Page 146 of Sands of Atonement

At the end of the day, I was glad to hear that my mother was loved. I knew that my father loved my mother, but it seemed it was for the sons she bore, not for who she really was.

That must have felt lonely. I really wished I could hold my mother.

I really wished she were here to hold me.

My eyes stung—stupid sands...

But she had Salazar. So did I.

I remembered, for the most part, that he had been there throughout my upbringing. He would be gone here and there, but he always came back home—to my mother and me.

Now, he was being called home to his new family, and I was truly happy for him. Happiness was never meant to be black and white.

I would visit Tarrie, but Mongah wasn’t my home. I never felt it was. I took a deep breath, the dry, hot air filling my lungs.

This was my home.

My brows lowered that moment as we approached our destination.

The towering cliff ahead of us was too familiar.

It sent a shiver down my spine.

Where were we? Where were these friends he said he had?

I’d seen this place before.

Norrah slid off the saddle and continued following the two men who accompanied Salazar, continuing a conversation I had clearly missed. I remained absently in my saddle, clawing my mind, wondering where I’d seen this cliff before. Sand bells were going off in my head. They were walking and leading the reins of their horses toward a large boulder at the bottom of this massive mountain rock.

And then it hit me.

We were in front of the Atrove.

Did they know where we were?

The boulder slid as if invisible men were pushing it to the left, and Norrah and the two men approached it.

“Guys! We shouldn’t be here!” I shouted, before it was too late, but they couldn’t hear me. Who knew what the Atrove would do to them if they found them in their own home. Ezra wasn’t here to explain anything—to fight for us. There was no chance I could defend all of us against an army of Atrovians.

Everything turned to slow motion when Salazar slid off his saddle near me.

“Targon!” A man dressed in white appeared on the other side of the boulder when it was pushed to the side. He waved at us to come over.

Targon? My heart rate raced momentarily. Wasn’t that the old Atrovian leader’s name? The only reason I knew this was because Salazar talked about him frequently when I would endure his lengthy lessons. I knew so much about the Atrove because of him.

The man next to me was most definitely Salazar. Not Targon.

A terribly slow moment went by, and it nearly took my breath away. I snapped my head to my side and looked toward Salazar⁠—

His eyes were on me, and he looked so uncertain I didn’t know why, but in that moment, I wanted to smack the shit out of him.

What was happening?

Targon? The old Atrovian leader.

I gasped sharply.

A wave of crawling chills went through my entire body.