Chapter 47 #2
I crashed my lips against hers, desperate and wanting. Because I needed her. She was my duty, my only desire, my defiance.
And she kissed me back, a small moan quaking in her throat. I sucked her tongue into my mouth. Lust flooded our bond, and she grabbed at my tunic.
“If I’d known how eager you’d be to fuck me after I killed for you, I would have done this long ago,” I crooned into her mind, capturing her waist and flipping her so she was pinned beneath me.
“Have I ever told you that you’re far too cocky?” she shot back, grinning up at me with a wild viciousness.
“Never. But you like it.”
“Perhaps.” Her fingers walked up my chest until she gripped my tense shoulders and squeezed. “We should return and check on Maelsar and Lyriasthe. I’m worried about her. He’s her everything.”
I nodded, pushing off the blanket and helping her to her feet. I cast one last glance at the two dead keepers. Let the wolves have a free meal.
“Do you believe me?” I asked Sylaira, tucking her under my arm and guiding her back toward the clearing and the cave.
“What do you mean?” she murmured, blinking up at me.
“That I love you. That I’m sorry. That I’ll raze this realm to the ground to ensure we get to spend every night like this,” I replied, bringing her closer as we stepped into the clearing again.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Though if I’m being honest, I’d rather spend every night in a place like House R?viel’s manor.”
A small laugh rumbled in my chest. “Yes, I know how you like to be clean.”
She picked a pine needle from her locks and flicked it away, her nose wrinkling. “As it stands, I don’t know the next time I’ll be able to properly bathe.”
“Once we capture the wall, we’ll be able to return to Hals?r.”
“Thank the Goddess,” she sighed, leaning into me.
Fires licked the rock faces as the cave came into view.
And to my utter relief, Maelsar was sitting up, his expression twisted in anguish—but alive.
“There you are,” he coughed, offering me a half-grin, half-glare.
“Couldn’t watch you die on me,” I told him.
“Are we even now?”
“So long as you don’t chase death again, we are,” I taunted. “You won’t be this lucky twice.”
“Fuck you,” he shot at me, his breath rattling in his lungs.
Lyriasthe rolled her eyes and rubbed a hand over his shoulders and chest, loosening the knots. “How about we let him continue his recovery instead of the two of you goading each other into a fist fight?”
“Fine,” I said, pulling Sylaira to the ground beside me. The heat of the fire licked my backside, chasing away the lingering chill from our venture into the woods.
Lyriasthe scanned us both, eyes narrowing. “Where are the errand birds?”
“On an extended flight.”
She nodded, accepting my vague explanation—there were others around us, after all. Including Oshenai, one of his nephews on his heels as they approached us. Both claimed spaces in our small ring, closing it off to outsiders.
“Tell me what happened,” I said as the chieftain pulled out a whittling knife and a thick stick.
“We watched for days,” Maelsar croaked, but Lyriasthe smacked him. He fell silent under the ferocity of her stare.
The islanders grinned in amusement, and then Oshenai filled in the details of the attack.
“We waited day and night for any sign of them, but there was none. Highly suspicious since scouts’ reports indicated that they rode along the wall constantly.
They attacked in the middle of the night from three sides. We were far outnumbered.”
“And they didn’t follow you here?” I clarified.
“They didn’t appear to. I impaled many of them during our retreat to buy us some time,” Oshenai explained. “My nephew has been patrolling since, and there has been no sight or sound of their approach.”
“Good.” We’d brought a larger group with us to help hold the wall, while Zuriel’s forces should be situating themselves a half day’s ride to the south to stave off any others.
“Tomorrow, we’ll make a more aggressive search of the area and clear it out. This will continue to be our meeting spot should we need to retreat once again.”
“Then we all better gather our strength,” Oshenai said, rising and tucking away his knife and wood. “We’ve arranged bedrolls deeper inside. It’s not the most comfortable, but it will do for now.”
“Thank you.” Sylaira and I got to our feet, and I shot one last glance at my best friend. “Think you’ll be ready to fight tomorrow?”
“As if you could keep me away,” he replied, his voice stronger now than it had been upon our return.
I chuckled as I followed my mate and the chieftain to the rear of the cave, finding a few soldiers already resting. Dragging two bedrolls away from them, I made a space for Sylaira and me to sleep, her back against the stone and my body between her and whoever would approach.
She sighed, curling against me. I pressed a kiss to her temple, then tucked my arm under my head. It wasn’t long before her breathing evened out and she drifted into the land of dreams.
Yet I remained awake, anxiety gnawing at my stomach.
Because the darkness that had watched and waited wasn’t retreating now that it had been fed. It hungered; it gnashed its teeth. And I wasn’t certain that it would sleep when I did.