Chapter 22
T he warmth against my back made my toes curl in delight.
I’d fully expected to wake up shivering from the cool morning air, so the pleasant surprise of heat cocooning me encouraged me to linger a moment longer before waking entirely.
The dying embers in the fire cast a gentle orange glow in the pile of wood. I arched my back to stretch out and immediately froze.
Slowly turning my head to the side, I took in the sight of the solid body behind me. It took everything within me to stifle the groan working its way up my throat.
The damn bedroll had nothing to do with keeping me warm, but Kade certainly did.
Ian hadn’t moved all night, still in the same place from when I fell asleep.
How on earth had I ended up pressed against this insufferable man?
And why did it feel so damn good?
Getting caught like this, though, would be beyond embarrassing.
I moved slowly, attempting to pull away from him, but he twitched, flinging his arm over me. He tugged on me tightly, pulling me in close to his warm, hard body.
“Looking for another kiss, Little Rebel?” he whispered in my ear. His deep voice was huskier in the morning and sent a delicious shiver coursing down the length of my spine and straight to my core. Damn it .
“Absolutely not,” I hissed in return. “You’re the one wrapped around me.” I lifted his arm and rolled out of his reach.
Kade’s eyes were still closed. “I’m just as surprised as you are, Princess.”
“The sun is barely up,” Storm grumbled, raising his head before he paused, giving Kade a glare which could kill. “Aren’t you supposed to be on watch right now?”
“The shadows are keeping watch, don’t you worry.”
Storm continued to mutter to himself as he rose from his own bedroll, marching off in the direction of the river. I scurried farther away from Kade as Ian rolled over, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously between the two of us.
“It’s a three-hour ride to Starhaven,” Ian said. “If we hurry, we can make it there, investigate, and still be back on the road by this evening.”
His lack of comment about learning how I kissed Kade, and whatever happened last night unnerved me. At some point I was certain I’d hear his point of view on Kade, and this “thing” between us.
No.
There is nothing between us .
This silly attraction needed to be quashed before I did something stupid. Right?
Giving into my lustful desires, or even worse, developing feelings for him in the middle of the marriage trials could only lead to disaster.
With the early hour, we packed and mounted the horses in relative silence. I wished someone would say something. Riding in the quiet gave me too much time to think about the tension pulling taught between Kade and I, and all the questions left unanswered.
Two hours in, and my thighs were screaming. Aching. Despite my riding skills, it had been years since I’d been allowed to venture away from Ellevail enough to amass more than an hour riding at a time. Day two of this had me dreading how sore I’d be once we returned to the palace tomorrow evening, cursing myself for forgetting Elisabeth’s salve. The first thing I would be doing would be taking a long, hot bath and having that blessed concoction soothe my aching muscles.
I only lasted a few more minutes before I needed a distraction from the pain radiating through my body. Ian and Storm were in front of me while Kade rode beside me. His face seemed serious, deep in concentration. His brows were furrowed, and even with the breeze and cooler morning temperatures, sweat beaded across his forehead.
“A little horseback riding has you all hot and bothered, Kade?” I teased.
He didn’t say anything, didn’t even acknowledge I had spoken. I hated the way my heart sank. Perhaps he wasn’t in the mood for joking around. I kept my gaze trained forward so he couldn’t see the pain in my eyes. Silence continued until Kade abruptly stopped his horse in the middle of the path. I tugged on the reins of my own horse to halt as well.
“Today is a special day for some of my friends,” he said quietly. “A sort of anniversary of when we all realized we weren’t so alone. I haven’t seen them in a long time and was merely thinking about how I miss them.”
My chest expanded as he shared this piece of his soul with me. I knew he wouldn’t have shared it with just anyone. He looked down at his horse, patting the mare’s neck before our eyes locked once more.
The deviation to something more serious than the bickering between us surprised me. “I’m sorry you are away from your friends and helping me instead.” My heart jolted, suddenly heavy, thinking of what I would do if I were ever away from Ian and Kalliah for any length of time. I couldn’t be sure if I would survive without them. “Some people make friendship look so easy, but it’s something else entirely when you find people who understand you. Truly understand you.”
He mirrored my small smile and neither of us looked away until Kade’s eyes darkened, and he stiffened. He closed his eyes, shaking his head and allowing whatever shadow passed through him to clear. Gone almost as quickly as it had come, he shifted on his saddle, urging his horse forward once more.
“Why are you helping us?” I asked. “You have no reason to. You offer your aid and skill to towns where you have no allegiance. I haven’t promised you favor in the trials. So, what’s in it for you?”
“Well, Little Rebe—” Kade stopped, tensing.
Ian came to a halt, his right fist quickly rising in the air. A signal for all of us to be silent and stop moving.
Even the breeze stilled around us. Ian swiveled his head, as Storm and Kade matched his movements. They searched the trees and skies for any indication of danger, any indication to explain whatever they all sensed.
Suddenly, it encompassed me, too. Even without magic, something stroked my skin. Something ominous, heavy, and wrong. A hum of dark energy lay just out of reach.
A whistle sounded throughout the air seconds before an arrow struck the ground in front of my horse's hooves. The beast reared. “Easy, girl, easy,” I said, trying to soothe her angst.
My eyes widened, and moved slowly from the arrow to Kade, then to the trees beyond.
We were under attack.
I quickly pulled the dagger from its sheath at my side.
Ian turned his horse, facing me and Kade. “Go, as fast as you can. We have a better chance of making it if we can get to the next field where they will not be able to hide in the trees.”
“What about you?” I asked, but as I spoke, Ian jumped from his horse and leapt into the air, shifting into his hawk form.
“Damn, I’ve never seen a shifter transform so quick,” Storm said. “Come on.”
Without missing a beat, Storm grabbed onto the reins of Ian’s horse, and the three of us galloped as fast as we could through the remaining parts of the forest. We would have to ride close to the tree line and through one more patch, before entering the open field. We had no other option.
Storm pushed his horse harder, begging her to gallop faster as we followed.
As we fled through the forest, arrows soared above our heads the entire journey. Only they weren’t even close to hitting us. They volleyed over and over, always landing near our horses’ hooves, or behind us.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
They whizzed but remained just off by a few inches. Almost as if they were trying to miss us.
A screech from the air stopped my heart. I knew that cry, Fates help us.
We cleared the forest and into the open field before we immediately came to a halt.
No.
An audible gasp escaped my lips at the sight before me. At least thirty dark ones rushed toward us. We’d ridden straight into a trap.
There were too many. Re-gripping my dagger, I knew there would be no time to hesitate. No time to panic.
The dark ones descended upon Storm first, and he jumped from his horse. He hadn’t even reached for his sword this time, like he had done previously.
“What are you doing?” I cried, scared for him as he held his hands out to his side.
Fire ignited in each palm, winding up his arm. “Come and get me,” he snarled.
Ian landed in hawk form, shifting quickly as he grabbed his sword from his horse’s pack. He turned, barely removing it in time to get to the attackers.
Kade swung off his own steed, blade in hand. He appeared to float as his shadows unfurled from his limbs and reached out, grabbing the first three attackers near him and snapping their necks.
I stared in absolute awe at the magic I witnessed. Storm and Kade were stronger than any Fae I knew except for my father. They were honed like they’d been fighting their entire lives.
Honed just like Ian, if not better, given the magic they possessed.
Where had they been hiding such magic? Why had they been hiding it?
I’d seen those shadows, though. They’d protected me from Lord West and Andras in the hallway. They’d curled around me playfully tugging at my hair when I found Kade reading. Fates, I didn’t realize how powerful they were at the time.
I didn’t have long to stare before two dark ones reached me. They stalked toward me, assuming I was weaker, and they could take their time. Snickering as if I were a toy to play with, not a woman who could actually fight.
“I’d grab a weapon if I were you.” I grimaced before darting forward, using the techniques Ian and I perfected in the pit.
One thing I learned to love most about a battle was the moment of shock on a person’s face when they realized they’d underestimated me. With a smile, I knew I had the dark ones caught off guard and had sliced through one of their necks before he had time to grab a blade.
I wasn’t as lucky with his friend. More prepared, he hissed at me over the death of his comrade.
He attacked violently and without any structure, swinging with a strength much stronger than mine.
An arrow flew toward me, and I veered as the dark one lunged with his sword, a move which likely saved my life. The arrow grazed my thigh, leaving a cut, but landing directly where I had been standing.
As I blocked the sword of the Fae I battled, something pierced my side.
I didn’t make a sound as I hit the ground. Nothing came out, no cry for help, even though my mouth opened wide.
Ian screamed at me. The dark one circled me with glee. I tried to stand up and immediately wavered, my knee buckling and giving out as an agonizing pain consumed me. The dark one had stabbed me, with a small dagger, through to the hilt.
I heard a shout, angry and violent. Then nothing. Blood pooled quickly onto my shirt at the wound.
The dark one before me froze, a blade thrusting through his chest, and then suddenly, vanished from my line of sight.
Ian’s face paled as he hovered over me.
I couldn't even hear what he said. My eyes were off in the field, astounded at the way Kade wielded his magic. His power called to me in a way I had never experienced before. It promised vengeance. Shadows seeped through his fingers, wrapping around the necks of the attackers, cracking them in one swift blow.
How was it even possible?
“Breathe, Lan. Breathe.” Ian’s fingers prodded the area near the wound.
My stomach knotted. I may be sick.
Ian’s furrowed brow and twisted features betrayed his anguish as he struggled to decide how he should pull the dagger out. Or if he should at all. With no healers, I didn’t know if I’d survive it.
“It would be a really good time to have magic, huh?” I tried to joke, coughing. A ring of fire sprouted up, circling around Ian and myself.
Storm had found us. “It’s mine,” he shouted, before hurling another fireball toward one of the attackers.
The flaming circle didn’t stop two dark ones from jumping in and rushing toward me and Ian. He cursed under his breath as he left my side to enter the battle and keep them away. “Kade!” Ian shouted. “Help me!”
I noticed Kade’s body through the flames as he spun in my direction, slicing the throat of another assailant aiming to end our lives. The moment he locked eyes with me on the ground, he ran. His shadows surrounded us, smothering Storm’s fire, and casting a blanket of darkness around us.
Taking down two more dark ones on the way, he fell by my side. “This is going to hurt,” he said, yanking the dagger from my side.
“No—” My words were too late. Blood gushed from the wound too quickly.
The dagger should have stayed, without it, I’d bleed out. A hazy blackness swarmed the edges of my vision.
“Lana, what are you waiting for?” Kade yelled. “Heal yourself!”
“I… I… get Ian…” I barely mustered. My fingers shook as I clutched my side, the warm stickiness of blood coating them in rivets.
“Why aren’t you healing?” Kade’s panicked tone soaked into me. I wanted to soothe his fear, but at this rate, perhaps he had reason to panic.
“Ian, I need you. Now ,” Kade shouted, his shadows crawling over me, shifting my fingers away as they pressed against the wound. I hissed. He tried to cover my injury and stop the bleeding himself. “Something doesn’t feel right. Why isn’t this working?”
Ian rushed to my side, shoving Kade out of the way. “You took the blade out?”
“She wouldn’t have healed around it,” Kade growled.
Kade and Ian stared at each other for a moment, and Kade’s shadows glowed with an orange light. Storm had created a second ring of fire around us, trying to buy us whatever time he could.
“I don’t have time to explain,” Ian said to Kade. “Fuck!” Ian ran his blood-soaked hands through his hair. “She’s not going to heal, and I don’t have strong enough abilities to even attempt to heal this kind of injury.”
I watched Kade’s face fall as he stared back at me. “Neither do we,” he murmured, his voice barely a whisper.
Inhaling sharply, I winced as pain lanced from my side through my body.
“You’re going to be okay. Lan, we’re going to make sure you’re all right,” Ian reassured, stroking my head.
Storm bellowed from beyond our shadows and fire. There were still dark ones attacking and no one to help him.
“Help him,” I managed to hiss.
The heat from Storm’s flames were unbearable and there wasn’t much time. They needed to be safe, too. I needed to know they would all be safe.
“Go. Take her now and get back to the damned palace. Storm and I will stall for you,” Kade said, as his shadows continued to flow from his body, unending, growing darker by the second. A scowl covered his face as rage radiated from him.
“There’s so many—” Ian started, but then he glanced at me again and nodded. “We will meet you there. Get back as soon as you can. Stay with her while I grab a horse.”
Ian left and Kade turned back to me. “No,” I whimpered. “No, too many. You can’t.” Suddenly, an all-consuming fear forced me to fight harder.
Not for myself. Not because of this wound, which would surely kill me.
But for him.
“You can’t fight them all,” I said, a tear falling down my cheek.
“Are you worried for me?” Kade’s calloused hand cupped my cheek, and his thumb brushed away the stray tear.
A horse neighed.
Before Kade rose, he leaned down, kissing my forehead before pressing his own to mine. “Don’t you dare die on me yet, Little Rebel. We’re not nearly finished with this thing between us.”
He disappeared from my vision as Ian grabbed me, jostling the wound as I cried in his arms at the shot of pain, despite attempting to fight it. He threw me onto the horse, and Storm’s flames receded as we left its enclosure. It hurt so much, and my vision filled with black spots. I couldn’t be certain how much longer I would stay conscious, the dark spots growing larger. As though Kade’s shadows were entering my very mind.
I watched Kade and Storm battling the remaining Fae, outnumbered and alone. My tears fell freely now. I couldn’t stop them.
“They’re going to be okay, Lan. You need to focus on staying awake. I can’t lose you. Do you hear me?” Ian spoke reassurances and curses at me as he galloped harder than ever from the battle toward home.
I jostled again, my head too heavy to hold up on my own. Ian held me firmly in place.
The next time my body shifted, I didn’t think I felt as much blood coming from my wound. Did I have any left? Perhaps it slowed somehow?
Those were my last thoughts before I lost consciousness completely, surrendering to the shadows and pretending like we were all still together, and safe.