Sands of Aggar: Amazons of Aggar Book 3 by Chris Anne Wolfe Page B

surprise and Jacquin’s breath caught in her lungs in surprise.
    “You sure you don’t know her?” Khalisa questioned.
    Jacquin shook her head. “I don’t know.”
    Adrian stirred again and Khalisa quickly finished her stitching, tying a knot at Adrian’s hip to secure the sutures. Adrian grunted in pain and tried pressing off the floor. Jacquin shushed her, petting her hair and shoulders like a sick child. “Don’t move. You’ll pull a stitch.”
    Adrian slowly grabbed Jacquin’s knees, assessing her surroundings while forcing herself to remain calm. She looked up, meeting Jacquin’s eyes with her hazel ones, the color of her irises seeming to swim and flash in time with Adrian’s exhaustion.
    Adrian’s face twisted in confusion and pain, her silver-white brows knitting over wide eyes. “You helped me?”
    “You fought for our Tribe.”
    A calm seemed to settle between Adrian and Jacquin, a familiarity and comfort that blocked out the rest of the world and encircled them in peace. Jacquin moved to brush her fingers through Adrian’s hair again and Adrian caught her hand, entwining their fingers. Her grip was solid, protective. Jacquin’s heart trembled in her chest.
    Suddenly, Adrian winced as if she’d torn a stitch, but her wound remained sealed. She pulled her hand violently away from Jacquin’s and struggled to get away. Jacquin felt a sharp ache as Adrian broke away from her, leaping to her feet in concern.
    “You have to stay still!”
    Adrian struggled to her feet, her face twisted with too many emotions for Jacquin to comprehend. Khalisa reached out to her and Adrian pushed her away and threw open the wagon door, letting the scents and sounds of battle flood the wagon again.
    “Adrian!” Jacquin shouted, the woman’s name tearing from her throat.
    Adrian hesitated a moment in the doorway, every muscle in her body tense, sand brushing past her from the desert beyond. Instead of turning back, Adrian charged back into Oasis, fleeing into the chaos of battle.
    Jacquin ran out after her, but Adrian had already disappeared. The pathways of the Tribe were littered with bodies, the scent of death and corpses frying in the desert sun was overwhelming. Jacquin refused to linger over the bodies of her Tribe. She didn’t know who had died, but she knew she had grown up with every one of them, had shared warm summer days dancing with them, cold winter nights curled with them beside a fire. If she let herself see them now, she’d be overcome with grief.
    The fighting had died down. There were more wounded being carried to healers than warriors battling changlings. Oasis guards in their burnt orange uniforms charged through the settlement, rounding up surviving marauders.
    A loud bang boomed through the air, shaking the ground hard enough to knock Jacquin to her knees. A glowing, swirling dome rose high over the walls of Oasis, sealing the entire town beneath a protective force field. Jacquin looked around in shock and spotted dozens of mages standing atop the town walls, their arms raised high into the air. Jacquin felt a deep ache in her chest as if she’d been suddenly cut off from the rest of the world.
    Jacquin reached out for an Oasis guard, his skin dark enough to betray a blood connection to the Tribe. “What’s going on?”
    “Another band of changlings was spotted on the horizon. We’ve sealed Oasis. Nothing can get in or out. Return home. We’ll find the rest of the changlings. When we’re sure the town and our perimeter outside the force field are safe, we’ll lift the spell.”
    “We’re trapped?”
    “For our own good.”
    The guard continued on and Jacquin let him go. She held a clenched fist over her heart. If the town was sealed, Adrian wouldn’t be able to leave Oasis.
    Khalisa pulled Jacquin to her feet and led her inside the wagon, locking the door behind them.
    Jacquin glanced around in shock, trying to adapt to the sudden feeling of isolation brought on by the magical