Chapter 75
Allie
Jolts still coursed through my legs, my feet trembling in the air. Ryker’s uneven breaths whipped against my skin as both of us tried to regain our senses.
A part of me, still wild, still raw, mewled that she wanted more.
But the logical side of me, quickly unfurling and staking its rightful main position, knew we’d already borrowed too much time to indulge.
We’d needed this.
This small moment of us standing together among the chaos.
Ryker’s face nestled in the crook of my neck as my head rested against his. I was so spent and relaxed, I probably would have melted to the floor if he wasn’t holding me up.
“I want to tell you something,” he whispered once our breaths evened out and our energies quieted down, like we suddenly weren’t alone and spent in the middle of a destroyed armory.
My cheeks heated up as I realized the entire fortress must have heard us.
“Nothing’s stopping you,” I said, even as my words hitched with old fears.
“When I found out Zandyr and Evie can talk through their thoughts, I was insanely jealous. I thought–” His tongue darted out to lick his reddened lips, flicking over my heated skin. “I thought it simply wasn’t in the cards for us. That maybe the fates were wrong. I wanted them to be right.”
“It seems they were right,” I said, feeling exposed, but, for once, not aching to jump out of my skin because of it.
“Or maybe we are. What if being fated mates isn’t some godly coincidence?
It’s simply an inevitability when two worthy souls truly find each other and put in the effort.
” He raised his head from my shoulder, locking eyes with me.
“What if this connection isn’t a guarantee you’re born into, but a reward? ”
A slow smile spread across my face. Perseverant, not preordained, spoke to my soul. “I like your version better.”
Whether it was wrong or right, it didn’t matter. We’d found each other.
We still had years of work waiting for us ahead–hopefully.
Because in this world, the next day wasn’t promised.
Not for us.
The happy, satisfied flutters melted as reality crept in.
“We have to get ready for the next attack,” I muttered, loath to move, but knowing we should.
Our little moment of recklessness and freedom was over. Now we could only hope it wouldn’t be the last.
“I suspect it will happen within a day or two.” He ran a hand down his face, fingers catching the small beads of sweat pooling above his eyebrows before I could lick them away. “To make sure we don’t have time to evacuate the civilians.”
“Sylvester can sound the alarm. He alerted me last time.”
“No,” he said with absolute certainty. “I need to send him to The Capital. I’m calling the Blood Brotherhood army.”
My breath came out stuttered. “They won’t reach us in time.”
“No, they won’t. Not when the surviving warriors barely had a chance to recuperate.” His voice darkened. “But if we fall, we will go down knowing the army will obliterate the Northern Clans in our wake.”
I kept on shaking my head. “There has to be a way to win.”
“Nadya knows every nook and cranny in Solkar’s Reach.
All of our traps, each warrior’s strongest movements, all the hiding spots for the civilians.
Before I met you, I was raising her and Geryll to take the throne if I fell in battle.
” His eyes sparked. “She knows everything. The only way to combat that is the element of surprise. We have a few petards and caltrops from the war that she doesn’t know about. And you.”
“And me.” An unnerving mix of pride and apprehension swirled deep within. Nadya hadn’t truly seen me in battle, with my powers unleashed. “And us. Nobody knows we can exchange thoughts.”
Gods willing, this connection between us would not stop when we needed it most.
“And us.” Ryker’s thumb circled my temples slowly. Longing. “Against thousands.”
My stubbornness rose to the surface. “There has to be a solution. Some place where we can hide the civilians. At least the old and young. Some new traps we can set up. Something.”
Even as I said it, the answer danced at the outskirts of my mind.
We both inhaled sharply as the same idea mirrored between us two. A thought nobody else could touch.
There was one place Nadya had refused to step in–and her mulishness could become our salvation.