Chapter 2
Lhoris and I couldn”t ride as hard as Oz’s kidnappers, though it wasn’t from lack of desire. We were both well motivated to retrieve her. If horses could be driven by sheer willpower, Lhoris alone could’ve overtaken them. He obviously wanted his woman back. I only needed to secure the unborn child she carried.
My child, unfortunately.
We just didn’t have the resources to catch up with Dulanzo’s people. They gave their mounts potions for more speed and greater endurance. They’d be two or three days ahead of us by the time we reached the fortress.
We had to take more breaks to let the horses rest as they needed throughout the night, only stopping to sleep at the break of dawn. Traveling in the later part of the day and through the night helped us avoid most of the human population and kept the sun out of our eyes. It was also an easier trip with just the two of us. All we needed was enough cover for the horses, which meant we mostly stopped at the first convenient copse of trees or hill off the road.
Lhoris worried me though. He was … not sick but unwell. Initially he was just antsy and obnoxious, but the longer we were on the road, the worse it got. He hardly slept. He barely ate. What made it really uncomfortable, though, was his silence. When he wasn’t pretending to be a normal dark elf, it was hard to get him to shut up. Sure, he occasionally spoke up to complain about whatever, but the rest of the time he maintained sullen silence … it was so dense and hostile that it was almost a living thing. An invisible, unwanted presence between us. And it felt wrong.
But why shouldn’t he be upset with me? He wasn’t an idiot. He knew I wouldn’t have tied this rag around my neck if it didn’t have a little bit of my essence wrapped up in Ozanna’s scent. The bond Lhoris and Oz forged before the incident would eventually fade away without their offspring keeping it open, but for now, it was going to be a thorn in his side. And it looked like that meant he was going to be a pain in my ass.
Thankfully I didn’t have that problem yet. I was just feeling the pull to form that connection. It was tolerable if I kept her kerchief close to my face. Her scent kept my head clear of the sort of instinct that was driving Lhoris to … whatever this was. And I doubted the fabric would help him, especially since it probably smelled more like me. I was used to dragging through life bonded to a mate I hadn’t seen in years. This was significantly less painful.
While I’d been a father many times, I’d never encountered something like this fun little situation. Never heard of anything like it either, but that’s not saying much. Irnon’s cult of evil cunts keep males as ignorant of that shit as possible. We were only ever told what we needed to know at the time.
So, when Lhoris, the silence, and I stopped one morning, halfway to our destination, we carried on brooding and stewing. It was second nature for me, really. But Lhoris … it wasn’t like him at all. I hated it. Not because of how uncomfortable it made me, but because I knew he was suffering.
He’d placed his bedroll along a fallen tree, and I thought he might finally sleep instead of trance when he first laid down. But it wasn’t long before his foot started rocking back and forth so violently it nearly shifted his entire body. Then he sat up with an irritated sigh and leaned against the log, one crossed leg bouncing in place, squinting against the dawn light. I watched him warily from my bedroll in the shade provided by a copse of trees, while I sat and chewed on some dried beef.
He rubbed his face, then dropped his hands and sighed in aggravation. “Could you possibly chew any louder?” he complained through clenched teeth.
That was a new one. I paused a moment but then continued to chew what was in my mouth and rolled my eyes. “Sorry. I’ll just go hungry,” I grumbled with a shake of my head and put the rations away.
It was just another addition to the growing list of things I did that annoyed him. First it was the tone of my voice, then the way I looked at him, the pace of my horse, the places I wanted to camp, and now I couldn’t even chew my food. Wonderful.
I’d done what I could to avoid pissing him off and given him plenty of space. It wasn’t his fault he was so fucked up and it wouldn’t help anything to hold it against him. But fratricide was pretty common in my culture. And matricide … patricide … any flavor of familial murder, really. I just never thought Lhoris would be the one to watch out for, but there it was in his eyes.
Shit.
After days of silence, he finally spoke.
“How long are you planning to wait to tell me what that scarf around your neck means?”
I scoffed, “You already know what it means. It would be smarter to poke a hungry bear than try to tell you something you already know and hate. Why goad you, little brother?”
Lhoris’ fidgeting came to a halt at that. His body tension was suddenly tight, controlled, and his weight shifted slightly forward. Then the only movement was the clench and release of his fists and jaw. But his eyes … there I saw confusion. His thoughts hesitated though his body was ready to strike.
I needed to distract him.
If my little brother had any weakness, aside from his woman, it was curiosity. “Mating looked different in the woodlands, didn’t it?”
Lhoris’ lip twitched and twisted into a scowl. “Yes,” he seethed.
“This’s one of Irnon’s gifts, little brother. Like our fire and shadows. Unlike our woodland cousins, we might go insane if we don’t rush to the rescue of a threatened mate.” I snorted. “I guess Irnon figures we’d be willing to sacrifice our offspring to rid ourselves of the vicious cunt carrying it.” And it was probably the only thing Irnon was right about. It would have been a kindness if my father had ended this life before I’d been cursed to live it.
“It’s not much of a gift,” Lhoris grumbled.
“It’s not a gift for you and me,” I snorted. “Another gift for her daughters.”
Lhoris’ scowl deepened, but he didn’t relax. I watched him and caught myself absently toying with the ends of the kerchief, twirling the soft, gauzy fabric around my index finger, stirring the scent on it. His eyes locked on the movement and his scowl turned into a toothy sneer. I dropped my hand and sighed.
“Why aren’t you like this then?” he demanded with a harsh gesture in my direction and shifted all his weight onto one hip, leaning closer.
“Because I only have the scent,” I explained, pointing at the scarf. “A bond won’t fall into place until we are much closer. You, on the other hand, will be an unbearable asshole for the time being.”
That’s when Lhoris lunged at me. It was clumsy, coming from his half-seated position, and it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen it coming.
I fisted my hands in the front of his jacket, planted my foot in his belly, and rolled backward, allowing his momentum to carry us over my shoulder. Lhoris landed on his back and choked on a breathless curse when I settled my weight on his middle. I shook him by the jacket. “Lhoris, stop!” I warned, but he bellowed unintelligibly while his hands darted for my throat—a mindless animalistic reaction to tear it out. I knew he could do better if he were thinking. I batted his clutching hands aside and punched him in the face. Once. Twice. Three times before I saw his eyes roll in his head.
“… mushroom licking child,” I muttered and undid the scarf while I got to my feet, all the while watching to make sure he wasn’t faking.
He blinked, eyes aimlessly wandering over our surroundings. They slowly found me but didn’t quite focus. He tried to sit up.
“Stay down, Lhoris,” I drawled.
I held the kerchief in both hands and tore it into two rough triangles. Lhoris frowned and blinked at me in confusion. I dropped one triangle on his chest and took a few steps back. “Do this,” I held up my half, thread it through the top buttonhole of my jacket and shrugged. “I don’t think it will help, but it’s worth a try.”
His brows pinched together, pained one way or another. “I hate this,” he said.
“Same,” I grunted. “You done being dumb for now?”
“I think you gave me a concussion,” he grumbled then picked the fabric up off his chest and pressed it over his nose and mouth.
I snorted. “You fuckin needed it.”
He glared at me. I shrugged. It was the truth. He might have ripped my throat out with his bare hands if I hadn’t.
Lhoris sat up, swayed, and blinked a few times before following my example with the fabric. I was sure at this point that his bell was well and truly rung, but now that we were almost talking, there were things to discuss, especially since he probably wouldn’t attack me again right now.
Probably.
“We need to figure out what to do once we get there,” I said, sitting back down on my bedroll. We knew all the hidden tunnels, trap locations, and even weaknesses in the patrols. But there was only a single entry-point behind all that, and the operation there could hold off an army. We had nothing to bargain with other than our lives. But if we died, Ozanna, the baby, and my sons would be trapped in that hell.
Lhoris showed me his teeth but didn’t move to attack.
I bared my teeth in return.
His eyes wobbled again, a well-timed reminder that I’d just knocked the dust off his gray matter. He frowned and scooted back to his bedroll.
“Let”s just focus on our shared goal of getting Oz and the children,” I said, and relaxed a little. “That might keep this from getting worse.”
“Right,” he agreed, though his sour expression stayed put. “I haven”t any idea how to accomplish it,” he admitted miserably.
Oh, I had an idea. It just sucked.
“I have to challenge Dulanzo to a duel,” I said with a shrug.
Lhoris stared at me in shock for a moment. “You?” he huffed a bitter, mocking laugh. “The last time you saw Dulanzo, you froze in your tracks.”
Heat crept up my face, but I managed not to flinch at the words. He’d meant them to hurt, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing it worked. But he wasn’t wrong. The last time I’d met Dulanzo I’d had a full blown, uncontrolled panic. Full on shaking and gasping. But that was a surprise visit to my prison cell for the winter, and he’d caught me off guard. I always managed when I had time to prepare.
“Shut up,” I spat. “That dirtfucker won”t fight clean, and you aren’t thinking straight. He’ll use that against you. You’re so fucked up over your woman that you can’t even have a conversation with me.”
“But your deceitful nature means you”re better suited to spirit them away. What happens if you freeze during the duel and end up dead? I’ll have to fight him anyway.”
“Bah,” I scoffed and laid down. “This isn”t getting anywhere. You and your concussion get first watch.”
We never got to talk about the little pearl of magic Emma had given him. I didn’t know what to do with it—doubt he did either.
Though I’d been trapped in a cult my entire life, I’d never actually prayed before. Worship was reserved for Irnon’s daughters while she only commanded obedience from males. And now that I’d seen real divine magic at work, I wondered if it wouldn’t be wise to appeal to whatever or whoever had given Emma power. Prayer couldn’t be that much different than magic, could it?
I squeezed my eyes shut and whispered with intention. “Please, please, please…” and just hoped that the right entity would hear me.
Please, please, please…