Chapter 15
Before I could form a single swear word, Ace leapt to his feet and latched his hand around my wrist.
Gales, he was gloriously naked.
“Let’s go,” he growled and pulled me toward the path. “Your brother and your flirty, rope-loving rogue weren’t in this group. There are more men out here hunting us.”
I stumbled after him, miraculously finding my footing without face planting.
Somehow, despite my brain reeling, I managed to bend and snatch a bow and quiver from a dismembered body as I jogged to keep up.
It wasn’t my bow and they weren’t my magical arrows, but they would have to do.
I slung it over my shoulders and strapped the quiver to my waist.
“You could’ve shifted into a wolf this entire time?” He could’ve shifted at Hecate’s cabin. Or during the trip to the base camp. Or when Paul and Darius cornered us. “This entire time.”
“I couldn’t risk witnesses,” he said. “I don’t shift unless it’s necessary.”
“Isn’t imminent death considered necessary?” I asked. “You could’ve saved us at Hecate’s cabin.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. The transformation isn’t exactly quick. Do you think they’d wait patiently for me to finish transforming into a wolf before shooting me full of arrows? Besides, we now know the location of their camp and the extent of your brother’s involvement.”
“I have so many questions.” A thought stabbed my brain. He could shift into a wolf, which meant he probably travelled as one. “Is this why you suck at hunting with a bow and arrow?”
He didn’t answer, probably assuming what little morsel of information he gave was satisfactory. He kept running, the muscles of his toned body contracting and relaxing with each stride. He was still gloriously naked.
“Are we running toward your clothes?” I asked.
Ace glanced down at his rippling muscles. “Does it bother you?”
It took every ounce of self control for me not to follow his gaze. “I’m more worried about your comfort.”
He shook his head and pressed forward. “I know a place. I keep clothes there.”
“Sounds delightful.”
“It’s not.”
I pressed my lips together and focused on the narrow path in front of us. I most definitely did not allow my gaze to drift down to watch Ace’s dick as he ran.
That would be inappropriate.
Ace led me to a section of the river that ran off a rocky cliff in a cascading waterfall. I balked at the riverbank. “What’s up with you and water?”
Ace shrugged. “I like it wet.”
He stepped into the water and flapped his hand for me to follow him as if he hadn’t just said that.
I folded my arms over my chest.
“There’s a cave hidden along the rocky bank. You can’t spot it from here and we have to wade through the river to reach the entrance.” He moved farther into the water. “Come on, Mouse.”
I stepped into the river. The current curled around my legs, tugging insistently as we moved through the cold, moonlit water.
Ahead of me, Ace walked with impossible grace, his body half-submerged, his back a shifting landscape of muscle and strength.
The silvery light traced every ripple of skin that should have been marred with injuries.
But the wounds from the fire and the nicks from the arrows were gone, as if the river had washed away more than just blood and ash.
Wait a phaaning minute.
I looked closer.
All his cuts and burns were gone, and it wasn’t the water that healed him.
“You could’ve healed yourself by shifting?” I blurted out. “You made me play nurse for no reason.”
“I wouldn’t say for no reason.” Ace shrugged as if suffering was no big deal. Like he didn’t think anything of the pain. “I wasn’t ready to reveal my secret. You should know all about wanting to keep secrets.”
I snapped my mouth shut.
“Besides, I quite enjoyed how well you played nurse…”
“You’re such an idiot,” I snapped.
The corners of his lips quirked up. “We finally agree on something.”
Our feet smacked the wet stone with loud slaps as we entered a cave.
Ace let go of my hand and walked into the shadows.
Darkness closed in at once. The moon barely reached us here, its silver touch reduced to a dim outline of rock and water.
I heard Ace’s movements more than I saw them.
He padded along the rocky ground, his feet splashing little pools of water, as he moved away from me to fumble with something in the dark.
Stone struck stone with a sharp clack. Sparks leapt in the air.
Ace crouched near the wall, his jaw tight with focus. He struck the stone again. A spark landed on the bundle of dried moss he had tucked into a hollowed rock. Smoke curled and he leaned in, coaxing the spark with a slow breath until a flame flickered to life.
Light spilled out, stretching shadows across the walls, revealing the jagged opening of a tunnel behind him. He transferred the fire to a waiting torch.
“Is it safe to have a fire?” I asked.
Ace turned around, holding the small torch in his hand. The fire flickered and cast half his face in a warm orange glow while shrouding the other in shadow.
His gaze flashed and his lips quirked.
A thought struck me.
Every time I caught that flash in his gaze but couldn’t place the emotion.
It was his wolf.
It was a flash of gold giving away the animal he caged inside.
I had never heard of a shapeshifter running around. There hadn’t been any since…
I sucked in a breath. It all made sense now. The pointy ears, the aversion to iron, the claim of being phaanon but not immortal. “You’re a phaanon shifter.”
“Obviously.” He jerked his head toward the inside of the cave. “Let’s go. I have dry clothes for us.”
I followed him deeper into the cave, trailing after the small light and his rock-hard ass. I swept back my wet hair. It slapped my back. “How do you have dry clothes here?”
He turned and leaned in, his slick skin inches from my face. “There’s another entrance.”
Of course there was.
“Is this where you’ve been hiding all these years?” If he walked around in wolf form, it would certainly explain why I never spotted him. This area was also still outside my normal patrol range.
“Not just here. I stayed at the cabin, too. I didn’t lie about that.” He stepped away and I made the mistake of looking up. Water trailed down his back, catching the flickering light from the small torch in his hand.
“That’s why you had a dog door…” I was such an idiot. Maybe my brother was right to question my intelligence. All the clues were right there, slapping me in the face.
Ace didn’t respond, probably not seeing a reason to.
Smoke billowed from the torch in small plumes and pooled along the ceiling of the cave. Whisps of gray travelled away in two directions—deeper into the cave and toward the entrance.
“There’s a number of ventilation holes throughout the cave system,” Ace said. “We’ll be able to have a small fire without risk of detection. No one will see the light and even if the hunters smell smoke, they’ll never pinpoint the source.”
I let out a long breath. “Well, that alleviates one concern.”
“We weren’t followed. They’ll lose our trail the moment they reach the river.”
“That wasn’t my other concern.”
He placed his free hand on his hip, completely unashamed of his nakedness.
“Clothes?” I squinted at him.
He smirked, his lips quirking up at one corner before he sauntered past me and held out the torch. “Hold this.”
I snatched the torch out of his hand and wrapped my free arm around my stomach. The cold from the air seeped into my wet skin. My clothes hung heavy on my body. I shivered and leaned closer to the torch. Maybe the little glow of light would provide some warmth.
Ace walked into the darkness, letting the shadows consume him. His feet padded softly along the stone ground until he stopped and shuffled about. Clothing whispered along stone. He was getting dressed.
I was torn between feeling relief and disappointment.
Ace walked back into the light, clothed in loose fitting cotton pants and a cotton shirt that clung to his shoulders and arms and laced up at the front.
Before I could comment on his attire, he tossed a bundle of clothing at me. I caught the items one handed, managing not to drop them or burn myself.
Point for me.
“You can get dressed around the corner.”
I peered off into the dark abyss of the cave. “What exactly made these caves?”
“Not sure. I can’t tell if they’re man-made, but something else does live here. I sometimes detect traces of its scent when I’m in my wolf form, but I’ve never met it, or them, nor do I ever plan to.”
I stared at the shadows as a shiver ran along my spine. Phaaning-fantastic.
“You can take the torch with you if you’d like.”
“And have you watch me from the shadows?” I held out the torch. “Not a chance.”
Ace took the torch from my hand and leaned in. The flickering firelight played with the sharp angles of his features.
“I preferred watching you naked under the waterfall. You look like a drowned rat right now, Mouse, and I don’t like it at all. Go change.”
I bit back my response and squinted at him. I couldn’t tell if he was serious, but he was probably right about me looking like a drowned rodent. I set my bow down, clutched my new clothes to my chest and walked into the darkness.