My head settled against his chest as I watched the clouds pass by, finding comfort in his strong heartbeat underneath my ear. Something that I found beyond confusing and was even angry at myself over. Yet, despite our playful banter, his hold on me was secure. I knew something had drastically changed between us. Steele was helping me without wanting anything in return, simply offering me aid and comfort. I couldn’t deny that I savored the change, instead of feeling constantly on edge and combative around him.
Suddenly, Bastian pulled up next to us, and I saw the way his eyes narrowed on Steele before he moved toward me. “Everything okay, Darling?”
“She’s fine,” Steele retorted, his tone calm but his hands tightening on me almost possessively. “I’ve got her.”
Bastian offered an arched brow as a small smile tugged on his lips, seeming to find Steele’s reaction amusing.
“Hey,” I warned Steele. “I can answer for myself, thank you.”
Rolling his eyes, I ignored him and looked at Bash, trying to convey my truth while loving his protective nature. “I’m fine, just tired. I promise.”
I offered the Archimage what I hoped was a comforting smile as he gave a faux salute and wink before looping up and around us, disappearing toward the back of the group once more with Niz.
Before I could comment on the unusual decision that Bastian, and even Niz, made to not counter Steele’s decision to carry me, I heard Ronan shouting my name. Looking up, I realized both Gabe and Ronan had fallen back, waiting for us.
“She’s fine,” Steele repeated, his tone far grumpier this time.
“What happened?” Gabe asked over the wind rushing past us.
“I’m a bit tired from the entire ’rebirth’ thing that I went through.” I tried to keep my tone casual and light, but Ronan’s brows furrowed deeper at my words.
“I can carry you?—”
“No.” Steele’s voice was hard as Ronan’s gaze moved to him with challenge.
“I’m fine, really,” I promised my Beast Tamer. “He grabbed me the second I fell.”
Ronan held Steele’s gaze for a long moment before nodding, flying ahead as Gabe moved to stay in formation with him. I deflated against Steele, barely resisting the urge to rub my temple. It felt like the othersshouldapprove of Steele’s move on principal—after all, hewasprotecting me—but I knew he and Ronan had a long way to go until they were even amicable.
It might happen eventually…Right?
“We are almost there,” Steele assured me as I looked up at the thickening cloud cover.
It was thanks to the intel that Steele and Gabe had gathered over the past few years that we were able to navigate through a path that would take us to the northern perimeter of Alfemir with ease. The path would keep our journey as short as possible while also putting us in a position to hopefully avoid being spotted.
Our plan was to enter through the perimeter post by the Northern Forrest, located on the opposite end of the realm from where Alfemir’s castle, city center, and the portal were. In theory, the only individuals who would even be there were the guards at their post and the creatures living within the Northern Forrest.
Despite knowing our plan and what to expect, when we broke through the final thick layer of clouds, my chest froze up at the sight of the fortress walls that surrounded Alfemir.
I was back in a place that had been both my home and my personal hell.
When Gabe and Ronan came to a stop high enough above the wall and far enough away that we wouldn’t be spotted by guards, we joined them. I noticed Niz had shifted mid-air into his smaller form, landing on Ronan’s shoulder.
Gabe’s voice was purposefully quiet but carried through the air to all of us. “Hopefully we timed this right to get here with the shift change. We have to hope that it hasn’t already happened; listen for the bells ringing. They signal shift change, even all the way out here.”
My gaze moved across the pathway on top of the battlement, searching out the current guard, before landing on an individual slouched lazily against one of the walls. He looked bored out of his mind, even from here, which possibly meant that he was at the end of his shift. It might have been wishful thinking, but I was hanging onto it.
“And there are no patrols during shift changes, so it will be the perfect time to get past them,” Steele agreed. I looked up at him to find his gaze was on me rather than the wall, moving away once noticing my attention. It almost made me smile, but a more important question tugged at my attention.
“Would the recent attack have changed that?” I questioned as my own eyes moved back to the wall, head tilting as I studied the expanse.
By the furrowed brows and tight frowns that met my gaze when I turned my head back in the guys’ direction, I could tell the others were confused by my question. I chewed my bottom lip before letting it pop free with a sigh.
“I’ll openly admit that I never listened to much of what my father said about military scheduling, but with the recent attack at the Rebellion camp, would it be possible they changed the structure of shift change to remove that vulnerability?” I asked.When I didn’t get a quick answer, I continued, “I mean, they have to be expecting some type of counterattack, right? Even if they don’t believe it could be successful.”
“It’s possible,” Gabe agreed after a moment, eyeing the wall with speculation. “Unlikely, though. This isn’t the first threat they’ve faced, nor is the Rebellion new in their mind. Besides, they had the same process in place up until the last time I broke in .”
The sudden sound of a ringing bell had all of us snapping our heads toward the wall.
