Chapter 10
Once the cool air hit his face, Rise felt his temper recede, and his sense of mind return.
He still couldn’t believe what he’d been about to do.
In all of his life, he’d never been so lost to lust as he had been with Liv, the daughter of his enemy.
Who was he kidding? Up until she’d told him the tortures she’d endured at the hands of her father, he had thought her a proper villain as well.
He still wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with her.
If he were smart, which he clearly wasn’t, he would stop the fucking nonsense and take her straight to her father, get close enough to chop the bastard’s head off, and be done with the entire family.
Instead, he was still sporting half a hard-on for a woman who probably was playing him for the fool he was turning out to be.
Even now, with the crook of her finger, he’d probably kneel before her, drooling, and let his head be ripped from his shoulders without the slightest bit of a struggle.
For all he knew, it had been her plan all along, and her sister was waiting on the other side of the beach to put an arrow right through his heart.
It was the least of what he deserved for letting his guard down.
Yet, as he rounded a rather jagged boulder, he didn’t see an army waiting to attack. Instead, he saw a small, lone figure standing at the water’s edge, hands cupped around his mouth, calling out toward the choppy water in front of him.
He stopped to watch, wondering if the creature they’d fought merely an hour before might come out and snatch the figure right off the beach in front of them.
“It’s just a kid.”
Rise shifted his focus to his right where Liv edged up beside him, looking no worse for the wear. Tension still pulled his muscles tight, and he resented the fact she obviously wasn’t hurting as much as he was.
“Well, how the hell did he get here?”
“I don’t know. I mean, could he have just wandered into your dimension?”
Rise turned his gaze back toward the interloping child. “Not without some help.” But who the hell was letting others into his dimension?
He had an idea, but he still wasn’t sure how Liv’s sister could have opened his seal. It was unbreakable to any who had come before her. As a matter of fact, being able to create a dimension at will was the only thing that had finally saved him from a life…and early death…of slavery.
The smile that lifted her lips shouldn’t have brought one to his, but he knew what she was thinking.
She was convinced that her sister would be with them soon and would alleviate her fate from his odious presence.
However, Rise only saw an opportunity to entice Grawl so convincingly, he wouldn’t see the trap closing around him until it was too late.
Grawl would never be able to say no to getting his hands on both daughters.
For the smallest of moments, though, doubt crept in. He didn’t doubt he could pull off his plan. For some ridiculous reason, he was now questioning whether he should use Liv as bait.
On the one hand, she never thought twice about using him as just another slave in the palace.
Yet, she had remembered him. She had called him “her dream.” He had meant something to her, even if it was to bring her peace in her uncertain existence.
She hadn’t been able to count on much, but she had counted on his presence. Something about that gave him pause.
The smile fell from his face as he planted his hands on his hips and glared at her. He fucking hated that she still had any effect on him. But she did. There was no denying it.
She looped an arm through his and leaned her sexy body into him. He glanced down at the electrifying connection. Damn if his cock didn’t take notice.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out how he got here. Let’s go ask him.”
On his list of things he never wanted to do, possibly one of the very first things at the top of the list was to interact with children, matter alone, in a dimension he created specifically to avoid people, most especially children.
But seeing as they’d almost been killed by creatures he hadn’t let in, and a random kid had found his way in, Rise needed information.
So, without saying anything more, he met her gaze and nodded, and they started walking toward the kid, her arm entwined with his for the whole way.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
As they got closer, Rise listened to the kid calling over the sound of the whistling of the wind and the quiet slosh of the water, “Spot! Here boy! No more playing around! We’ve got to go now!”
They stopped, without notice, once they were a few feet away.
The kid was a scrawny thing, no more than four feet tall.
He had scraggly, black hair that stuck out around his ears, and his skin was brownish, possibly from the layer of dust that seemed to coat him, but it was hard to tell for sure.
He wore what looked like a blue tunic with purple detail that covered his arms and chest, hitting just below his knees.
A bulky, leather vest was layered over the tunic, for what looked like decoration or possibly warmth.
Underneath the tunic, he seemed to be wearing some sort of dark-colored leggings, and a pair of soft-leather shoes.
His voice was high-pitched and desperate.
Something that reminded Rise of a younger version of himself.
Liv cleared her throat, and the young boy turned toward them, wide-eyed. He swallowed with a loud gulp right before his chin dropped, and his mouth opened wide. Rise sensed his muscles tensing to run.
“Wait! Don’t go! We mean you no harm.”
He backed toward the water.
Liv pulled away from Rise, and he felt the loss of her immediately. He wanted to keep touching her. Yet, she seemed to know what to do.
She stepped forward with just the slightest movement, stooping slightly as she did. “Hi! My name’s Liverity. What’s yours?”
The boy just stared, and with one quick shake of his head, gave an indication he wasn’t going to share any information with them.
Liv tried again. “We really aren’t going to hurt you. We just have a few questions for you. We’re curious. How did you get here?”
Instead of answering her, he gave a loud whistle and looked back toward the water. Rise had a feeling they’d already met Spot once, and he wasn’t in a hurry to do so again. He needed to get control of this situation, and he needed to do it now.
“Are you hungry? I have a little food in my bag. I’m happy to share with you, but we need to move away from the water.”
This seemed to be the right tactic as the boy’s stomach growled loudly, and he gave a hesitant nod.
Liv motioned for him to follow as she turned back around, watching for his compliance. “We have a cave just up the way where we can all sit, eat, and chat. You look like you could use a friend, and we are as friendly as they come.”
Now was probably not the time to bring up each of their past lives as mercenaries or his ever-evolving plot of revenge that he’d devoted his life to.
Neither were going to support the idea that they could be a friend, even though, just looking at the two of them, any sane person would know Liv and he weren’t the most trustworthy of companions.
Fortunately, they were dealing with a kid, probably no more than ten years old.
So, without more than a few more moments of hesitant and light blue-eyed, longing looks toward the water, the kid took a step in their direction.
Rise was just a little surprised at the ease at which they were able to get back to the cave.
No water monsters and no fiery beasts emerged, and somehow, nothing else appeared either.
Once they were settled on the boulders that served as seats inside the small cave, Rise pulled out a few bits of bread and dried meat he had wrapped for today’s meals and handed it over to the kid.
He only stared at it for a second before sniffing it and promptly devouring every last bite, leaving no crumb to fall to the cave floor. He must have been starving.
Once he’d put the wrapping down beside him, Rise asked, “Would you like something to drink?”
The boy nodded enthusiastically, but before Rise handed the flask over he asked, “How did you get here?”
Chewing his lip a few moments, he seemed to be deciding whether he should confide in them or not. Yet, as Rise handed over the flask, the kid said, “My name’s Atta. I don’t really know how I got here. I just…just needed somewhere to hide and gather my friends to help me.”
Liv scooted to the edge of her rock and asked, “Who are you hiding from?”
“The bad man who took my mom.”
Liv reacted with a quick intake of air. “Someone took your mom?”
The kid nodded enthusiastically. “She helped me get away, but he still has her.”
“Who is this bad man?”
“I don’t know. He’s so old and big and scary. He has cold eyes and an angry mouth. But my friends and I are going to get my mom back. I just have to get them bigger and stronger. They’ll fight the bad man and free her.”
Rise was still confused. The kid’s answers were uninformative at best. Every bad guy had cold eyes and an angry mouth.
That didn’t tell them anything. “Tell me, Atta. How did you actually get here? This is a world that should be locked to everyone except for me. Are you telling me your mother opened this world for you?”
“No. I did it. My friends are too big to hide anywhere else. We came here until we are ready to attack the castle and get my mom back.”
“You opened a portal to this world? You did it?”
The kid nodded, and Rise didn’t know what to think.
Liv stepped forward and placed a hand softly on Rise’s arm. He swung his gaze to hers, hoping she had some sort of insight to calm his racing mind. How had a kid figured out portal-walking, especially through locked ones?
“Look at the bumps under his vest. He has wings, Rise.”