56. Lets Get This Ambush Over With, Shall We?
56
Let's Get This Ambush Over With, Shall We?
Aliza
T here was no opportunity to steal another moment alone. No chance to voice unspoken truths. By the time I’d abandoned my regular clothes and squeezed into the slightly too-tight leather flightsuit Jacques had found for me, Anwir and the witches had returned.
While they dressed in borrowed flight gear, Idris fussed over me, adjusting straps and buckles until there was just enough room for me to draw a comfortable breath without crushing my breasts.
Our unfinished conversation hung in the air between us, as electrified as his magic. His doleful eyes flickered to mine more than was normal or necessary.
Just say it.
The words clung to the tip of my tongue, but I bit them back. The moment had passed. My irritation at our ever-present, unlikely team was entirely unreasonable. These people were risking their lives to help strangers, for no other reason than because it mattered to me. I would not snap at them just because I wanted confirmation that I wasn’t alone in my suspicions.
Idris and I could talk later, when this was all over .
“How’s that?” he asked at length, his fingers falling away from the last buckle at my waist.
It was ridiculous that we could talk about mundane nonsense, but were unable to say what really mattered.
I twisted, the leather creaking as I flexed my encased body. The female who’d worn this before me had not been as blessed in the hourglass department, but the leg length was good, and the boots comfortable. “Snug, but okay.”
The same couldn’t be said for the witches. With a hissed curse, Sage drew her dagger and began hacking at the overlong leathers dangling over her feet. Within seconds, the new, tattered hems were level with her ankle. Pansy was in a similar predicament, but Anwir, like his brother, wore his leathers like a second skin. I averted my eyes, once again marvelling that one identical twin repulsed me while I lived and breathed for the other.
No, Anwir was helping me, however grudgingly. Whatever he’d done in the past, now was not the time for pettiness. I was grateful for his assistance. He was Idris’ brother when all was said and done, and I couldn’t hold onto my resentment forever. I needed him.
I took a shuddering breath. “Thank you all for coming with me. I know none of you have to be here, but I couldn’t do this alone. I just want you all to know that it means more to me than words could ever say.”
Sage looked up from tugging on her boots. “Your methods are questionable, but I am curious to see how things play out for you, Aliza with an A. I have no interest in a second-hand account.”
Touching. I hadn’t expected sentimentality from the brusque, clinical, High Priestess, but even so. Did she have to make it sound like I was a science project? Some dubious concoction of elements mixed up in a test tube?
Pansy, however, gave me a genuine smile, while Jacques inclined his chin. Anwir’s scathing gaze flickered from my face to my boots and back again. “It’s not too late to change your mind if you’re having doubts about throwing our lives away.”
“Nobody is forcing you along,” Idris snarled at my shoulder. “Go back if you’re afraid.”
“I am not afraid for myself,” Anwir snapped, his eyes darting briefly to Sage.
Love was a strange thing. I wouldn’t have imagined Anwir capable of caring about anyone but himself, and yet, here he was, embarking on a dangerous mission that he had absolutely no interest in, just to protect his lover. His affection might show itself in the brittlest, iciest of ways, but it was there to see, if you knew where to look.
As insufferable as he was, we had that in common. When Idris had rushed off to fight in the battle of Tir o Gaeaf, my distress had burnt down a palace. I wouldn’t be left behind again. I would sooner die than stay behind while the male I loved risked his neck. In that, Anwir and I were the same.
“This isn’t going to be easy, Anwir,” Idris pressed. “We need to know we can count on you if things go wrong.”
“Of course you can. I need her alive.” He jerked his head in my direction, but his surly expression finished his sentence for him.
For now.
I wasn’t of Claudia’s bloodline, but the throne had chosen me. If I died, who would it pass to? The succession was unclear. Anwir wasn’t about to risk losing the only thing he’d ever wanted in some unforeseen twist of fate. Did that mean he wouldn’t run away like the coward he’d proven himself to be?
No, be nice.
Infiltrating Maelgwyn’s castle would be easier than being civil to Anwir. I turned to Idris. “Is it time to go?”
His eyes softened, losing the hard edge of anger that had lurked there as he glared at his twin. “I suppose it is.”
He took my hand, engulfing it in one of his while the other held the final horse’s reins, and with a clop of hooves, he led us out of the barn and into the moonlight. The others followed.
Two more horses awaited us. Saeth swished his tail and nickered in greeting at our approach.
“Sage rides with me,” Anwir announced, turning to face Jacques. “Can you be trusted to keep your teeth out of Pansy?”
The vampire laid a ghostly hand over his unbeating heart. “Best behaviour.”
There had been a time when Pansy would have run a mile rather than approach a vampire, but tonight she strolled to Jacques’ side and took his hand as he helped her onto the horse’s back. I pressed my lips together in an attempt to hide my smirk. Who was this fierce little imposter, and what had she done with my friend?
“You and me, then?” Idris murmured.
My stomach roiled. This was it. We were actually doing this. I squeezed his hand and said, “Who else?” before letting go and vaulting onto Saeth. Idris followed, shifting forward until our bodies pressed together, sharing warmth. His arm wrapped around me, taking up the reins .
I’d never seen him fly with equipment before, and the saddle loops pressing against the front of my thighs felt strange, but comforting, like a lap bar on a roller coaster. I grasped them not a moment before Saeth launched us skyward.
The ground sped away beneath moon-bright wings. Our companions soared beside us like spectres. If the witches screamed, I didn’t hear it over the rush of the wind. This was freedom.
Mum and Dad were not free. They were far away, alone and scared, imprisoned in a terrifying new world, but not for long.
I’m coming.