Chapter Twenty-Nine
Emelyn
T he firelight flickered against our silhouettes as I faced Shay. Her hand rested protectively over the swell of her large belly. She met met my eyes with stubborn resolve that only deepened my concern.
“Shay, you need to consider staying behind,” I urged. “You’re further along now. It’s not safe.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line and she shook her head. “No, Emelyn, I'm seeing this through till the end. I’ve told you that.” The strength in her tone told me there was no use arguing with her. She wouldn’t listen to me. I glanced to Baron.
“Are you not going to stop her?” I called out as he walked past, his tall frame briefly blocking the light of the fire.
Baron paused, turning back to glance at Shay, then at me.
A heavy sigh escaped him, his shoulders sagging slightly beneath the weight of his leathers.
"You think I can stop her?" He gave a rueful chuckle, though there was no mirth in his eyes. "Everything you’ve told her, I’ve already said tenfold. She’s unstoppable.
Now I’m just trying to come to terms with it. "
Ace sauntered up to us then. “Looks like we’re all going,” he signed with a small smile, and I groaned in frustration, my heart sinking. Shay being ready to pop any day and Ace still recovering from his recent injuries didn’t need to be fighting right now.
“Damn the mother, Ace.” My words trailed off, lost beneath the cacophony of clanging armor and muffled preparations.
Two of the people I cherished were adamant about marching into battle, and I felt powerless to stop them.
“You guys will be the death of me,” I muttered.
Shay’s laughter fluttered past me as she trailed after Baron.
I turned to face Ace, and his arms were raised in a half shrug, offering mock surrender. Ugh.
“Listen,” he signed. "We’re all adults here. We can make decisions. Don’t worry." Before I could muster a retort, his arms wrapped around me in a hug.
The warmth of his body against mine did little to chase away the dread I was feeling. "If you die," I whispered fiercely against the leather of his cuirass, “I will bring you back to life and kill you myself.” He chuckled and pulled away from our embrace, his eyes twinkling.
"I think you need to bring your mate back to life first. Poor guy looks like he’s going through hell watching you from a distance." Ace chuckled again, but I shoved at his chest just as said mate started striding over behind us. I couldn’t deny what Ace had said was true.
His once-pristine prince garb had been traded out for battle leathers. Stubble had formed along his jawline that I could see even through his shadows. His fingers had raked through his hair one too many times, leaving it wild and untamed.
As he stood before me, his hands clenched at his sides.
Our bond hummed against the walls I’d placed in my mind.
I watched, almost entranced, as he restrained the instinctive need to touch, to reassure me.
It was something I’d noticed since I'd let him in my tent. Even after everything, he didn’t initiate contact between us.
He waited for me to do it. I didn’t think there was a living soul as patient as he was.
"Would you like to grab some dinner with me?" His question took me by surprise. The mighty Kade, Prince of Ember, now as tentative as a boy. "I was going to go for a hunt, catch something fresh."
His offer hung there. It was a sliver of normalcy, a momentary reprieve from the darkness that we were going to be marching too. I could see it in his eyes, the silent plea to just be with him.
I nodded, a smile curving my lips, and extended my hand toward his.
His eyes flickered with warmth, something akin to hope as I weaved my fingers through his.
It was another step in the right direction, and I was excited—hopeful even—that soon maybe all of this would be behind us.
Maybe I could finally let go and just forgive.
We had been marching for two days, the thick underbrush of the forest protesting against every step.
My legs burned with fatigue, and the weight of my weapons seemed to grow heavier with each mile we covered.
We were a day's trek from the spot where we planned to ambush the Ember soldiers before they reached Woodhaven.
Kade had taken position at the rear, not far behind where I trudged along.
His presence cast a long shadow that stretched out to me, and I could feel the intensity of his gaze, even without turning around.
But I did turn occasionally, and each time I caught his eyes locked onto mine, practically burning me with the amount of tension thrumming between us.
After dinner last night, I’d let down my walls inside my mind, and although I had better control over it now, I could still feel him.
His sorrow, his longing, his love. Every night since I’d let him in my tent and kissed him, the bond had only grown more insistent.
It clawed at my chest consistently to be with him, but I’d still only allowed sleeping on the same bed and minor touches throughout the day.
The bond was like a beast, though, that continued to grow hungrier and hungrier for us to solidify it.
Sure, we’d had sex, but I hadn’t known he was my mate, and he had been suppressing it.
Now, it only yearned for us to be together.
Beside me, Ace's blades he kept strapped to his chest would occasionally rub together as he walked, the sound mingling with the rustle of leaves and the soft murmurs of the others.
Cyran walked on my other side, his usual stoic demeanor cracked by the waves of restlessness that rolled off him.
I watched his fingers twitch and brush over the bracelet on his wrist. He had been on edge the entire trip.
Silence had settled over us. With each step, Kade's gaze continued to sear into my back, a heat that seemed to pierce through my flesh and bones. Gods, that man.
I couldn’t handle the knotting tension in the air anymore, so I finally spoke up. “Are you alright?” I asked Cyran.
He glanced at me then, his eyes distant. "Yeah, just concerned," he replied, his voice barely above a murmur. "I haven't heard anything from Rhet. He normally communicates with me through his shadows, but nothing has come to me for our entire trip."
"I'm sure he's fine," I assured him. "He will meet us when we get there. Maybe he just hasn't gotten a chance to sneak away to communicate." The words felt hollow even as they spilled from my lips. I knew better than anyone how quick and easy it was for Kade to communicate with his shadows.
Worry crossed Cyran’s face before he masked it with a nod, but not before I saw the tumult of his thoughts mirrored in his eyes. Doubt started to worm its way into my chest again, and with a clenched jaw, I forced it down, down, down.
We didn’t have time to think the worst. We were readying for battle.
Atreya stopped and turned from her place at the front. Everyone’s eyes were immediately on her, her very presence demanding authority. An Earth Dryad made the ground rumble, and then she was being lifted on a pedestal of dirt before she began addressing everyone.
"We will stop and take a break here in the clearing," she signed and said, her stern eyes sweeping over us, "but don't get too comfortable.
We will continue our journey in one hour.
" The earth lowered her back to our level as some started to disperse, while others stayed where they were and quietly chattered amongst themselves.
Ace, with his easy swagger, drifted toward Luana, intent on sharing a moment of reprieve. I could practically smell the sex wafting off both of them.
Then, a fleeting touch from shadows grazed my hand, sending a jolt up my arm.
Kade stood next to me, close enough for me to sense the turmoil roiling beneath his calm exterior even more than before. "Can I?" Kade's voice was a whisper against the forest. His hand hovered in the space between us.
I didn't take it. Instead, I couldn't restrain myself any longer. I surged forward and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into an embrace that melded our bodies. I settled my head against his chest, and his breath hitched as he folded me in his arms with desperation that mirrored my own.
His head buried in the crook of my neck, his breath warm against my cheek. He murmured a curse, his voice rough like gravel. The rest of his words were muffled against my skin.
"I know there’s no apology in the world that could ever truly erase the pain I’ve caused—no words that could undo what’s been done.
" The world seemed to shrink until there was nothing but Kade and the heartache that still faintly throbbed in my chest. “But still, with everything in me, I need you to hear this: I am so deeply, achingly sorry for what happened to Ace. This entire trip, the only thing I’ve wanted—the only thing my heart has reached for—is you.
" His fingers tightened on my back, as if he could press the truth into my very bones. "I only want to hold you close, look into your eyes, and finally say what’s been buried in my chest for far too long: I love you. More than I’ve ever known how to say.
" Tears welled in my eyes, mingling with the sweat and grime of the days we’d spent marching.
He pulled back just enough to search my gaze.
“But I also need you to know that I’m not sorry for the distance I put between us, for lying about who I was—what I was to you.
I would walk through every year of torment all over again"—his voice broke—“every stretch of silence in my shadows, every mile of distance, if it meant you were safe.
If I could still live in a world where you existed, where there was still the smallest chance of hearing your laugh, knowing you were out there.
" His hands shook as they cupped my face, thumbs brushing away the moisture that had escaped my lashes. “But losing you when Ace returned, when you were right here in front of me?” His eyes brimmed with sorrow. The shadows around us seemed to still. “Nothing I’ve endured, nothing I ever could, would match the unbearable ache of not having you when you’re right here.
" I watched the struggle play across his features.
“But I know you need time, and I will take your anger, your sorrow, your pain, for however long you need me to because I love you, Emelyn.
" His voice trembled on my name. “I love you and I’ll take whatever you can give me.”
"Kade, I—" My voice was a whisper. I was about to tell him how much I loved him too, how much I wanted to move past all of this. How much I wanted him.
"Wait." Kade's voice sliced through the tender moment. His body tensed and his gaze shifted, eyes narrowing into slits as he stared intently beyond the trees.
"What is it?" I whispered. Kade's shadows skittered across the forest floor like a nest of snakes. The mood shifted palpably. My fingers grazed the hilt of my axe, my instincts going into overdrive.
"Ember soldiers . . . they're already here."
A vibration tremored through the ground beneath my boots, subtle at first, then growing stronger. They knew we were coming and were going to cut us off. And by the sounds of it, there would be more soldiers than we’d anticipated.
"Kade," I murmured, but he was already moving, shadows pooling around him like dark tentacles ready to do his bidding. They darted through the trees as I grabbed my battle axe.
Atreya's shout pierced the stillness, making everyone snap into formation. Weapons gleamed with lethal promise, hands steady despite the tremors beneath us. To my right, Ace palmed two of his daggers, and I could feel the wind building around him as he made a few others float in the air surrounding him. His wings weren’t healed enough to fly yet, so he would be on the ground with us.
Cyran's fingers twitched and then he glanced at me, the raw power of his wind ready to unleash destruction on our enemy. But I could see the pain in his eyes. Everhet wasn’t here, which meant something hadn’t gone to plan.
And then the Ember soldiers came, swarming us in the clearing like locusts. Their numbers were staggering, a sea of malice that threatened to drown us in blood and iron. Valla led them with a smirk on her lips, as if she’d already won.
Across the clearing, Atreya stood resolute. Her eyes met mine. There was no fear there, only the unyielding will of a leader who would see us through, come hell or high water.
Her nod was subtle, but it was enough to covey her commands.
We would not falter. We would not break.
Then, as if that were a signal for the world to descend into madness, everything erupted.
The ground shook with the charge of our feet, and the air filled with the screech of swords being drawn and the roar of men as everyone collided in battle.