Luc lifts an eyebrow. “Since?”
“Everly and I left?”Please let Tersah be wrong about the timing. Please…
He slips his hands into his weapon belt. “Half a summer.”
I stumble back, slipping into the stream and falling to my bottom. Luc smirks, and my pride smarts as I gain my feet, stepping out of the water.
Six months have passed. Six long, arduous months.
“Can I see him?” My skin heats and tingles with anticipation
“Where is Everly?” Luc scans his surroundings, as if he expects her to appear.
“She’s...” The words stick to the roof of my mouth as I think about her being taken away by Jerrod. “I need to see Hector.”
Luc jerks his hand toward his horse. “Get on. I’ll take you to him.”
I grab Hector’s cloak, wrap it around my body, and climb onto the horse. Finally, Hector and I are going to be reunited. Hopefully, he pulls me close and kisses me.
As I grip the saddle, Luc holds himself rigidly, his muscles tense and ready for action.I know that something has happened while I was away. Something that has brought Hector from Karra and so close to Hematite land. It should have taken several months to travel to him, and yet, he’s near enough for Luc to take me to him. Near enough, I feel the warmth in my belly, the proof that my body knows he’s nearby.
Did war bring him this close?
A shiver of dread rises in the pit of my stomach at what that could mean. For Hector. For his warriors. For Tarrobane.
Luc nudges the horse forward, and we gallop away from the stream. The wind rushes past my face, tangles my hair into knots, and dries the water on my skin.
As we crest a hill, I make out three more Bloodstone warriors riding in our direction. My focus locks on the man in the middle, the one with black hair and wide shoulders. His gaze meets mine, and the world softens around me, dimming until I see nothing else, want nothing else.
Hector!
A smile trembles on my mouth as I contemplate leaping from the horse and rushing to him.
Luc waves at the approaching warriors as they stop in front of us. “Ifound her just like I told you I would.”
Hero shrugs, his pale blue eyes glinting in the sunlight as he speaks in a dry tone. “You left before us.”
“It doesn’t change the fact thatIfound her first,” Luc says, arrogance echoing in his words.
Hector doesn’t speak as he dismounts his horse and walks to where I sit. When he reaches for me, I allow him to pull me from the horse and crush me against him. I melt into his arms, feeling his warmth, his strength.
He yanks my mouth to his, branding his lips against mine. I gasp at the energy surging between us, the raw power renewing our bond, strengthening what time had taken from us, threading together every moment that we were apart.
He deepens the kiss, his lips greedy, possessive, as if he must claim me all over again. Claim me in front of Luc and Hero. Claim me in front of the gods.
I am his, and he wants everyone to know it—including me.
He pulls back and speaks with his mouth near my ear. “Don’t ever do that again.”
He walks to his horse and places me in the saddle. I grip the leather as he mounts Hale behind me, his body stiff.
No!
My heart screams that word as he turns the horse, and we head north. Two large black crows follow us, soaring through the air, and landing on jagged rocks, as if waiting for us to catch up. I haven’t seen them since I left Karra with Everly. Now, here they are again. Watching. Protecting.
Do they belong to Hector?
Probably…
