Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy, #3)

by Lauren Roberts

The thought falls away when the Fort comes into view. My heart stutters in reminder of its missing piece. I stumble toward the alley’s end, my eyes pinned on the barricade. A ray of sunlight brushes the worn rug and reaches for me to rejoin it. The Fort looms closer, and my pulse quickens. Squinting through the shadows, I falter at the unfamiliarity before me. This is not the home I left. No, this fort now bears a colorful banner above it. The fabric squares have been sown onto the yarn, painstaking proof that this was Adena’s doing. I can’t seem to breathe. Behind the barrier, our belongings have been rearranged. The usual pile of cloth is sorted neatly beside a new blanket and pillow I never got the chance to share with her. Even in the dull light, her vibrance exudes from the space. And I tremble in the presence of it. My knees hit the cobblestone, and I welcome the shock of pain. It’s as if I’d expected her to be sitting there, waiting for me to return from a day of thieving. As if she would phase through our fort and come bounding toward me in search of a sticky bun. As if I didn’t hold Adena’s dying body in my lap or see her blood gushing between my fingers with every glance at my incapable hands. A tear slips down my cheek, splattering the ground with a drop of my anguish. She was waiting for me to come home. Muffled footsteps sound behind me. But she never made it home.