Chapter 5
Chapter Five
We walked back to our tent as I tossed Val’s idea around in my head. What if Val could cut through Harrow’s spell like she did when Elia was captured? We could end this entire thing!
‘I won’t know how complex it is until I see it,’ Val confirmed.
‘And anyone in town will do?’
‘Yes, if the entire city is under Mind Render’s magic, I’ll be able to see how it works. I can see magic that is invisible to your eye.’
The air around us felt thick with purpose, heavy with the scent of pine resin. The tents behind me rustled in the night, but the world outside them felt still, waiting.
I walked past my tent and toward the thick tree line as Godric jogged to catch up.
“Wrong way, Brynn!” he called, but I gave him a wide-eyed look, sharp, urgent, and he immediately fell silent and followed.
The forest swallowed us quickly. Shadows stretched long between the trunks, and the ground was soft with needles. Only when we were at least a hundred feet in did I finally exhale the breath burning in my chest.
“How badly do you want to rescue your sister from being Harrow’s favorite bed companion?” I hated to word it that way, but that’s how dire it was.
“More than anything,” he growled. The sound was raw, guttural, his wolf bleeding into his voice.
I nodded, telling him Valkaryn’s plan.
As I spoke, moonlight filtered through the canopy in thin silver strands, illuminating flecks of dust floating between us. Godric’s expression shifted as I spoke, with alarm, disbelief, until his eyes went wide.
“I will not lie to my alpha.”
‘Tell him technically I’m still queen.’
Val’s voice was dry with sarcasm, but I didn’t repeat the words.
Instead, I reached out and grasped his fingers. His hands were callused, rough from years of training and war; mine were smaller, softer, almost fragile against his.
“Since the day I met Kaelric, he’s treated me like I was made of glass.
Yet this power I wield—” I eyed the sword on my hip, the metal catching the faint glow “—is greater than anything even he can do. If we want to defeat this imposter king, we need intel. Intel only Val can give us by seeing Mind Render’s spell first-hand. ”
He dropped my hands, dragging both palms up over his face as if physically trying to scrub away what I’d said.
“We’ll tell Kaelric, and have him agree to it.”
I shook my head. “He’ll never let me go. Would you let your mate go?”
He froze, just a breath, and then frowned deeply. The answer showed in his eyes long before he spoke.
“No.”
The truth sat heavily between us.
“We could sneak out tonight, and you could tell him the truth come morning when he wakes, but then he will come for me with his army, and people would die.”
He growled, turning away, pacing a short line between two trees. Leaves crunched beneath his boots.
“Lying to my alpha? I’ve never done it.”
I nodded, heart twisting. “I understand. Then I will go alone, and come morning, you tell him where I went, but restrain him so that he can’t come after me.”
He barked a humorless laugh. “Restrain Kaelric? I don’t want to die, and I’d never let you go alone.”
“Then what are we doing?” I asked, arms limp at my sides. The question hung there like cold mist.
He chewed the inside of his cheek, thoughtful, torn.
“I’m going to reason with Kaelric. Show him this is a good idea and that I will go with you. Pack your bag and be ready to move out.”
My eyebrows shot up. Was he serious? I loved the idea of not having to leave Kaelric a note that would break his heart. I preferred the truth.
“Okay.”
This was totally happening.
An hour later, I sat in my tent with my bag packed and my stomach a ball of nerves.
The air felt tight, humming with tension; every sound outside made me flinch. Canvas walls rustled gently in the wind; the flame in my lantern flickered, throwing restless shadows across the floor.
Kaelric had been talking to Godric for the past hour in his tent and parroting things to me inside my head.
Are you insane?
There’s no way.
I love you. I would never allow this.
I forbid it.
Does my mother really think this is necessary?
Does she think that if she does this, she could free Maelis?
Are you sure you can do this?
You don’t have to do this.
Each thought was sharp and frantic, hitting me like a physical blow. By the time he finally appeared at my open tent flap, I was emotionally wrecked.
His hands were fists, and his eyes glowed yellow, bright like wildfire beneath his lashes.
I stood, and he rushed forward, pulling me into his arms so suddenly I staggered.
“People will see!” I scolded, glancing at the open tent flaps. We were currently hiding the whole human mate thing.
“Let them see,” he growled, pressing his nose to my neck and inhaling deeply.
The heat of his breath slid down my spine. His hold was almost desperate, like he was memorizing me with every touch, scent, sound, storing me away where no one could take me from him.
‘He’s likely getting your smell on him so that if you are not back in twenty-four hours, his wolf can scent you even a hundred miles away.’
Okay, that was less romantic, but still sweet.
“You’re letting me go?” I asked, hope and fear twisting against each other in my chest. I wanted to save Elia’s mom, but part of me wanted his blessing too.
He pulled back, jaw clenched so tightly the muscles trembled.
“I want to go with you, but everyone in Lunaria knows what I look like. Hell, they even know what Godric looks like, but he’s working on a disguise now.”
“So Godric and I are going?” I confirmed.
He bit down on his lip, jaw trembling, as if giving me permission would kill him.
“I trust my mother,” was all he said.
‘About time,’ she snapped.
I reached up and stroked his cheek, feeling the warm scrape of stubble under my palm. His gaze softened just a fraction, just enough to break me.
“She can see spells that are invisible to our eyes. This will give us the information we need in order to save Maelis and hopefully defeat Harrow.”
He nodded, though the movement was stiff. I leaned in and kissed his lips, savoring the way it made my stomach tumble and twist like the world beneath me tilted.
“Brynn?”
He met my gaze with glowing yellow eyes.
“Yes?”
“If you’re not back in twenty-four hours, I’ll storm the city with every wolf I have and burn it to the ground to find you.”
A chill ran down my spine.
He meant it, every word.
And everyone would die in the process, including him.
I didn’t say that.
“I’ll be back. I’ve got your mother and Godric to look after me. Don’t worry.”
He released a shaky breath, half pain, half surrender, as I stepped out of the tent.
I startled, nearly jumping back, when I saw a strange, large man standing in the moonlight. The silver glow outlined a bulky shape, a round belly, thick shoulders, and a completely shaved head.
Only when he grinned did I realize it was Godric.
He’d shaved his head, was wearing glasses, and had a huge potbelly strapped beneath his shirt. His clothes were torn and dirty, smudged in several colors of grime, and his legs and arms were dusted with so much dirt they looked like tree bark.
He looked like a wandering miner or laborer who’d crawled through the roughest parts of the land.
“Wow,” was all I said.
He grinned wider, patting his belly, clearly some kind of stuffed pillow.
“I’m ready.”
My pulse jumped.
I couldn’t stay another moment, not when the weight of Kaelric’s permission was so fragile it could shatter with a single doubt.
So I kissed Kaelric one last time, and Godric and I slipped into the trees under the dead of night. Our boots were soft on pine needles, hearts hammering as the forest swallowed us whole.
Ahead waited the city under control, ruled by the savage king himself.