#Chapter 81:Plan Z

Kadeem Kadeem's heart beat like hummingbird wings in his chest. The insatiable heat from the sun baked down on him, his ebony hair absorbing the searing warmth. He felt the sweat pooling along his brow and at the nape of his neck. The oppressive blaze seemed to intensify the roiling fear inside him. A warning bell echoed in his head with every breath, urging him to use all of his strength to persuade Ardal to abandon the foolhardy plan. She and Rayburn were standing at the outer rim of the cool shadows cast by the branches of a pecan tree’s broad arms. His muscles twitched to push into their space and take respite from the inferno, but he stayed as rooted as the old tree. Because despite feeling as though he had walked into the fires of hell itself, he couldn’t interrupt the spell between them. He had to gauge her reaction to his words. He’d laid his entreaty as bare as he could, and now it was time to decipher and decode her intentions. He watched as Ardal se