Chapter 21 Camilla
CAMILLA
Rain pelted the small window of the tavern.
Elianna curled up on the small bed and huffed again.
I was more than glad that we had managed to get a room with two beds.
Vincent wouldn’t stay in here with us. He had been on edge since we had left.
He was on high alert everywhere we went, expecting Nismera’s retribution.
It was my fault. My dream had outed us, and as soon as the ship had docked for supplies, we had snuck off.
I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and secured the thin straps around my shoulders.
I covered the small platter of bread and dried meat, wrapping the cloth tightly around it.
My steps were quick as I left the room and turned down the hall, heading toward the stairs at the back.
The old wooden door at the top of the steps opened on creaky hinges, and the chilly air laced with the smoke from the twin chimneys breathed into my face.
The rain had let up, the clouds parting to glaze the sleeping city below in moonlight.
As beautiful as the view was, it was the tall, lean figure that held my interest. I had become accustomed to how he pulled at me, drawing me toward him.
My steps were quiet as I approached him.
“I brought you something to eat,” I said, offering him the plate.
Vincent turned toward me, his coat flaring in the wind, revealing the silver ablaze daggers beneath.
I took a closer look and saw that he was armed to the teeth, the ablaze weapons he had summoned secured all over his body.
It was as if he were afraid that if something happened, he wouldn’t be quick enough to call one to stop the approaching threat.
“I’m not really hungry,” he said.
I sighed. “Vincent, you haven’t really eaten in the last few places we’ve stopped.”
He said nothing, just turning back to his watch over the city. Lights glowed from windows, the buildings edging up to the silver ribbon of the river, and beyond the trees, the forest was an unrelenting black.
“You pay too much attention to me,” Vincent said, his back to me.
“Someone has to,” I quipped.
He spun and closed the distance between us in a couple of long strides.
I registered the crunch of his boots against the old roof, but everything faded when he cupped my face in his cold hands and slanted his lips across mine.
Hunger burned in my gut, and it wasn’t for the platter of food I held.
We were desperate for this, but both of us had been very focused on ensuring we maintained some distance between us.
In the palace, we had become accustomed to hiding our feelings and sneaking tiny, secret moments like this quick kiss.
Now, Elianna was with us every second, and we were running for our lives.
I wanted so much more, and the need ate at me.
He pulled back, his nose brushing mine as he sighed, his breath mingling with mine. “Is this how you want to be taken, Camilla? Against a crumbling chimney in a half-deserted town?”
“Vincent, I just want you. I don’t care where,” I said, meaning every word. He could take me right here, right now, and I wouldn’t care. I was already his.
Vincent lifted his head, the thick heat of lust in his eyes melting into a softer emotion. When he leaned forward to kiss me this time, it was featherlight. He pulled back and whispered, “I would never disrespect you as such.” He nipped gently at my lower lip. “At least not the first time.”
My laugh was a little breathless, and I clung to him with my free hand, wicked thoughts running rampant through my imagination. “What about the second?”
Vincent’s smile was lovely, lighting his face and turning him devastating. It was fleeting, his somber mood chasing away the moment of joy.
“What is it?” I asked, sliding my fingers along his jaw.
He shook his head and stood a bit straighter. I bit back a whimper, feeling the barriers he was erecting between us even though he hadn’t moved. “I have been thinking about that. About us.”
“Well, I would hope so. Would you like to share?”
“I have been thinking. While her brand remains on me, I am unsure if we can fully be together physically.”
It was my turn for my smile to turn sour, my fingers lightly gripping the plate. Even hearing about that damn brand made me want to melt Nismera’s insides.
“Why would that matter?”
“Because if I’m with you, I don’t think I’ll be able to leave.”
My heart sputtered. “Leave? Are you planning on it?”
Vincent lowered his gaze and tried to twist away from me, but I refused to let him.
“Camilla,” he started. “Be reasonable. We cannot run forever, but I can have them follow me enough that you can get away with that medallion. Maybe hide yourself until Samkiel is finished with her.”
“No.”
His eyes flared with anger. “I’m trying—”
“You’re trying to run away and not just from her, but whatever this between us could be. No.”
His hand raised, brushing a loose strand of hair near my temple. “When she has me within her clutches once more, she will make both of us pay for that indiscretion in the worst possible way. I cannot allow her to touch you. Worse, I can’t stomach the thought of what she could command me to do.”
Magic swirled beneath the plate, floating it from my hands to the ledge. I placed my hands on his shoulders and looked up at him. “She will not have you again. I swear it.”
His eyes softened. “Not even Samkiel could stop her.”
I shrugged. “Well, I’m not Samkiel.”
An unexpected smile brightened his face. It was so deep that it revealed dimples I hadn’t known he had. “No, you are far prettier,” he said, his fingers dipping under my chin and lifting.
“Don’t leave me. I have no one else. Not in this world or the next.”
He nodded and rested his forehead on mine, our breaths mingling as if we had been sharing air since the dawn of time.
There was something deep and primal between us.
Despite the pain, confusion, and complications that came with it, I was certain of the inevitability of us.
What was between us was as beautiful and catastrophic as the births and deaths of the stars.
We had each been spinning in our neighboring systems, but we’d always been on a collision course toward one another.
I knew fate existed, and I had no doubt Vincent and I were always destined to find one another again.
“I talk a big game, but I truly don’t think I could. I don’t think there is a place in this universe I could get far enough away from you that wouldn’t have me crawling back on my hands and knees.” His lips slanted over mine, the claiming slow and sensual.
Gods, I’d missed this, kissing him. It had been weeks with Elianna nipping at our heels like a lost puppy.
We’d had no time for ourselves, but here, now, atop a roof with the sky as our only witness, I welcomed it.
My fingers knotted in his coat, pulling him flush against my body.
No space separated us as he used his hands to tip my face up, devouring my mouth.
Heat soaked into my skin, my magic singing in response to the taste of him.
Vincent tightened his fingers in my hair and—
He froze, pulling away from me and looking out into the darkness.
I blinked at the abruptness, my eyes scanning for what had caused it.
A bright light lit the horizon, and we pulled apart as the sky split.
A loud boom shook the windows and sent a shudder through the atmosphere, clouds rolling away from the source like smoke from an extinguished candle.
Where there had been nothing, now a ship made of a strange, shimmering, gold metal hung above the town.
“Fuck,” Vincent said harshly. He grabbed my hand and turned, pulling me toward the door. I glanced back but ran after him to keep up.
“What is that?”
“Her armada,” he said, all color gone from his face.
My eyes widened as not one but two more joined it. Bright lights beamed down on the city, illuminating the streets in silver rays. Great, it figured that not only would Nismera have a legion at her feet but also a fleet of massive warships.
Vincent’s grip tightened on my hand as we cleared the stairs and ran down the hall. Elianna yelped and sat up as we barged into the sleeping room.
“Do you guys even knock?”
“Shut up!” Vincent snapped, grabbing a cloak from the dresser and tossing it to her. “We’re leaving. Now.”
She scowled at him. “Why? What’s happening now?”
The air trembled with the whirr of a powerful engine.
A bright light came from the window, making it look as if the sun had risen in the room.
The ground shook with a dull thud as the craft landed.
We stood staring at each other for a moment.
Elianna’s eyes widened, not smarting off again as she lunged from the bed and grabbed the cloak, slipping it over her shoulders.
We crouched low, and Vincent quietly closed the door.
Commotion came from the main foyer, and Vincent held his finger to his lips, his gaze locked on the window.
There were guards here already. I swallowed hard, green magic sparking around my hands as I prepared to protect us.
Vincent shook his head, and I let it die, the room returning to a soft, gloomy gray.
The lights outside faded, and Vincent lifted his head enough to peek out.
Whatever he saw had him quickly working to open the window, being as quiet as possible.
Elianna and I shifted closer as the guards’ voices grew near, their boots loud against the wood floor in the hallway.
I knew exactly what they were looking for, or rather, who.
Vincent.
My heart thudded as the voices grew louder out in the hall, and I knew we had to get out now, or we were fucked. Vincent had gotten the window open, and he poked his head out quickly before ducking back in. “Come on,” he said, gripping the frame.