33
Assyria stiffened in my arms as we approached the camp, no doubt remembering what had occurred the last time she set foot here. A flash of a burning body entered my mind—from hers—and I gritted my teeth at the reminder of the male who had almost been inside my mate. At least the bond had eased since I finally laid my claim to her.
But how long would it let us go before forcing us together again?
Fates, she tasted fucking divine, and the sounds she made would haunt my dreams and my nightmares. Between her fire and her innocence, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from corrupting her with my pitch black desires. The chasing was only one small part of what I took for my pleasure. She’d been raised on purity and piety, as most females in the Demon Realm had, thanks to Kiira, Xannirin, and me. There was no chance this bond would let me be with anyone other than her either. Not that I wanted to—every inch of her was made for me, and nothing would ever compare to the way her cunt welcomed me inside.
And with her wearing the first letter of my honorific on her wrists? Even fucking better. Assyria had been horrified…at first. Something primal emerged between us after that first H decorated her wrist. As insane as it was, I was glad that the permanent brand was there rather than one faked by her magic.
The camp hadn’t fully awoken yet, but the few males who saw Assyria and me ride into camp nearly tripped over themselves with shock. The Parancsok had ensured the spin I’d put on the story was well embedded into the minds of the soldiers. Seeing it unfold, though, would restart the whispers that had died down the past few days.
Rapp waited with Grem and Zeec outside our massive tents. The flags atop them billowed in the breeze that also ruffled the hound’s black fur. A wide grin split Rapp’s face, and I knew the bastard was guessing at what happened between Assyria and me. I shot him my deadliest glare and halted my stallion. Before she could protest, I used my grip on her to haul her over the side and into Rapp’s outstretched arms. A moment of primal possessiveness flashed through me as he touched her, but I smashed the spark of jealousy as quickly as it appeared.
“Hello, Rapp,”
Assyria greeted him warmly, and another shard of insanity speared into my mind. At least Grem and Zeec sat patiently on their haunches, waiting for my command.
“Good to see you again, Assyria,”
he replied. Then dropping his voice low enough only for the three of us to hear, he said, “I was worried for you after Rokath stormed off last night. He can be a bit crazy.”
“That’s an understatement,”
she drawled, throwing a glance up at me.
I hopped from my horse, towering over both of them. “Are the officers in the command center?”
I asked Rapp, needing a distraction from all these emotions Assyria drew from me.
War was logical, strategic, analytical. That headspace was where I needed to remain.
“Aye, waiting on your order to pack up and move out,”
Rapp replied.
Hitching the stallion to a nearby post, I whistled for Grem and Zeec to follow along as I strode for the black tent in the center of camp. Rapp fell in step with me, and then a tug yanked my attention backward. Assyria still stood where Rapp had placed her, fingers twisting over themselves.
“You are coming too,”
I told her.
She played with the tip of her braid for a moment, glancing between Rapp and me. “What if I promise to stay here?”
“No.”
The word burst fast and hard from me. Today was the worst day to leave her alone, and I didn’t trust that the lower-ranking males wouldn’t attempt to seek her out due to sheer curiosity or bragging rights to their squad members.
No one can touch her but me. She is mine.
The thought slammed into me and I shoved it right back out. We hadn’t been in the camp for five minutes and I was already losing it. Here, it was imperative that I remained in control, and Assyria made me insane.
It was a dangerous game.
She opened her mouth to protest, but I held up my hand. “That is a privilege you will earn. For now, you are by my side unless I explicitly say otherwise.”
A glare sliced in my direction, but I didn’t care. Not even when a flash of anxiety swept down the bond, and I understood her hesitation to return to the tent where our bond had snapped into place. Jerking my head, I commanded her to follow me again.
Hands curled into fists, she stomped forward, and I resumed my stroll toward the length of black tents. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Rapp press his lips together and smother a laugh. Assyria walked between us, and honestly, there was no safer place in all of Keleti.
“When we enter, you can remain in the bone room with Grem and Zeec,”
I told her.
She glanced up at me through thick, dark lashes. “Which one is which?”
Rapp strode ahead and lifted the flap, and the three of us ducked inside. “Grem, sit,”
I told him. My obedient hound did as instructed. Unlike Assyria. “Grem is the bigger of the two. And Zeec,”
his ears perked forward at the mention of his name, “is more playful.”
Assyria nodded, gaze flicking between them. “Got it.”
“If you want to give them a treat, there are some in a jar in that cabinet.”
I pointed to one lining the far wall, behind the throne of bones. “They’ll likely snooze on the cushions in here if you don’t want to interact with them.”
Assyria examined the space, not looking at me, and twisted her fingers together.
“We’ll be in the other room with the Parancsok. If you leave this tent, I will know,”
I warned her.
“Okay,”
she said, finally looking at me again. Then, she shifted her weight to the side. “I rode a horse here—Blaeze. He’s a big chestnut stallion. Would it be possible to ride him when we leave?”
I cocked my head to the side. “Don’t want to ride with me, little imposter?”
She mimicked my posture, a small smile playing on her bow-shaped lips. “Are you saying you want to share a saddle with me, Halálhívó? One time with me and suddenly you’re ready to melt at my feet?”
That smart mouth.
Rapp sniggered. A growl rumbled from my throat, and I took a menacing step forward. “You want to return to this animosity?”
“You killed Izgath and my family, so this never really left,”
she shot back, hands fisted defiantly on her hips. A muscle ticked in her jaw as she flicked her attention beyond, to where the square with the whipping post waited. To where I’d had her lover burned alive.
I couldn’t find it within me to regret the decision.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have time for this now.”
Then, I turned my back on her, shooting a glare at Rapp to join me. A curtain separated the two areas, today hanging loose, and I burst through it, starling each Parancsok to attention.
“Report,”
I snapped, my earlier calm vanishing like smoke in the wind.
Assyria and I hated each other, but she loved nothing more than prodding all the places that made me furious. The fucking Fates made me a perfect mate, and I loathed them for it. Her smell, her taste, her defiance, all of it spoke to a primal part of me that wanted to break, to harm, to claim. To push my limits and hers until we hung over the edge just for the thrill. To make us feel alive.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t realize all the Parancsok had finished their reports until Rapp nudged me. Cursing Assyria once again for throwing me off, I asked them all to repeat.
“Parancsok Olet sent a raven overnight saying he was halfway to Fured with no sign of Angel activity,”
one of Rapp’s said.
“Great,”
I replied, but my tone didn’t hold an ounce of gratitude. If anything, tension filled it, despite the good news. Just because the Angels didn’t appear to be around didn’t mean that they weren’t. As I’d learned time and time again, they loved to ambush us when we least expected them. I’d tried to become better at predicting locations for such occurrences, but I suspected that the Goddess fed those gifted with Sight a multitude of options every time I considered a new one.
“The cooks have prepared a mobile meal for the troops today, so as soon as you give the order to break down the camp, we will march and hand out food,”
another said.
“And how many will go on foot versus horseback?” I asked.
“We managed to procure around ten thousand more horses, Halálhívó. Our mounted units will swell some, though with the added size of our army, many had to be diverted to pull supplies. Especially since we will need to haul water with us.”
The numbers didn’t surprise me. On our retreat some months before, we’d nearly run out, not having stored enough to make the crossing through the Paks Desert. To be fair, we hadn’t had much time to fill the barrels. On our return, however, we’d be pushing through with double the numbers, and that had to be accounted for.
“Ensure that we have an additional wagon filled with water. We always drink more than we assume we will,”
I told him. With the size of the new army, moving swiftly wasn’t an option unless we split into waves. It was an approach I had considered, and depending on the reports from Trol, I might shift into it as we approached Ustlyak, where he currently held his ground against the Angel advance.
“Aye, Halálhívó.”
He dipped his head in acceptance of his task.
“No reports from Hadvezér Trol, I assume?”
I asked the room.
“Not since his raven two days ago,”
Rapp said, toying with the stones clustered around Ustlyak. The unit I’d sent out a week before should be closing in quickly to aid him, and we would be behind them shortly, albeit at a much slower clip. “I already sent a message this morning to inform him of our impending departure.”
I nodded, attention lingering on the map. This plan was going to work. The certainty solidified in my bones. The Weaver offered me another chance to push all the way to the tip of Keleti and around, down into the Es? Forest and to Sivy. Kiira had seen me strolling the streets with a head fisted in each hand and a smile on my face. This advance would be the one that solidified her vision.
If the Reaper didn’t curse me into doing something foolish with Assyria.
“Rouse your males, and let’s start moving,”
I pronounced, straightening and leveling a hard look on each of the Parancsok. Then with a sigh, I grumbled, “And if someone can find a chestnut stallion named Blaeze, bring him to me.”