Chapter Nine
Bouncy Carriages Make for Lousy Road Trips
“It’s official. We’ve run out of cookies.”
“You’re breaking my heart with those words, Ev.” Callum slid from the saddle of his horse and groaned. Whined, really. “The thought of them is what’s kept me going for the past several miles.”
Duke faced in the opposite direction and tried to, ever so subtly, dust crumbs from the corner of his lips. “Such a shame.”
Callum glared at him. “You ate the last one.”
“Can ya prove it?”
“The proof is on that big mouth of yours. You’re smiling at my pain.”
I rifled around in the sack and handed both of them an apple and a turkey-and-tomato sandwich. “Maybe now you know how Maddox feels when you eat the last muffin.”
My cinnamon roll grinned at that.
Food supplies were dwindling. And by dwindling, I meant they’d be totally wiped out after this meal break. I’d have to restock once we reached our next stop. Until then, I handed out the last of the fruit and sandwiches to the coachman, whose name was Hershel, and the three guards. I’d learned that the third one was named Ban. He still hadn’t said a word to me.
“The bread better not be stale,” August said, snatching the sandwich from my hand. He tore into it and glared before walking over to the stream we’d stopped beside.
Such a charmer. Truly.
Ban grunted as he accepted his food. The stone-faced guard had a buzz cut, gray eyes, and the build of a small mountain. How they found armor to fit his mega-broad shoulders was impressive.
“He says thank you,” Finnian told me. He was the oldest of the guards. Early forties, maybe.
“You understood that?” I asked.
Finnian smiled. “Ban is a man of few words. Has been for as long as I’ve known ’em. I’ve learned to interpret his grunts.”
“Oh.” I looked at Ban. “You’re welcome.”
Another grunt.
I withdrew the last carrot from the bag and approached Samson. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Seabiscuit.” I broke off a piece and placed it on my flattened palm, offering it to him. His soft muzzle bumped me before he accepted. “I’m afraid this is all for now, but I’ll get you more later.”
After petting him for a few minutes, I lied and said I had to pee before dashing toward the woods to give Lake the remaining food: three slivers of meat.
“Gratitude,” Lake said before cupping my face. “You’ll eat as well?”
“Mhm.” Not a lie. I would eat. Just not anytime soon.
We shared a short kiss before I returned to the group of men by the stream. I sipped from a flask of water and scanned the thick foliage and trees, sensing Lake’s attention on me. Our connection was so damn strong. His soul had imprinted on mine, binding us together as fated mates. My belly did somersaults at the thought.
A loud growl filled the air, and I rested a hand on my somersaulting belly. Guess it wasn’t just happy little flutters about Lake that had it stirring.
“Wait.” Callum stopped chewing. “Where’s your food?”
“I’m not hungry,” I said, closing the flap on the bag so he wouldn’t catch on. There’d only been enough food for them. If I’d eaten, one of them would’ve gone without. No one went hungry if I could help it.
“But you haven’t eaten since breakfast.” He frowned and snatched the bag from me, looking inside. “It’s empty. Why didn’t you say anything?”
I shrugged. “I’ll eat when we reach the next town. No biggie.”
Though nearly imperceptible, I caught a flash of silver from the woods. No doubt I’d get a grilling from Lake about this later.
“Gods, Evan.” Callum expelled a frustrated sound and tossed his apple core. “I would’ve shared mine with you had I known.”
A light bump to my shoulder drew my attention behind me, where a mountain stood. A mountain whose gray eyes were gentle under the midday sun. Ban offered me half of his sandwich.
“No, I’m okay. You don’t have to—”
Ban grunted and moved the half closer to my face. I didn’t need to be fluent in his unique language in order to understand he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
So I did what any logical, and very hungry, muffin lord would do and accepted the sandwich. “Thank you.”
He nodded and turned away to eat the rest of his apple. The tops of his ears were pink.
I took a bite and happily chewed. The kind gesture made me view Ban in a different light. Out of the three guards, I’d been intimidated by him the most. Now, I felt guilty for viewing him that way.
“Enough lazing around,” August barked at us. “Time to move out. We’re wasting daylight.”
Finnian shook his head and smiled over at me. “Don’t take his behavior personally. He’s always like this, in case you had any doubts.”
“Oh, I didn’t have a single one. He’s a ray of freaking sunshine.”
The ray of perpetual sunshine let a few, totally polite and not rude at all, words fly from his lips before he put on his helmet and readied his horse.
I shoved the rest of the food into my mouth and grabbed Callum’s outstretched hand. He helped me back into my bouncy cage of boredom.
And then, we were on the road once again.
Finnian and August rode in front of the carriage, while Callum, Duke, and Ban stayed at the rear. I napped a little, stared out the window, then napped some more. I tried reading, but the rocky terrain and jolting carriage made me feel sick, so I closed the book and placed it back in my satchel.
The trek south saw much warmer weather, and with the cloudless blue sky allowing the sun to blaze down on us, the carriage soon became sweltering. I unclasped my cloak and laid it on the seat beside me before pulling down the little covering on the window. It provided a bit of shade, at least.
How long had passed since we’d stopped? An hour? Two hours? I tapped my foot against the floor, then moved the other, creating a little rhythm. I tried to whistle, but it sounded like a sad puff of air. Not one of my talents.
The days were growing shorter, giving us less daylight and travel time, but we were still on schedule to arrive in Exalos by the following evening.
Movies and books made long journeys seem much more exciting. The protagonist encountered a monster to fight or hot bandits. They went sea diving and found treasure or explored haunted forests. What all those stories left out during the actual traveling part of the journey? The main character sitting on his ass and bored out of his mind. Probably because the reader, too, would get bored and drop the book like a hot potato.
Mmm. Potatoes. Baked and covered with chives, sour cream, bacon bits, and a mountain of shredded cheese.
“Drooling like that won’t manifest more food.”
I zeroed in on the dark corner of the carriage. The shadows swirled before Rowan appeared on the seat, his topaz eyes glowing brighter for a moment, then returning to their normal shade.
“I wasn’t drooling.” I wiped at my mouth where, yes, maybe it was a bit slobbery.
“Take this.” Rowan reached into the pouch at his hip and offered me a wrapped bundle. Considering how the last time he’d pulled something from that pouch, he’d blown some kind of magical dust in my face that made me pass out, I hesitated. He sighed and tore off the cloth, revealing a large wedge of bread and three cubes of cheese. “It’s not poison. It’s lunch.”
His lunch, by the look of it. And he was sharing it with me.
“Thanks.” I broke off half of the bread and grabbed a cube. “Can you pop in and out whenever you want?”
“As long as there’re shadows, yes.”
“So, light is your weakness.”
“I have no weaknesses.” Rowan popped a cube of cheese into his mouth and slowly chewed. “Eat.”
“Oh.” I took a bite. The cheese reminded me of pepper jack, creamy with a small kick. Fitting that it came from Rowan. I’d started associating him with peppery and spicy things. The bread had been flavored with rosemary and garlic. “This is really good.”
“I’ll be sure to pass on the compliment to the baker I stole it from should I ever see him again.”
I almost choked. “You stole this?”
“Thief, remember? I stole you once before too.” A smile shone in his eyes as he finished the last of the bread and then wadded up the cloth, shoving it back into his pouch. “At least it’s not a demonic apple.”
“Thank goodness for that,” I mumbled. “How does shadow travel work? Is there a limit to how much you can do it in one day?”
“Still full of questions, I see.” Rowan reclined in the seat. His tunic fell open in the front, revealing a peek of his bronzed chest and collarbone. A natural complexion, not one given to him by too many days under the sun. “All magic has limits, so yes. Once my mana is depleted, I have to wait for it to replenish. Fortunately, using shadows for travel doesn’t drain much at all.”
“Any limit on distance?” I washed down the food with a sip from my water flask. “Can you go anywhere in the world? Do you have to picture the place in your mind before zapping there? Oh! And does it have to be a place you’ve been to before?”
“What benefit is there for me to answer all these long-winded questions?”
“Um. My undying gratitude and happiness?”
“Your happiness is supposed to sway me?” Rowan snorted. “You mistake me for one of the men who worship the ground you walk on.”
“Stumble on. The ground is a lot like you and enjoys my suffering.”
A genuine smile teased his lips. “Only because you’re adorable when you whine. And when you stomp your little foot.”
“First of all, my foot is not little. It’s average size. Secondly, adorable things can still be deadly, so you better—”
The carriage hit a big bump in the road and launched me forward.
Right into Rowan.
He went rigid as I crashed against his chest. It reminded me of how Lake had been in the beginning: tentative about physical touch. Maybe even scared of it, unless he was the one initiating.
“Sorry!” I started to scramble off his lap.
Rowan’s arms came around my waist and held me in place. That close, I felt the heavy beating of his heart against mine. “Adorable but deadly. That’s one thing we can agree on.” He shakily exhaled. “You’re the most dangerous person I’ve ever met, little treasure.”
Sparks. One rolling into another, building stronger until my blood electrified. “I have a confession. I’m not lethal at all. I could never actually hurt someone. In fact, even though I’m terrified of bugs, I can’t squash them. Not even flies. It makes me cry.”
“That’s what makes you so damn dangerous.”
“How?” I asked.
He lifted a hand to my cheek but didn’t fully touch me. “My whole life, I’ve looked into people’s faces and saw their hatred of me. Their disgust. When starving on the streets as a kid, wearing nothing but a ratty shirt and no shoes, wealthy nobles with pockets overflowing with coin walked past without so much as a glance my way. The world is such a cruel place sometimes. Yet you, Evan?” He touched the corner of my brow. “I look into these pretty emerald eyes and see how much you care. I see your gentle heart. Gentle but also fierce when it comes to those you love. And gods, how I wish to be one of those things. Someone you look at with that same tenderness. Like I’m someone who’s worth a damn.”
My throat constricted. “You said you only wanted my body, not my heart.”
Rowan chuckled. It was raspier than usual. Rougher. “Yeah, well, I never said I was an honest man, now did I?”
“How do I know you’re not lying to me right now?”
“I suppose you’ll have to use that pretty head of yours and think of what I’d gain from lying about it.”
“Is this just a game to you?” I asked. “Something to hold your attention until you get bored and move on?”
If Rowan was anything like Briar, Maddox, and Lake, I knew falling for him wouldn’t be a slow and steady process. I’d fall hard and fast with no hope of ever climbing back up.
Pressed close to him in that carriage and surrounded by his sweet and peppery scent, his heart thumping hard against mine and his breaths tickling my lips, I suspected I was already on the edge of that cliff, holding on to a low-hanging tree branch. All it’d take was me letting go of the branch to free fall.
“A game? It could be.” Rowan trailed his fingertips along my cheekbone. “Perhaps a game of poker. It’s too early to know if I have a winning hand, but I’ll bet some chips anyway. Will you?”
As his fingers glided along my skin, moving down the side of my neck, the tiny Evans running my body were screaming for me to go “all in.” To put everything on the table and have faith. Faith in Rowan. Faith in fate’s plan for me. Lupin had prophesized five men loving me. A prophesy that had two routes.
One of the men was destined to either love me… or kill me.
Was it Rowan? Was he my possible doom ending?
Wielder of dark magic who could use shadows to crush someone into dust? Check. Thief slash smart-ass criminal who carried an army of daggers? More checks. Oh, and let’s not forget how he wanted to team up with Lord Onyx, the freaking demon lord, to learn how to better control said dark magic.
There were so many red flags I could sew them together to make a massive sail that’d carry me down the sea of “what the fuck are you thinking, Evan?”
Maybe Maddox was right and I was too trusting and reckless when it came to my own safety.
“You should know I suck at poker,” I answered. “I can’t bluff to save my life. If I have a good hand, you’ll know it. If it’s horrible, you’ll see it all over my face. But.” My gaze dropped to the front of Rowan’s opened shirt, and I traced the line of his collarbone. His skin was so damn warm. “I’ve been told I’m stubborn. I don’t give up easily. So even if I think I have a losing hand, I don’t wanna fold. Not yet.”
Because the next card could be the one to turn everything around.
Rowan swallowed hard, and wisps of darkness swirled in his irises. “You’ll reach town soon. I should leave.”
“You don’t have to,” I said. “Everyone’s already seen you, so hiding isn’t necessary.”
“Hiding?” He grazed his nail down my throat, and I shivered. “That’s what you think?”
“What other reason is there?”
As he smiled, those wisps of darkness in his eyes stirred even more. “You’re so innocent sometimes, little treasure. So pure.” He grabbed me by the nape and brought me forward, pressing his mouth to my ear. “If I stay in this carriage with you another moment, I’ll have your trousers yanked down and your cock out, fucking you senseless, when they come to fetch you.”
Hot damn.
“Oh. Um. Y-Yeah, that might not be the best idea… um.”
Rowan breathed out a laugh, tickling my earlobe. “Can you be any more adorable?” He then snatched that lobe between his lips and swirled his tongue against it.
Heat flooded my core and shot all throughout my body. And, embarrassingly enough, a little squeak escaped me. “Rowan, I—”
“Don’t worry.” He smiled against my ear. “As tempting as it is, I have no plans to ravish you in this carriage. I want to savor you when the time comes.”
My preconceived notions about him flew out the window. I’d assumed he wasn’t used to physical touch, given how he often shied away from me, but he definitely didn’t have those same reservations now. The complete one-eighty caused all the gears in my brain to come to a grinding halt.
Sounds came from outside: the clatter of a cart, a mooing cow, and voices. We must’ve passed someone along the road.
“That’s my cue to leave.” Rowan caught me around the waist and pushed me backward. My ass hit the seat opposite his, and I bounced once. He flashed his signature smirk. “I’ll return later. Until then, don’t miss me too much.”
The shadows from the shaded corner then shot out and swallowed him whole, leaving me alone in the carriage once again.
***
“Eat another bite.” Lake sat across from me with his arms crossed and his poofy tail swishing behind him. Unlike the excited wags that always made my heart burst from cuteness, this one came from his annoyance. The only bursting I worried about now came from my stuffed belly.
“I can’t,” I groaned. “I’m gonna pop.”
“Like a balloon?” His wolf ears twitched.
I smiled at that… and at a memory that felt like a lifetime ago. “Yep. Just like a balloon. One hard jab and I’m gonna explode.”
We had reached the designated town at dusk and found an inn to stay for the night. There was a tavern on the first floor that served drinks and hot meals, and a bard provided entertainment, strumming his lute and reciting raunchy tales that had the patrons laughing and hollering. I’d laughed, too, while waiting on the food. I’d ordered two servings of beef stew and taken it back up to the room to eat with Lake, who had, indeed, been salty about me giving them all the food earlier.
“Bread is kinda dry,” I said before washing it down with water. “Not anything like Briar’s.”
A soft sound left Lake, and his ears drooped. “Is it strange that I miss him too?”
“I think it’s sweet.” And unexpected in the best of ways. Lake had bonded with Briar and Maddox. Maybe not romantically, but it was still strong. Connecting all of us.
Lake’s gaze lowered to his bowl. “I like when he gives me head pats.”
“Yeah?” I set my bowl on the side table and crawled into his lap. He smiled as I lifted my hands to his silver hair and gently patted the top of it. “Like this?”
His nose crinkled, and his canines flashed with his toothy grin. “Yes.”
“Good. I can give you all the pats until we get home.”
Lake closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. “The thief came to you earlier today, didn’t he?”
“You sensed him in the carriage?”
“No,” he answered. “He must’ve masked his presence with the shadows. But I sensed your emotions. And your… arousal.”
Guilt slammed into my chest. “I’m sorry. If it upsets you, I won’t—”
“No reason to apologize.” Lake pushed his face against my neck. “Maddox, Briar, and I have already given our blessing for you to be with him, should you choose to do so. My only concern is for your safety.”
“Would you actually tell me if you were upset?”
“Yes,” Lake said without hesitation. “I’ll never lie to you, Evan. Or hurt you.”
“Such a loyal pup.” The voice came from the left of us.
Lake bared his teeth and tightened his hold on me.
Rowan was perched on the windowsill, the curtains ruffling with the evening breeze. He wore a hood, and a dark green scarf was pulled up, covering the lower half of his face. The hilt of the long dagger strapped to his hip gleamed from the glow of the lanterns lighting the room.
He reminded me of an assassin. He sure as hell moved as stealthily as one. Not even Lake had detected him.
“State your business here, thief,” Lake said with a snarl.
“My business is currently straddling you, pup.” Rowan tilted his head back and lowered the scarf, revealing a crooked smile that did annoying things to my stomach. “Come away with me, little treasure. The city awaits.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been itching for an adventure, right?” Rowan motioned to the sights beyond the window. “That adventure is calling. How kind of me to offer my services to escort you.”
“Kind. Right.” I looked outside, feeling a pressure in my chest. I really wanted to go with him. To see things I hadn’t before.
“He’s not going anywhere with you,” Lake interjected, not loosening his hold on me in the slightest.
Rowan clicked his tongue. “Now, now. You’re breaching the terms of our deal. I gave the captain information, and in turn, you’re supposed to stay out of my way in regard to Evan. I upheld my end of that bargain. So be a good boy and let him go.”
Growls reverberated in Lake’s chest, one after the other.
“Hey.” I took his face in both my hands and pressed our foreheads together. Those growls instantly silenced. “Rowan won’t hurt me.”
I was like ninety-eight percent sure of that, anyway. Maybe a strong ninety-five percent.
“And if he does hurt you?” Lake’s hard tone contradicted the vulnerability in his purple eyes.
“Then you can bite him, I guess.”
Rowan scoffed.
“I don’t like this. You going somewhere alone with him.” Various emotions crossed Lake’s face. Fear, irritation, love. “I lost you once and swore I’d never let it happen again.”
“You won’t lose me.” I moved my hands to the back of his neck and lightly massaged. The muscles were insanely tight, feeling more like boulders. “Wherever I go, I know you’ll always find me.”
The softest of whines tore through his throat. “Say my name if you need me. No man or beast is strong enough to keep me from you. My human.”
“My wolf.” I rested our foreheads together again before sliding off his lap. He grabbed my hand before I went far and, with great hesitation, let our fingers brush together and fall apart. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“You may be waiting for a while,” Rowan said before hopping from his perch and offering me his hand. “Hurry along, little treasure. The night is young, and we have places to see.”
I placed my hand in his, putting my trust in him.
Rowan tugged me closer and hooked an arm around my waist. “Hold on tight.”
And then, he leapt from the window.