Chapter 24 #2
My magic had been dampened to almost nothing, thanks to me losing all reason earlier. If I could, I’d go back and kick my past self in the balls as hard as possible for sabotaging myself. One thing was clear, traveling by shadowwalking was out of the question.
How I’d exited the inn and arrived at the stables escaped my memory.
One moment, I’d been in our bedroom freaking out, the next I mounted my horse, not even bothering to saddle him.
Luckily, we’d never taught Nayana how to ride on her own, so it was most likely she’d left on foot.
Which meant I was faster than her. She could try to flee, but I’d never lose her trail.
Not as long as she carried a piece of my magic with her, at least. In a hunt, I’d always win. Mhh, hunt.
The cool air didn’t help to clear my inebriated and anxious mind, but tracing the dagger I’d given Nayana wasn’t too difficult. She would be furious if she found out I hadn’t told her about my ability to track her blade, but at the same time, I was extremely pissed off at her too.
All evidence indicated that she’d left the city—however she’d done that, since all the gates were heavily guarded. Feeling cocky, I pulled at my magic to summon darkness, but I froze in horror when I failed until I remembered the whole problem once more. Oh yes, shit, drunk.
I glowered at the guards as I approached, wanting nothing more than to burst through the checkpoint because I had no time to lose. Only the prospect of ending up in the city’s dungeons stopped me from doing something stupid.
Slowing down, I greeted the guards, and even I could hear that not a lot of what I said made any real sense.
Funnily, the soldiers didn’t seem all that interested in a drunken man rambling on about his runaway wife, and a minute later, they allowed me to pass.
Curious, really curious. But this wasn’t a mystery I’d solve now, if it was one at all, or I just thought it was.
I had something more important to do. I was on a hunt, and no matter what the circumstances, I’d always catch my prey.
After half an hour, I felt my magic calling to me like a beacon—I was getting close. So I dismounted and tied my horse as safely as possible to a sturdy tree while promising him to be back soon.
My nostrils flared because my prey was so close I could smell its herbal, citrusy scent, and I tried my best to remain silent. Usually, soundlessly prowling was second nature to me, but the world was still blurry, the ground uneven, and my senses slightly unreliable.
When I detected my tiny prey disappearing behind a giant fallen tree log at the edge of a small clearing, my lips curled up in triumph. There she was. And she had seen me, but it was too late for her to escape. I’d spotted my prey, and I wasn’t going to let it escape again.
I stumbled only once—but I could have sworn that the damned root had just appeared out of nowhere—as I stalked towards where Nayana had vanished.
To my surprise, she was still crouching behind the fallen tree as if she hadn’t figured out that I’d sighted her.
Our eyes locked as I loomed over her shivering form.
She hadn’t even drawn her dagger to defend herself against the dangerous predator coming for her.
Instead, she was staring at me with those large cerulean orbs as she trembled like a leaf, and anger bubbled beneath my surface.
If I’d been anyone else, she would have been screwed, for she was utterly helpless.
“Look what I’ve found. I never knew that the weeds in this forest were poisonous. Also, what the fuck were you thinking, gallivanting through the night alone and not even holding your blade?”
Nayana’s eyes, until now wide and afraid, narrowed. She lifted herself up and tried to get some distance from me, but I crowded her until her back was flush against a tree on the side of the clearing.
“Are you drunk, Dion?”
Her words took me by surprise. I’d expected her to jump down my throat, yell at me, or something else, but not this.
“None of your business.” I stepped closer and caged her in my arms, our chests almost touching. “Instead, you’ll tell me what your fucking problem is! Lashing out and running away—how did you get out of the city anyway?”
“I passed through a gate. The guards let me leave easily.”
“The guards? You let the guards see you? How fucking reckless can one person be?” I growled at her, showing her my teeth in a dominant gesture, but she chose to ignore it. Wrong move.
“Stupid and reckless. I thought better of you, Jama.”
“Fuck you, Dion.”
As if I’d accept such behavior. Oh no, I wouldn’t allow her to treat me with her usual stubborn defiance.
Even though I realized that with all that fire in her now cobalt blue eyes, she was so gorgeous it almost took my breath away.
My gaze dropped to her lips almost of its own accord.
How would they feel? Would they be as soft as they looked?
And, more importantly, would she let me if I tried to collect my spoils of the hunt and kiss her?
But as much as drunk me thought kissing would be an excellent idea, my reward would have to wait. There was unfinished business to discuss.
“Now, Jama. What in the gods’ good names have I done wrong for you to push me away as you did and then run away?” Another wild guess crossed my mind, and my face contorted with murderous rage. “Or was it someone else? Who hurt you? I’ll make sure they’ll never dare that again.”
“Gods, Dion, you reek of alcohol.”
“The sooner you tell me what I want to know, the faster I stop breathing on you.”
I observed as she narrowed her eyes even more, and with a sharp tone, she finally spoke. “Both of us know that you left out a vital fact about this whole Amplifier shit, right Dion? Or did you plan to let me run blindly into a forever-bond?”
Shit. Her words made the same impact as if she’d dumped a bucket full of ice water on my head.
I couldn’t even play dumb. She’d found out about the Rite of Binding.
Suddenly, her entire demeanor made sense.
It didn’t justify her reaction, but I wasn’t exactly the poster youngling for the biggest voice of reason myself. “It’s a binding, not a bond.”
“I couldn’t care less about semantics. Answer my godsdamn question!”
I took a deep breath. My mind had cleared a little, but I was far from sober. “Did it ever cross your mind that I avoid thinking about that too, Jama?”
“You should have told me, Dion.” She glared, and somehow, even in her anger, she was the most beautiful female I’d ever seen.
If she were aware of how much I wanted to undress her and reconcile with her in a completely different way—one where no serious talking was required—she’d certainly be scared.
My mind wandered, and I wondered what sounds I could coax out of her.
My thoughts were interrupted when my Nayana waved her hand in front of my eyes. Huh, so she had realized I’d spaced out. It took me some effort to remember her question and even more to piece together the proper words in reply.
“Why? I knew you’d never want it, and I would have fought hard to prevent it. No. Bad choice of words. I won’t allow it to happen, at least not until you don’t convince me you want to bind yourself to someone.”
Our whole situation had been fucked up from the beginning, and—if I was honest—it only went downhill from there. Not a single day passed without me fantasizing about making her mine, but that would be a fucking disaster—one I could never allow. Never.
It had only recently been that I’d come to terms with the undeniable fact that I wanted her. That I craved her so badly that it hurt more than any lethal wound ever could. No other living soul in the world could have sent me into drinking like she did. No one had ever affected me the way she had.
Honestly, why did she have to be so tiny? It was as if she knew I’d always had a weakness for small trinkets. No wonder she roused my instincts to possess and protect her—it just made sense.
And yet, just because I’d acknowledged my obsession with her, it didn’t mean I’d ever pursue her. I just hoped that by accepting my cravings, it would become easier for me not to act on them—although the alcohol was doing its best to make me forget about my reservations.
Nayana opened her mouth to speak, but something changed from one moment to the other.
She started to shake, her eyes widened, and the sudden panic in her gaze confused me.
My forehead wrinkled in question as a whirring, high-pitched noise that hurt my ears reverberated behind me, followed by a deafening roar.