Rise of the Warrior Queen (Kaia and Silver) novel Chapter 17

HAPTER STEVENTEEN

CHAPTER STEVENTEEN

KAIA’S POV

After breakfast, I grabbed my jacket and headed straight for Mia’s house.

I

I’d tried to call her, but her number wasn’t going through, so I figured I might as well go to meet her, just like we agreed last night.

Standing in front of her house, I took a deep breath, trying to shake the strange feeling in my chest.

It didn’t make sense that her phone would refuse to go through. Not to mention the fact that Mom said she called twice last night, and this morning I haven’t heard a single thing from her. It all felt kind of strange. I hoped she wasn’t in any sort of trouble.

I raised my hand and knocked on the door. It opened a second later, and there stood Mrs. Ford, Mia’s mom Her dark hair was tied up in a loose bun, and her apron had a dusting of flour on it.

“Kaia,” she said with a warm smile. “Come in, dear.”

I shook my head gently. “Thank you, ma’am, but I’m just here to see Mia.”

Mrs. Ford’s smile faded a little. “Oh, she’s not home yet. She went out for a run early this morning and hasn’t come back. I… thought she was with you…”

I blinked. “With me? No, she…. she’s not with me. I haven’t seen Mia since yesterday.”

What’s going on?

We were supposed to meet right after her run. That was hours ago. I tried not to let my concern show too much to avoid scaring her, but it seemed she picked up on it anyway.

Mrs. Ford looked at me closely. “Kala, is everything alright, dear?”

I quickly shook my head. “No, no–everything’s fine. We just planned to meet this morning, that’s all. I thought she’d be back by now.”

She hummed softly, like she was thinking. “She mentioned something about stopping by the training grounds last night, I think. But I’m not sure if she actually meant it.”

I nodded, feeling a bit of relief and hope as I realized she might have really made that stop. “Alright. I’ll check

there. Thank you, Mrs. Ford,”

She gave me a gentle nod, and I turned around, heading down the path again.

The training grounds weren’t too far from the Fords‘ home, just a short walk. When I got there, the place was busy, even though it wasn’t an official training day. A few warriors were sparring in the dirt ring, while others

sat on benches nearby, chatting quietly or watching the fights.

As I stepped in, some of them noticed me and waved in greeting.

“Morning, Miss Kaia,” a few young trainees called out, giving respectful bows.

“Good morning,” I replied with a small smile, nodding at each of them.

I walked past the fighting ring and stopped near the edge of the field.

CHAPTER STEVENTEEN

“Has anyone seen Min this morning?” I asked loud enough for the nearby group to hear.

Heads turned, and for a moment, I had hope. But then came the chorus of shaking heads and murmurs.

“No, haven’t seen her”

“Not today.”

“Not yet”

The small knot of worry in my stomach grew tighter. Mia was never late. She wasn’t careless. Something was wrong- could feel it.

I looked around again, like I expected her to appear from behind one of the trees or the equipment shed. But the field stayed the same. People were moving, sparring, laughing. And she was just… gone.

One of the female warriors walked up to me. “Everything okay, Kaia? Why are you asking about Mia? Is she okay?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, someone shouted my name.

“Kaia!”

I turned to see a woman in a navy–blue uniform walking quickly toward me, holding a plastic bag in her hands. She looked out of breath, as if she had been walking around for a while.

It was one of the staff from the pack hospital.

“You are one hard female to find. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said, stopping in front of me. First I went to your house, but then I met your mother who told me you might be at the Fords‘ house. But then when I got there, Mrs. Ford told me you’d left for the training grounds.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, sorry about that. What’s going on? How may I help you?”

The nurse held out the bag to me. These are for the stranger–Silver, I believe they’re calling him. His boots. He was wearing them when he was brought in two nights ago, I was asked to get them cleaned, and I was supposed to deliver them yesterday but I wasn’t on duty, and this morning when I brought them with me, I heard he already left the hospital. I didn’t know where to take them, so…” Her voice trailed off, her cheeks heating up as she gave me a pleading look, asking for help.

I looked at the bag in her hands, still confused. I didn’t remember anything about boots. Then again, that day had been a blur of blood, drama, and trying to keep him alive.

I guess he wasn’t barefoot when he ended up in those woods then.

I took the bag from her and pulled one of the boots out.

It was black. Made out of smooth leather with gold accents along the sides and heel. And on the side was a strange logo I didn’t recognize something like a letter “L” twisted into a flame in the middle of the later “D” I

think.

The boot was heavy and expensive–looking. Way too expensive for someone found on our territory in the state that Silver was.

“Hey, mind if I take a look at that for a moment?” a familiar voice asked.

I looked up and found Dax standing beside me, eyeing the boot with interest and curiosity.

Confused as to what he could possibly want with it, I slowly handed it over “Sure”

He took it and turned it in his hands, then let out a low whistle. “Whoa. No way This is insane”

Then he looked up at me with wide eyes. “Do you know what this is?”

Fraised an eyebrow “A boot?”

He laughed a little “Not just any boot, Kaia. This is Léonard Deveraux. Parisian designer. This logo belongs to his Obsidian Nightfall collection”

I blinked, completely lost. Never heard of it.”

“Of course you haven’t,” Dax said, half laughing. “These things are rare, Kaia. You don’t just find them laying around Like super rare. Only fifty pairs made in the whole world from what I heard. Retail price is twelve grand, but I’ve seen people fight over them for double that.”

A few nearby warriors overheard and started gathering around

“Yeah, no way. Are those the new Léonard Deveraux? one of the girls said, stepping closer. “My cousin in

Paris said there was a waitlist just to see them in person.”

“Yeah, didn’t they sell out in like two minutes?” another added. “Only celebrities and special people got their

hands on them.”

The whole conversation was going way over my head since I had no idea what the hell everyone was talking

about.

I stared at the boot in Dax’s hands and felt something cold settle in my chest.

Silver… was wearing these when we found him?

A pair of limited edition boots of only 50 pairs? 50?! And what was that? A designer from Paris?

What was going on?

Who was he, really?

As if answering my unasked question, Dax handed the boot back to me, still grinning. “Whoever this guy is, he must be loaded. No regular guy gets their hands on a pair of these, I tell you.”

–

I slowly put the boot back in the bag, my mind still spinning with thoughts. I looked back at the girl from the

hospital.

“Take them to Dr. Grayson,” I said quietly. “Silver’s staying with him now.”

She blinked in surprise. “Oh–okay. I didn’t know that.” She took the bag carefully and nodded. they get to him.”

As she walked away, I just stood there. Staring at nothing.

ike sure

Mia was missing. Silver wore boots that cost more than most people made in a year. And Gareth thinks the pack is being watched by goddess knows who. Or what for that matter. Something wasn’t adding up. My

chest tightened again, and I felt, the sting of anxiety rise behind my ribs.

Oh goddess…