Chapter 14 #2
I climbed into his lap, his arms tightening around my torso immediately. I leaned the side of my body against his chest, resting my head on his shoulder. By the Gods, I’d missed this man.
Another loud howl echoed, but this time, stomping paws followed it. I fidgeted in Torin’s arms.
"Stay still," he whispered, his grip tightening protectively around me. "They cannot see or hear us if we do not move."
The hellish hounds were one thing, but who could guess what other horrors lurked in the dark. I held my breath and waited until the sinister noises faded into the night. My body started to relax against Torin’s.
His warmth entwined me, the world outside momentarily forgotten. I let out a sigh, my eyelids growing too heavy to keep them open.
At the first poke at my lower back, my eyes snapped wide open, my breath hitching.
“Torin.”
I could feel him. Torin was hard, and my core clenched with desire, although I was too exhausted to act on it.
“Just sleep, little witch wolf,” Torin whispered in my ear, his hot breath tickling my skin. “You have that effect on me, but I won’t do anything to you until you’re ready and you can forgive me.”
Taking a deep breath and filling my nostrils with everything Torin soothed me. For a passing moment, I thought about what Torin had done to my uncle, but my love for this man overrode any resentment for his uncontrolled actions.
“I forgave you a long time ago…”
I didn’t know exactly when—perhaps when he asked for forgiveness from my parents, or even earlier when he broke the compulsion of his master.
I readjusted my position on his lap, causing Torin to groan.
“You’ll be the death of me, which I’ll gladly take if it means you’ll be happy forever,” he mumbled, but I was too tired to respond.
His hold on me tightened as Torin kissed my forehead. My ear pressed against his chest detected his heart’s steady beats. My eyelids completely closed, and I drifted into sweet oblivion, wishing I could savor this moment forever.
Feeling safe was one of the effects Torin had on me.
The next morning, we started following Ashton again. We walked for hours, cutting through the dark forest, dodging the bare, reaching branches, and climbing steep hills. When we finally arrived in another ruined city, something felt off.
Wasn’t the City of Fire supposed to have the fairy King’s castle? I expected it to be a thriving town of people who submitted to the tyrant. Instead, this city looked a lot like the ruined City of Earth we’d left yesterday.
Short, rectangular white buildings dotted the landscape, nestled among the towering mountains that encircled the town. The breeze picked up into a powerful gust, forming tiny dust clouds in the empty streets.
As we arrived in the center of the town, a cracked metal bell lay on the ground, its enormous mouth gaping upward. The broken clapper lay next to it.
As we strolled farther into the wind-battered city, a nagging suspicion gnawed at the back of my mind. Ashton’s guidance had seemed genuine, but something about our journey didn't quite add up.
I fell a safe distance behind Ashton and walked next to Torin. “Do you think this man has been leading us astray?"
He frowned, something he’d been doing a lot lately, his brow furrowing.
"Think about it. We were supposed to be taken to the fairy King's city, but there’s nothing that represents fire here." I looked around. “In the City of Earth, there was a rock in the town square.”
Torin nodded slowly, his gaze darkening. "This could be more than just a simple detour."
Robert peered at me from Torin’s other side and nodded. We continued farther into the city, seeking shelter from the relentless gusts amidst the ruins of what was once a grand marketplace. Our footsteps echoed through the empty streets.
The frames of merchant stalls with their colorful canopies, torn and faded, lay shattered on the ground. As my boots crunched, my gaze fell to the debris. I walked over broken mirror pieces.
Torin caught up with our guide and blocked his path. He crossed his arms over his almost bare chest, muscles rippling and flexing. We all halted in our tracks.
“You have some explaining to do.” Torin glared at Ashton, eyes flashing crimson.
Dropping one hand to his side and keeping the other at his chest, Torin grew his razor-sharp talons. I’d seen his claws and deadly talons on many occasions, yet here, I gawked at the man, hoping he could shift into his vampire so I could see his raw desire for me in those crimson eyes.
I shook my head. Not the time.
Robert nudged me gently. “He’s even sexy when he’s scary, right?”
He chuckled, and I elbowed him hard in the side of his stomach.
“Torin is not scary,” I whispered, while Robert grinned. “But the first part is true.”
Torin rolled his eyes at me and then at his brother.
In London, I feared Torin’s vampire would eat me alive. Now I hoped he would.
I cleared my throat nervously and focused on Ashton’s shaky body. I couldn’t see his face but imagined his eyes were big and wide, staring at the looming supernatural before him.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said and let out a low sob.
“This is the City of Air, Goliah. I only brought you here to witness the devastation the fairy King brought onto this realm.” His voice escalated.
“Do you see what the fairy King did? He slayed anyone who didn’t follow him and captured the rest.”
Ugh. We didn’t come here for sightseeing. I groaned, letting my head fall back. We’d detoured, losing time. Time to find Willa. Time to return to my parents in the werewolf kingdom.
Straightening, I walked around the deformed man, facing him. “Why?”
Ashton whipped his head around, his eyes just as I imagined them. “Because you can help us stop the fairy King’s oppression and destruction,” he said. “You can breathe life back into the realm.”
A muscle ticked in my cheek as I clenched my jaw. I pressed my lips together to stifle the roar of anger that threatened to escape my throat. Torin and Robert glared at our untrustworthy guide. I took deep breaths to calm my heaving chest.
The call to save the fairy realm was a burden that weighed heavily on my shoulders. No. My mission was to save my mother and free her from prison.
But Ashton’s words resonated deep within me.
But I wouldn’t be swayed. Willa was all that mattered now.