Chapter Forty-Three Samira
FORTY-THREE SAMIRA
I fisted my hand in the fabric of Rade’s tunic at his shoulder as I hobbled over a particularly large rock.
The clouds blocked out the sun, and if I’d thought Frostguard was cold, it was nothing compared to the tundra of the White Horn Mountains.
Their peaks created a funnel of cold air that was a near-constant blast, making my ears burn and my nose run.
Our clothing was thin, a necessity for our swim in the lake, but how I longed for a fur cloak or the unnatural body heat of a Shifter.
Keir’s searing chest against my back. The hot puffs of his breaths over my lips. The burning hardness against the small of my back—
Not that Shifter.
We’d been walking for hours. Those numbing leaves Rade had wrapped around my wounds had worn off, and now each step was like a blade scraping against my ankle.
The trek would’ve been a struggle even if I were in perfect health; the terrain was rocky, the air too thin, and the overcast sun reflecting off the icy rocks was near blinding.
At least we had conversation to help pass the time.
It started with Rade trying to distract me from my pain with a funny story about the first time he’d seen Keir change forms as a young boy and had screamed so shrilly, Keir still hadn’t let him live it down.
He continued effortlessly throughout the day, pointing out that if we were going to be married, we ought to know a bit more about each other. I couldn’t correct him.
I’d never really had someone to talk to before. My friendship with my roommate, Nadia, had been one of silent understanding, and Tabia had been nothing more than a kind face most days. This was… nice.
“My power is part of me and also wholly Eira’s,” he was explaining. “With your injury, your bones were lost. Eira helped them find each other again, healing the break. But the skin was taken. Gone, not lost. So her help stopped there.”
I nodded, fascinated. I couldn’t help but think of the visible bones in Keir’s chest. Maybe that was what had happened to him. I could ask… but then I’d have to explain how I’d seen him shirtless.
Instead, I opted for “When Eira grants you power, what does it feel like?”
“It feels…” He adjusted his grip around my waist, pulling me closer and taking more of my weight as we went over a high groove. “Like sticking your hand in ice for so long that instead of freezing, it burns. Two overwhelmingly powerful feelings at the same time.”
My brows rose. “That doesn’t sound very pleasant.”
“Power from the gods is a weapon. Name a weapon that feels pleasant.”
“Good point.” I was gearing up to ask him more about his runes when he stopped abruptly, fingers tightening on my waist, suddenly on high alert. I frowned. “What—”
“Shh.” He tilted his head to the sky, scanning. “Did you hear that?”
I shook my head and looked around. I didn’t see anything, but unease spread through me.
Rade ushered us behind a nearby boulder. We crouched, and I had to bite my lip as my leg gave a cry of agony.
Boom. The sound like thunder. But the clouds weren’t dark enough for that. And then again, boom. Closer this time. There was no lightning, no rain, no impending storm…
Boom.
And then I saw it.
Huge, feathered wings. So white they nearly blended in with the clouds. But its violet beak and talons gave it away.
A bird—larger than any I’d ever seen, larger than any animal I’d ever seen—hovered over us, and with each flap of its wings, a boom shattered the sky.
Even from a distance, I could see its feathers sticking out around its head like a mane.
They rippled in the wind as it circled us.
Beady black eyes scanned the earth. Looking for prey.
For us.
The runes on the side of Rade’s head glowed, and then a thin, scarlet film drifted over us, pulled up like a blanket. It glinted softly in the sunlight, and when Rade looked at me, his eyes were two crimson stars in his head. He mouthed, Don’t move.
My nails dug into the rock in front of us as I stared at the creature, willing it to move on.
Its eyes landed on us—but it seemed to look through us. Whatever shield Rade had erected must have had its intended effect, because it let out a frustrated caw before veering north, thunderously flapping its mighty wings until it disappeared behind one of the peaks.
I shuddered in a deep breath. “What was that?”
Rade relaxed beside me, and the crimson shield faded. “The Roc,” he answered. “Only one of its kind—as far as we know. One of the many creatures that roamed free during the Time of Night. It dominates the White Horns and usually leaves us alo—” He cut off sharply.
My head snapped to him. “What? What is it?”
“Your runes,” he said.
I put my hand to my forehead, a useless gesture since the runes were smooth against my skin. But when I pulled my hand back, I could see a soft emerald glow reflecting against my palm. “What’s happening?”
“Your power sensed danger and reacted.”
I gazed at the green reflection on my palm in wonder, wondering if he was right for one crazy moment before quickly dismissing it.
I had no power. The only other time the runes had glowed was in the Seer’s hut when Zarqa had bestowed the markings on me.
That must be what this was. The remnants of Zarqa’s magic.
My runes were still fresh, and perhaps the imprint of her power still lingered. That was the only logical explanation.
You do not know yourself.
Anxiety built in my chest, growing steadily as Rade’s brows pulled close together, thoughts chasing each other over his face.
“Rade?”
He blinked and shook his head. “We should be safe now. I’ll keep the shield up tonight just in case.” He took my hand and helped me to my feet, but the line between his brows remained, and we barely spoke the rest of the way.
We made camp in a small alcove, Rade’s shield a glimmering door over the opening.
While I chewed on a bit of stale bread, Rade finally spoke. “Amunet…”
I paused.
“The whole point of taking on the Behemoth—the whole point of this entire leg of the Merging—is for our magic to meet. I don’t understand why your magic didn’t react to the threat of the Behemoth but”—a smile spread over his face—“you can call it up.”
I nearly choked on the bread. “I can’t—”
“You can! That’s what this was.” He touched my forehead, caressed it with his fingertips. “That’s why your runes glowed, Amunet. Your power sensed danger and rose up to protect you.”
“Why now, and not with the Behemoth?” I’d actually been attacked by that creature, and my runes hadn’t so much as flickered.
“I’m not sure. Maybe because you were relying on my power? Or had already thought of another way around the Behemoth by biting it?” He shrugged. “Either way, it worked this time, I’m sure of it. And now that it’s awakened, we can acquaint our magic.”
“How?”
“Through our runes.” His beautiful face was alight with hope. I hadn’t even noticed that hope had dimmed after the Behemoth. The desperation, the pleading in those softly glowing eyes—his magic awake as he held the shield in place—made me lick my lips nervously.
I had no magic. He’d only be acquainting himself with the fading imprint of the Seer’s power. Still, the hope in his eyes blazed, and I whispered, “Okay.”
Rade shifted closer, turning his head to give me a full view of his red runes. Then he gently slid his hand behind my head and drew me in.
I let him guide me into his body, softly pressing my forehead to his temple, his thick black hair tickling my cheek.
At first, I thought the warmth of his skin was just a result of his being too near the fire. But it intensified, searing against my forehead, almost to the point of pain. I gasped and moved to pull away—
Rade dug his fingers into my scalp and held me in place. When he opened his eyes, they were beacons. And then there were matching points of green light on his cheek. From my eyes.
The heat softened. Became a delicate graze against my face. That heat was like a finger—like Rade’s fingers in my hair—except more. So much more. Ordering each hair on my arms to stand at attention.
My eyes drifted shut as that heat traced each curve of my runes, drawing and redrawing them, before melting into them. And that melting sensation was… oh gods, it was the most delicious thing I’d ever felt. It trailed across my skin, my blood, each nerve, setting it all on fire.
Rade’s fingers in my hair were like an extension of that heat in my skin, which was traveling deeper, lower, and when his thumb idly rubbed the crown of my head, it was mirrored by the heat inside me. A sigh slid past my lips, and I didn’t even have the awareness to be embarrassed by it.
I fisted my hand in Rade’s shirt, just above his pounding heart, and nuzzled closer, smoothing my runes back and forth over his as he let out a low moan.
Each pass urged that heat further into my core, until my toes curled.
My fingers tingled as they released their death grip on Rade’s shirt, searching for his neckline, his skin, moving with a mind of their own.
The tips of my fingers brushed his chest, and his breath stalled.
I pressed my palm flat over his heart, gasping when I heard his pulse as clearly as if I had my ear pressed to it. Its rhythm echoed, throbbed beside my own.
Rade lifted his hand and slid it beneath my neckline, his callused palm scratching gently against the top of my breast as he settled it over my heart. Beating in unison, beating as one.
That heat inside me followed his hand, circled around my heart like a dog readying for sleep.
With each pass, it twined tighter and tighter, my heart rate doubling with each orbit.
That finger of warmth stroked the edges of my core, once, twice, until I was a throbbing ball of need.
Then it pushed in, and I stopped breathing.
Rade growled in approval. “There you are.”