Chapter Ten
There was a pep in Esha’s step when she emerged from her tent. Her excitement died a little when she looked for her squad and couldn’t find them.
“Sister.”
At the sound of Savita’s voice behind her, Esha turned. “Where is my team?”
“Elsewhere.”
“You do understand that I’m in charge of my crew, right? We each have a place. You don’t want me interfering with yours, and I don’t want you interfering with mine.”
Savita stood calmly as she said, “The runes made the decision, not me.”
“Did they? Or is this you showing me how you can put me in my place?”
A brief frown marred Savita’s brow. “I read the runes. That’s all.”
Esha took a step closer and lowered her voice as anger made it shake. “That’s far from what you do. You’re supposed to be here to help .”
“I am.”
“By sending my team away when you’ve given me only three days to hunt the creature with Kendrick? Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”
Savita swallowed and glanced to the side. “Follow me.”
Esha remained after her sister had pivoted and walked away. She wanted to ignore her like she used to do when they were younger, but she couldn’t. Esha might lead the Rangers, but Savita could exercise command when the runes spoke to her. Was her sister lying? Others accused Readers of it, but no one had ever been able to prove it happened. Esha knew she had little chance of that herself. Yet it seemed suspicious that Savita had made such a move after their clash yesterday.
With her jaw clenched, Esha followed Savita into her tent. She found her sister standing before the table she used to read the runes. On it were Savita’s white runes, their gold markings clear. There were twenty-eight of them, each marked with a specific symbol.
Esha crossed her arms over her chest. “Why are you showing me these? You know I can’t read them.”
“I get the same response for every question I pose.”
“Which is?” Esha pushed when Savita fell silent.
Her sister’s copper gaze was unwavering. “Danger.”
“And you think that’s Kendrick, I suppose?”
“I don’t know who or what it is. I’ve asked about Kendrick. I get that response. I asked about working with him, I get that response. I asked about the thing you’re hunting, I get that response. I ask if anyone is going to attack us, I get that response. I ask if it’s going to rain, I get that response. I ask if we’ll catch lots of fish for dinner tonight...”
“You get that response. I get it,” Esha said as her arms fell to her sides. “Is that normal?”
Savita braced her hands on the table and looked at the runes. “Never. The answers might be similar, but never so exact.”
“Ask those questions again.”
“I did,” Savita replied as she looked up. “Dozens of times throughout the night.”
Esha gazed at the runes for a heartbeat. “The runes agreed with my assessment to hunt the foe.”
“They did.”
“They’ve not changed their mind, have they?”
Savita’s lips twisted. “It isn’t that simple.”
“It is. Of course, there’s danger each time I take my squad out of camp. Danger is what being a Ranger is about. If the runes aren’t telling you that we should stop hunting, then we don’t.”
“The danger it’s warning me about should be taken into consideration.”
Esha rolled her eyes. “It’s telling you that for everything.”
“I’m aware,” Savita said tightly.
Esha licked her lips and lowered her voice. “Are you sure you can still read them?”
Anger sparked in her sister’s eyes. Savita pointed to the table and spoke in a clipped tone. “Look at the runes. Look at each of them. Memorize their placements.”
Esha did as her sister asked.
Then Savita gathered the stones and put them into their bag. Savita shook the bag as she held Esha’s gaze. Her sister asked in a clear voice, “Should Esha continue hunting the entity that’s killing elves?” Then she opened the bag and dumped the runes.
Esha’s mouth dropped open as she watched each stone come to rest in exactly the same position as before.
“Now do you understand?” Savita demanded.
Esha nodded. “I do.”
“And you’re still going to Kendrick?”
“I am. The runes tell you of danger, but not what kind, where it’s coming from, or even when. I can’t sit here, doing nothing as I wait. No Ranger would.”
Savita’s expression fell. “I know.”
“If something changes, let me know.”
“Will you return tonight?”
Esha considered that before she shook her head. “You gave us three days. We need to cover a lot of ground. And, unfortunately, we don’t even know where to begin. There isn’t time for me to come back to camp.”
“I’m asking you not to go with Kendrick.”
Esha heard the carefully worded request. Savita was worried, and while she might agree with Savita, Esha wouldn’t remain. She couldn’t. “Elves are dying. I’m going to do something about that.”
“I know.” Savita sighed, her shoulders drooping. “Be safe.”
“I’ll see you in a few days.”
Esha walked out of the tent and the camp. Her sister’s distress over the runes was troubling, but it could mean literally anything. Esha lengthened her strides as she walked through the dense forest. She glanced at the positions of Rangers who stood on guard. The Wood Elves were high in the trees, while other elves had hidden themselves elsewhere. She felt their gazes on her as she picked her way to Kendrick. The closer she got, the more her mood lightened. From the moment she had opened her eyes that morning, she had been excited to see him and learn more about dragons—and him.
As she approached the lake, she saw his fire through the trees. She emerged from the jungle. Her gaze swept the area without seeing him. She then looked at the round structure and couldn’t help but wonder if he was sleeping. Was he on his back, his stomach, or his side? Would his hair be mussed? What would he look like after just opening his eyes?
Did he sleep naked?
The thought made her heart skip a beat. Esha took a step in the direction of the tent when she heard a sound from the lake. Her head swung toward the water as Kendrick’s head broke the surface. Water sluiced over his face. He shook his head, causing droplets to fly from the ends of his hair. A wide grin spread over his face when he noticed her.
“Good morning,” he called as he treaded water.
She walked to the shoreline, doing her best not to notice the way his muscular shoulders lifted from the lake. But it was impossible. “There could’ve been something dangerous in the water.”
“Could have,” he replied as he swam toward her. His arms were strong and sure as he moved effortlessly to the shore.
She swallowed hard. No one had ever made swimming look so sexy. Every little peek she got of him made her want to see all of him—every gorgeous inch. Esha was acutely aware of how fast her breathing had become. Even as she told herself to look away, she silently begged to see more.
Then he stopped swimming and wiped the water from his face with his hands. It took her a minute to realize that he was walking through the water.
“I’d like to think you would’ve told me. There are some creatures I’ve never seen before. The lavender animal with the long snout. What is that?”
Esha chuckled and forced her eyes to his face and not the corded muscles of his neck and shoulders. “A lundu. It’s a curious animal who often swims with others.”
“Aye. That would explain why it stayed beside me after I entered the loch.”
Unable to look away, her eyes dropped to the water as it met him. Blood began to rush loudly in her ears when more of his expansive chest appeared. It held her transfixed. She was utterly mesmerized by the sight of Kendrick. Her lips parted as she struggled to draw breath into her lungs, even as the water lowered to the rippling muscles of his stomach. She could count each one. Then even lower to his trim waist and hips to a line of dark hair that led to… She jerked her head to the side the instant she realized he was naked.
Esha sucked in mouthfuls of air, hating herself for looking away even as an image of him filled her mind. He was everything she had imagined he would be.
“Apologies,” Kendrick said. “I’m dressed now.”
Esha hated that she had missed a perfect opportunity to see his glorious body. She wasn’t sure why she had looked away to begin with. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen males naked before. She drew in a steadying breath and slowly looked at him. His clothes might cover that incredible body, but she couldn’t erase the image of his skin glistening with water in the morning sun. Or the way his green eyes had burned.
It took Esha three tries to find her voice. When she did, it still sounded breathless and…needy. “It’s fine.” But it wasn’t. Not when wanton desire scorched through her so urgently.
“Are Rangers celibate?”
Conversation. That was exactly what she needed to help turn her mind away from such lustful thoughts. She forced a smile until his words penetrated. This wasn’t what she wanted to discuss. Esha cleared her throat. “We have sex as often as we want. The caveat being that we never have the same partner more than once. Not as long as we’re Rangers. We serve as Rangers first and foremost. There can never be any entanglements.”
“What happens if you fall in love?”
“It’s rare that it happens, but if and when it does, the elf leaves the Rangers.”
Kendrick raked a hand through his still-wet hair. “That’s a wee bit harsh.”
“That rule is there for a reason. We spend years out here. We can’t be thinking about a family or anything that could divide our attention.”
“What if two Rangers fall in love?”
She shrugged. “It has happened. Both were relieved of duty. We take steps so the chances of that are minimal. While we’re not forbidden from taking a fellow Ranger as a lover, it can’t be someone on our same team. Being a Ranger is serious business. Too many count on us. We have to be utterly devoted to our mission.”
“I can understand and appreciate that.”
But she felt the need to elaborate. “Most join the Rangers because they’ve devoted their lives to it. There are those who stay for a short while and then leave, those who stay for a long while before they depart, and those who remain until they die.”
His green eyes held hers. “Which are you? ”
“The Rangers are my life. I will be one until I die.”
Kendrick smiled as he nodded, accepting her words. “Where would you like to start today?”
She was grateful for the change of subject. She didn’t understand why she was suddenly angry. He had done nothing to warrant it, and she wasn’t even sure if she was irritated at him. Maybe it was more directed at herself. After all, he had been all she could think about since they’d met. Then seeing him this morning…well, that was something she’d thought she could handle. Turned out she couldn’t.
Esha wanted him. She shut her mind to those thoughts and looked away from his prying eyes. “We could return to where we found you yesterday.”
“I didna see anything there that might lead us in a direction. Did you?”
Esha shook her head. “I could take you to the last place it struck here.”
“Let’s start by you telling me all the places it has attacked and when.”
“To see how far apart the assaults were?”
He grinned. “Exactly. I’d also like to see if any of the areas or those hit have anything in common. Did everyone die?”
“Sadly, yes. No one could tell us how they were struck or exactly when.”
“Do you have a map?”
Esha’s lips curved in excitement. “I do.”
She rubbed her hands together, warming them as her magic shifted through her. Then she drew her palms apart as they faced each other. Golden ribbons of magic wove around her hands and arms as a three-dimensional map of the plateau began to weave itself together. The wider she spread her hands, the larger the map grew.
Kendrick moved closer, his gaze intent on the image. “The plateau is larger than I thought.”
“It’s significant in size,” she agreed. Her gaze moved around the edges, following Kendrick’s as he noted the shape of it.
The transparent, gold-hued map hovered in the air between them. Esha pointed to the first place the entity had attacked. As she touched the illustration, a dark mark appeared there to indicate the position. She proceeded to do that with four other locations.
Kendrick crossed his arms over his chest, his brow furrowed as he studied the map intently. “Where are we? ”
She marked it. “And we found you here,” she said, adding another mark near the border.
“It has struck near cities, water, forests, and out in the open. I can see nothing that determines a pattern.”
She nodded in agreement. “We also got word last week that a group of Mountain Elves battled something in their region. They lost four of their people.”
“It doesn’t seem to have a preference for where it attacks. Is it merely opportunity motivated?”
“If that were the case, why hasn’t it struck us?”
Kendrick raised his gaze to meet hers. “Good point. Could it be looking for something?”
“I suppose. What about with the attacks on dragons? What did it do?”
His lips flattened in a line for a moment. “Until you told me about the deaths here, we were sure it was after us specifically. It killed several dragons at once no’ so long ago, and in a way, that seemed entirely too easy. Then it went after Eurwen.”
The sound of the woman’s name made Esha’s heart skip a beat. She had never asked if Kendrick had someone in his life. Just because he was here alone didn’t mean his heart didn’t belong to someone. Her throat felt thick as she asked, “Is that your wife?”
“She’s one of the twins who rules the dragons. Eurwen is a Dragon Queen, while Brandr is a King.”
Esha’s eyebrows rose with interest. “There are Queens, then?”
Kendrick grinned. “Aye, lass.” But that smile vanished in the next breath. “It took hold of Eurwen, keeping her locked inside her mind. At least that’s how she described it. She couldna move until she broke free of that. I wondered how that was possible, but I felt it yesterday. The difference was, it seemed to want more from Eurwen. When the entity came after Brandr, her twin, it was a swift attack. Same with Cullen and Shaw, my fellow Kings. It knocked them from the sky as it did me. All of us were in dragon form at the time, and the magic it hit us with caused us to return to this form.”
“That doesn’t sound feasible.”
“I wish it wasna. When Cullen fought it, he said a wildcat appeared and seemed to be able to see the being. Once the cat attacked, the thing vanished. You doona happen to have any wildcats here, do you?”
Esha shook her head. “No, but I do like that you found something that was able to see it. Maybe other animals can.”
“Potentially. I’d really like to know why we can no’.”
“Agreed. It’s hard to battle something you can’t see coming at you. You said you felt its magic, but you didn’t have any injuries.”
Distaste colored his expression. “I hope you never feel it. Because while it might no’ leave a mark, the damage is extensive.”
“No elf is left who could describe it. I’d like to know everything. Tell me more, please.”
“What I feel may no’ be what you feel.”
She shrugged and grinned. “It’s better to know something.”