Chap 33
She had felt the twinge of uneasiness.
Like she had overheard something she wasn't meant to hear.
Even though it was only the bond showing her things she had never asked to know.
"Was that an owl?"
General Roku glanced upward toward the old well.
The owl answered with another mournful cry.
Penny laughed.
"Oh, you were the one singing to me."
Roku looked down at her.
"Owls sing to you?"
Penny shook her head.
"Well... I guess that one did."
His laugh was low and warm.
The sound surprised her.
"That is actually how I found you."
She blinked.
"The owl?"
"No."
His eyes softened.
"You."
Penny frowned.
Roku's hand settled against the small of her back as they stood wrapped together for warmth.
"I heard you singing."
The smile that touched his mouth felt almost sad.
"You have the voice of an ocean siren."
His gaze lingered on her.
"The sort of voice sailors abandon good sense to follow."
Penny laughed softly.
The sound faded when he spoke again.
"My mother sends her blessings, by the way."
Something shifted.
Not in the night.
Not in the trees.
Inside her.
The bond warmed.
Recognition unfurled through it.
Ancient.
Patient.
Familiar.
Like opening a door and discovering someone had been waiting on the other side for a very long time.
Penny looked up at him.
The sea below the cliffs roared softly.
The wind tugged at her torn gown.
And suddenly she knew.
Not facts.
Not memories.
Only certainty.
The feeling of finding something she had been searching for her entire life without knowing it.
His hand lifted.
Fingers brushing gently beneath her chin.
Moonlight silvered the sharp line of his jaw.
His green eyes never left hers.
The bond pressed against her heart.
Warm.
Steady.
Certain.
Not demanding.
Not claiming.
Simply recognizing.
The way the sea recognizes the moon.
The way a tide recognizes the shore.
A quiet thing.
An inevitable thing.
"Tell me to stop."
His voice had gone soft.
"Or I am going to kiss you."
Penny's breath caught.
For once the bond offered no answers.
No visions.
No certainty.
Only the sound of her own heart.
She did not step away.
Roku's eyes searched hers one last time.
Then his lips found hers.
And the sea inside her answered.
For a moment the world went quiet.
No bond.
No magic.
No ancient prophecies.
Only the sound of the ocean below the cliffs.
Only moonlight.
Only the steady warmth of his hand against her face.
Penny looked up at him.
Roku's forehead rested lightly against hers.
Neither of them spoke.
As though words might break whatever fragile thing had finally found them.
Then
The bond stirred.
A familiar presence rushing toward them.
Fast.
Very fast.
Roku sighed.
The sound carried all the weariness of a man whose life had impeccable timing right up until this moment.
Wind exploded across the cliffside.
Leaves scattered through the air.
A dark shape dropped from the sky.
Landing soundlessly on the grass in a low crouch.
One knee nearly touching the earth.
A folded dry gown draped over one arm.
The Crown Prince.
The moment shattered.
Roku stepped back.
His hand fell from her face.
For just an instant something crossed his expression.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Something quieter.
The practiced disappointment of a man already familiar with being interrupted by fate.
Evander straightened.
His gaze moved between them.
The moonlit cliff.
The distance now separating them.
The unmistakably unfinished atmosphere.
Recognition flickered in his eyes.
Then amusement.
A crooked smile tugged at his mouth.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Roku closed his eyes briefly.
"Unfortunately."
Evander laughed.
The sound warm and genuine.
Then he held up the gown.
"I brought clothes."
Penny stared at him.
He had crossed cliffs in the middle of the night.
Carrying a dress.
Through the bond she felt the truth beneath the teasing.
Relief.
Pure and simple.
She was alive.
Nothing else mattered.
Evander's gaze finally settled on Roku.
"Am I interrupting my commander attempting to steal my wife?"
Roku's composure snapped back into place with seamless precision.
"Your wife?"
His eyebrow lifted.
"Last I checked, I am the one forced to share her with the Crown Prince."
For one suspended moment neither man looked away.
Penny looked between them.
Then at the dress.
Then back at them.
She had been rescued from a well less than ten minutes ago.
Somehow her life had become more complicated.
"Don't I get a say in any of this?"
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Carried away on the salt wind.
For a moment neither man moved.
Then both turned toward her at exactly the same time.
Penny blinked.
She had spent so long pretending not to understand anyone that she had forgotten she wasn't pretending anymore.
Evander recovered first.
"I found her like this," Roku said quietly.
The smile vanished from Evander's face.
His gaze swept over her.
The torn gown.
The bruises.
The split lip.
The exhaustion she could no longer hide.
The bond carried his reaction to her before he spoke.
The same thought repeating endlessly beneath everything else.
She's hurt.
She's hurt.
She's hurt.
It lived in the careful way he approached her.
In the deliberate steadiness of his movements.
In the way he looked as though he wanted to touch her just to make sure she was really standing there.
"Wade already caught Sebastian," Evander said.
His voice had gone flat.
"He's confessing everything."
Penny's heart sank.
She shook her head immediately.
"No."
Both men looked at her.
"Kaida poisoned his mind."
The words came out faster now.
"He was confused. Angry. Hurt."
She swallowed.
"He needs understanding."
The silence that followed felt dangerous.
Penny looked from Evander to Roku.
Then wished she hadn't.
Because through the bond she felt it.
Not anger.
Not outrage.
Something colder.
The quiet certainty of two predators deciding what should be done to someone who had hurt what belonged to them.
"Sebastian needs to never see that woman again."
Her voice softened into a plea.
Neither man answered.
Which frightened her far more than if they had.
He had been genuinely afraid she was gone.
"We can discuss Sebastian when you are warm and safe."
Evander gestured gently for her to turn.
Penny obeyed.
His hands carefully worked the ruined gown from her shoulders.
Avoiding every bruise.
Every scrape.
Every place where pain lingered.
Nearby, Roku unfolded the dry blue dress.
He held it up thoughtfully.
"I think this color would suit me better."
Evander looked over.
"You would make a terrible princess."
Roku considered this.
"Because of my military record?"
"Because you have no curves."
Roku sighed.
"Cruel of you to say after I climbed into a well for our bride."
Penny pressed her lips together.
The last of the soaked fabric slipped away.
Silence followed.
She crossed an arm over herself against the night air.
The wind lifted damp strands of hair across her face.
Neither man said a word.
Evander suddenly became fascinated by the ocean.
The crashing waves below apparently required his complete concentration.
Roku lasted approximately two seconds longer.
Then he blinked.
Once.
The very specific blink of a man abruptly remembering he was standing next to a beautiful woman who was not fully dressed.
He thrust the gown toward her with both hands.
"Here."
Penny bit the inside of her cheek.
The terrifying vampire general looked moments away from throwing the dress at her and fleeing into the sea.
For the first time all night
She almost laughed.
She slipped into the gown quickly while Evander maintained his devoted study of the horizon.
Only once the fabric settled around her did he step behind her again.
His fingers worked the laces closed.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Much slower than necessary.
Neither of them acknowledged it.
Roku meanwhile had become deeply invested in the ocean.
The moon.
And a rock near his boot that apparently possessed remarkable qualities.
"I am dressed," Penny informed him.
"You can stop staring at your shoe."
Evander laughed.
Roku looked up.
A grin tugged briefly at his mouth.
Then
The sound of hunting horns shattered the night.
Dogs barked somewhere deep within the forest below.
Shouts echoed through the trees.
Moving.
Searching.
Coming closer.
Penny flinched.
The laughter vanished instantly.
Roku's expression hardened.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
He already knew exactly what it meant.
"They found us."
The words had barely left his mouth before he moved.
One hand caught Penny's arm.
The next instant he had turned her and pushed her toward Evander.
"Go."
Evander caught her automatically against his chest.
"What?"
"This is your chance," Roku snapped.
"Take her and leave before they reach the cliffs."
The Crown Prince stared at him.
For the first time all night there was no teasing.
No jokes.
Only understanding.
Penny looked between them.
Evander's arm was already around Penny.
Protective.
Automatic.
"Who?"
Roku's expression darkened.
And for the first time since pulling her from the well
Penny saw genuine concern in his eyes.
"Kaida."