Marcellious fell asleep. The medicine and the food must have helped because his color improved.
Emily listened to us and occasionally interjected a few stories into mine, but mainly, she kept quiet and studied Marcellious’ sleeping form.
I glanced at Roman. Deep bruised lines gave his face a haunted expression.
I reached out and stroked his cheek. “You must be exhausted. Why don’t you rest? I could use some more sleep, too.”
I looked at him, hunger in my gaze. How I’d love to be naked next to him, exploring one another….
His expression turned smoldering. But now was not the time.
“I’d like nothing more,” he said, “but someone must always stand watch.”
“I’ll do it,” Marcellious murmured in a sleepy voice. He opened his eyes. “I feel better from the herbs and the food. Thank you,” he said to Emily.
“No need to thank me,” she said. “Olivia caught the hare. You should thank her instead.”
Marcellious said nothing as he pushed to sitting.
I sighed. His attitude toward me hadn’t improved.
“Go,” Marcellious said, shooing me with his hand. “Get your rest. The sooner we mend and find a place to land, the sooner we can separate.”
“God, Marcellious. Give your perpetually bad mood a rest,” I said.
Roman and I moved to the other side of the fire. I lay next to him, cradled in his arms.
Emily rested near the fire, keeping a close eye on Marcellious.
Roman’s breathing grew slow and deep.
As nightfall descended and the fire flickered, dying out, I caught movement in the woods. A dark figure, appearing like a shadow, stared back at me.
I squinted, making out a man’s outline. He looked the same height as Roman, and his body rippled with power. He was dressed all in black, making it impossible to tell what he truly looked like. But all that power—it rolled from him in waves.
I tensed, shuddering in Roman’s arms, and started to push upright. The shadow vanished.
My heart plummeted. It seemed the darkness had found me.
Olivia
I barely slept a wink that night. Wolves or coyotes howled, their song like banshees. Owls hooted and sailed overhead on whisper-soft wings. Every snap of a branch had me on high alert as I waited for the darkness to return.
The only comfort I took came from pressing myself into Roman’s delicious warmth each time I woke up. I’d snuggle into him or find him pulling me close, his arm wrapped firmly around me. It was like we had to keep touching one another to ensure that this moment was real—we had found one another through time and space. We had discovered each other once more.
When I woke up with the sun piercing the morning, Roman was nowhere to be found. Nor was Marcellious. Even Emily was gone.
Panic overtook me. Had Roman really been by my side last night, or had I dreamed it?
The sight of Marcellious emerging from the woods, a scowl on his face, told me I hadn’t imagined it.
I sat up, stretching the ache from my limbs.
Marcellious carried an armload of firewood. The soldier’s jacket I’d lent him was wrapped around his torso, but he still wore the loincloth. When he stood by the cold campfire, he dropped the wood with a clatter.
“Where’s Roman? Where’s Emily?” I said, pushing to stand. I wore the soldier’s trousers with my stola tucked into the waistband. But, having given the jacket to Marcellious, my arms were bare and covered with insect bites.
Only Emily and Roman had decent attire on. We’d have to find a way to remedy that to survive the bug bites and night chill.
