Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,328

the Scavenger. I felt a hand on my back and sighed when I realized it was Patrick offering me wordless comfort. His strong fingers massaged the knots in my shoulders as Cyler spoke.

“I haven’t slept since leaving Dormas,” Cyler admitted. I could hear the emotion in his deep tone, and it broke my heart. I had been so wrapped up in my own loss that I hadn’t thought about everything they were enduring. Dormas was his father’s legacy, and now it was gone. “Every time I try to close my eyes, all I see is all the people I failed.”

Tallis choked back his emotions, but I noticed the way his back shook as if the sobs were stuck in his chest. “Everyone is gone. Thurst and Bowden refused to come with me. What kind of leader am I if I have no one to lead? I failed them. We failed them,” he sobbed.

Cyler stood up and clutched his chest. There was a painful twist in his expression as he watched Tallis break down, his guilt a reflection of his own regrets. It was as if those words had physically wounded him. He gave me a sideways glance as if stealing a bit of strength from my gaze. “From what I can tell, these people need us. You’re a good leader. Don’t take the blame for a crumbling empire. The only way we will survive this is if we rebuild. And along the way, maybe you’ll find some of your people. Focus on standing back up, Scavenger.”

Our entire group went quiet after that. We stood there for what felt like hours while staring at Mia’s moving chest. Each breath gave us comfort that she was okay. In a lot of ways, she represented the empire. Despite fighting for her life, she was still here. She was still breathing. There was hope that she would get better, as would the empire.

“We will leave by transport in the morning,” Cyler finally added before stomping off outside towards a makeshift bedroom he had prepared for the evening in the back of the abandoned building we had set up as the command center.

Turning around, I gave Patrick an appreciative smile. He pulled his hand back and nodded once, already knowing what I had planned to do. Cyler Black was a strong man, and I knew that he was more than capable of motivating the masses. But right now, I sensed that he needed someone to have faith in him, too. After briefly looking around the room at my other men, I followed after Cyler, determined to soothe the pain he hid from the world.

There was a door covering the room Cyler made for us. I smiled at the thoughtful pallet on the floor, cushioned with extra blankets, a detail he probably explicitly made for me. He knew my back had been bothering me from sleeping on the ground and in the transport for the last two weeks. “Cy?” I called out to him. He was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, a single beam of light shining down on him, casting shadows along the angles of his strong face.

“Babe,” he called back. His voice was strained with emotion, and it made my heart sink a bit deeper into my chest. “How’d I know you’d follow me in here?” he asked with a smile before patting his knee. I sauntered over to him and sat on his lap. The moment our skin connected, he shifted my legs and cradled me to his chest. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but I reveled in being held close.

“I see the way you carry the empire on your shoulders. You told Tallis all the things you’re trying to convince yourself of,” I whispered before placing a gentle kiss on his neck that made him shiver in response. I breathed in his cinnamon scent before speaking again. “I’ve been so focused on myself I didn’t even really have time to consider how Dormas would affect you. I’m sorry.”

Cyler dipped his face and placed a tender kiss on my lips that lingered only a breath. When he pulled away, Cyler stared intensely into my eyes before speaking again. “Seeing you think about yourself is sexy, Babe. I wasn’t really in a place to talk about my feelings. For all my talk of telling you not to rush head first into action, I’m doing the same damn thing. I saw these people here, saw their conditions, and dived