Chapter 25 - Glory
Glory
XXV
The storm raged on, but Cammon and I remained safe in our tent.
Our too-small tent.
In all the weeks we’d been travelling, I hadn’t noticed before just how tiny a space it was, but with the demon prince’s hulking shape taking up half of it, I barely had room to stretch without touching him.
The scent of him, all musk and spices, danced across my palate, and my skin tingled with his heat. The enchanted blanket would be unnecessary with him sleeping beside me.
Though the thought of him beside me pushed all thought of sleep from my mind, and it was with great effort that I focused on our conversation as we planned our route through the mountains.
We didn’t have many options—there weren’t too many human-accessible paths through dragon territory—so we opted to follow the same road Cammon had taken on his last ill-fated trek through the peaks.
“At least I’ll know where the pitfalls are so we can avoid them,” he pointed out, and since I didn’t have any better suggestions, I didn’t argue with him.
By the time we called it a night, I wasn’t feeling better about this next stage of our journey.
After everything else we’d been through, I doubted Tersey would give us a break.
From a giant, gaping, spike-filled hole to a fire-breathing cave, we’d already faced our deaths a few times over.
We had to be prepared for the possibility that next time death would win.
And if that was the case, so be it. Based on our conversation last night, Cammon was as willing as I was to take whatever risks were necessary to see this through.
The prizes we both stood to gain were worth it, no matter the cost. The only way for either of us to achieve what we wanted was to pull up our pants, make our way up the mountain, and avoid any dragons.
A crack of thunder made me shriek, and I laughed at myself once my heart rate settled. Lightning forked across the sky, creating patterns on the ceiling.
“You’re not afraid of storms, are you?” Cammon asked through a sly smile.
I raised my chin in contempt. “Of course not. That one just startled me.”
His grin grew wider, and he reached for the lantern. With a pinch of his fingers, he extinguished the flame, dousing us in darkness.
“May as well get comfortable, then,” he said. “I’ve always thought the best way to enjoy a storm is to watch it.”
His voice sounded too close, too intimate in the enclosed space.
Goosebumps rose over my arms, and my nipples hardened.
I gave them a stern talking to but followed his suggestion.
With our bags tucked against one side of the tent and our blankets overlapping, my elbow brushed against his as we lay down.
Another rumble of thunder, and a few seconds later, lightning flashed brightly enough that I made out the shape of Cammon’s bent knee.
I hadn’t thought it possible for the rain to fall any harder, but the sheets of water weighed down the roof, and the tent shook with the force of the wind.
“Are we sure the tent will hold?” I asked, eyeing the rod near my head warily.
“Oh yeah. There’s enough weight in here to keep it steady.”
I rolled my head to face him. “What are you implying?”
More lightning illuminated a flash of white teeth. “I know better than to answer that one, Buttons.”
“Because you think whatever you say, I’ll take it the wrong way?”
“Because if I say anything complimentary, it’ll avalanche until I stick my foot in my mouth and call you beautiful.”
My breath caught. He thought I was beautiful?
How? My entire life I’d gone out of my way to be unnoticeable.
Bland clothes, bland hair, bland personality.
Everything to blend into the background.
Yet to hear him say those words, so casually, as though him thinking so were the most obvious thing in the world, set off a fire inside me I didn’t know how to quench.
Heat, flutters, a slow pooling of lava that migrated from my stomach down between my legs.
“That’s the bond talking,” I breathed, needing to convince myself as much as to remind him.
“Damn inconvenient thing, that.” The rumble of frustration riding his words made me wish the bond didn’t exist. That this moment were actually happening.
I turned to apologize to him again and found him looking at me, his crimson eyes catching the light before joining the shadows in inky voids.
My pulse raced, and I ordered myself to look away and return my attention to the storm.
Or better yet, get the rest I would so desperately need to tackle the trek up the mountain.
But my body disobeyed. My breath sped up, and with every inhale, I took in more of Cammon’s scent.
My vampiric instincts awoke, and I picked up the racing of his heartbeat, the rush of his delicious blood.
His gaze swept over my body, and my already hard nipples tingled with want.
I clenched my hands around my blanket to stop myself from reaching for him.
This was wrong. I shouldn’t want him. I shouldn’t want anything to do with him beyond having him guide me through a den of hungry, fire-breathing dragons. I most definitely shouldn’t take advantage of the bond I no longer felt buzzing between us but knew was there.
He moved closer—just close enough that his breath fanned my cheek. It was scented with the same sweet spices that drifted off his skin. The demonic allure was strong with this prince, and I leaned into it, unable to resist.
“Glory…”
My name on his lips, yet it sounded like more than that. As though he were describing me.
My lips parted, eager to taste him. Twice before, I’d savoured the feel of his mouth, and the craving for him pressed every other thought out of my head. Evaniel could call me on the messaging crystal right now, and I would debate answering.
A noise caught my ear from beyond the storm, and I froze. Cammon tensed. The rain had tapered off, and in the relative silence, he must have heard something else because his eyes flew wide, and in another heartbeat, he was on his feet, his spine hunched beneath the low ceiling.
The noise came again. Our traps going off, tree branches and twigs cracking.
If not for my heightened senses thanks to my current state of arousal, I would never have heard it.
Cammon’s nose twitched, and I tried to pick up what he might have detected.
Unfortunately, my vampirism didn’t do much to enhance my smell until blood was spilled, but I did hear the faintest of heartbeats. Many of them. Rapid and stressed.
“Shifters?” I asked in barely a whisper.
He shook his head, and dread pooled in my gut. Mutts.
I didn’t hesitate to grab my bags. We’d have to abandon the tent, but if I could salvage the bedroll, blanket, and our last map, we could make do.
With shaking hands, I stuffed my still-wet clothes into my bag along with everything else, but when I glanced at Cammon, he hadn’t moved except to widen his stance and clench his hands at his sides.
He was readying himself for a fight, which meant we’d run out of time to escape.
Casting a hopeful glance at my bags, praying they’d still be here when we finished—and that we were victorious—I shifted into a crouch, sank into my vampiric power, and tapped into my strength.
My fangs and nails elongated, my night vision sharpened, and my muscles grew more limber.
Whatever was about to come at us, they wouldn’t find us unprepared.
Hopefully whatever I’d learned in our fight with the shifters wouldn’t forsake me tonight.
The high-pitched shriek of a hawk cut through the night, giving our enemy away, and I took the sign to mean they were just as ready as we were.
Cammon’s wide shoulder shoved me out of the way as he grabbed something from his bag, and then he sprinted out of the tent towards whatever awaited us.
I hesitated behind him, remembering my fight with the drake and how close I’d come to breathing my last. Yet I couldn’t let him go out there and face whatever had come for us alone.
With a deep breath, I charged out of the tent and came to a stop beside Cammon. His horns were out and his skin appeared almost leather-like.
“Whatever it takes to stay alive?” he said. “Do that.”
And then he was gone, running for an enemy I had yet to see.
Following the sound of the nearest heartbeat, I veered left into the trees and threw myself at a twisted half-wolf stalking towards the clearing.
It hadn’t expected me to move so quickly, but that didn’t mean I’d taken it by surprise.
It lurched to the side before I tackled it, and I landed on my feet, the mud squelching beneath my bare soles.
The wolf turned its head towards me, and I got my first good look at it.
The face was full wolf, fangs and eyes and slavering maw terrifying in their aggression.
Strips of fur sprouted from its body, and its legs were bent at awkward canine angles.
But as it rose on two feet, I took in the muscled torso and the flaccid human penis low on its pelvis.
Everything about the creature messed with my mind, and I could only imagine the agony he had to be in, permanently caught mid-shift.
But I had no room for compassion when he came at me again.
I leapt at him. My footing slipped in the muck, and I caught him at the hips instead of the waist, with too little force to knock him onto his back.
Strong arms wrapped around my middle and flipped me upside down.
I circled my legs around his neck, pulled myself up, and drove my sharpened claws into his back on either side of his spine.
His teeth sank into my thigh, and I screamed and stabbed again, this time aiming for his neck.
Blood spurted between my fingers as the creature collapsed, and I somersaulted off him towards my next foe.