forced a smile. She was his best friend, and one day he would tell her he loved her.
    Not today.
    He tried to think of a comment about how edgy was hot, but he failed. Which told him he was more stressed than he should be. He should never be so nervous that he lost his witticism. It was one of his most redeeming qualities. But it was gone, so he