Free Ashes of the Stars by Elizabeth Van Zandt Page B

did free Aili from my sleeping bag, her jacket, and her mask. When I saw what she’d done to her face, I felt like crying. She’d scratched her nails all the way down her face, had nearly bitten through her bottom lip, there were random bruises covering the right side of her face that made no sense. None of it made any sense.
    When we did get back into camp, Finn was carrying her, and I called for a medic. It was Tali that got to us first, though Kieran was quick to follow his wife.
    “What happened to her?” Tali asked, steering Finn away from the approaching crowd. She was leading him down a path, and I desperately wanted to follow, but I knew Kieran needed an update.
    “Let’s go somewhere more private,” Kieran told me. I nodded and followed him with slumped shoulders and weak eyes away from the crowd. He was silent all the way down the path to my house where he continued to lead the way, climbing up the ladder. I wasn’t sure that I had the energy to climb up but I knew I needed to. I took each rung very, very slowly. I felt the burn and ache of my muscles as they protested the movement. I needed sleep very desperately.
    “What’s going on?” Kieran asked as soon as I reached the top. I dropped my pack on the floor with a heavy thud and went immediately to my dresser.
    “She had a breakdown,” I answered. My words were slurred with exhaustion.
    “That’s specific,” Kieran said and I could almost hear his eyes rolling in his head.
    “Look,” I turned around abruptly and glared at him. “We pretty much haven’t slept in days to make sure we could get her back here as quickly as possible. I’m sorry I don’t have the energy to tell you all the gory details immediately upon arrival.”
    Kieran looked taken aback for a short moment and then he looked like he was upset with himself. He shook his head. “I’m sorry. Do you think she’s going to be okay?”
    “No,” I answered honestly. I couldn’t hold back the truth now. “But for everyone’s sake, I hope that Tali can make it tolerable at the very least.”
    “It’s that bad?” Kieran sounded as if he was losing the most important person in his life and didn’t know how to process that fact. Maybe he was. Maybe his long lost sister was more important in his mind and heart than his wife or even his best friend. “Go see her, man. Go see if Finn can tell you more. I am no good to anyone at all until I get caught up on some sleep,” I shook my head. I’d taken off my shirt and my pants, leaving nothing but my boxer shorts on and that was fine by me. I would sleep in those.
    “Thank you, Kai.” His tone sounded so revered for a minute that I couldn’t help but wonder if he was confused about his sister’s savior after all. I hadn’t done anything except escort her real hero here with her. And when, or if, she ever woke up, I’d get to see her prance around my home with her boyfriend/fiancée/husband/love of her life for the rest of my life. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or maybe I really was as petty and jealous as I sometimes thought I could be. I knew there were no sides between Finn and I, except in my own mind, but I was grateful that it seemed Kieran was still on mine. I just hoped that one day Aili would come to my side too.
     

Chapter Six
     
    When I finally woke up I could tell that I’d been sleeping for a long time. I could tell in the stiffness of my muscles that once I had laid down I’d barely moved again. My bones felt like they were sticky with tar at the joints and stretching out across my bed caused pain to throb through my muscles and shoot throughout my body. My lower back ached and made me feel like an old man.
    After I stretched, I folded my hands behind my head and closed my eyes again. I had slept so long but I still felt so exhausted. A moment later, as I was taking a deep breath, what’d happened with Aili and Finn came crashing back in. The trip back to my past, following her home, waiting and hoping for