He brought those dazzling dark eyes back to me. “No.”
I saw it all over his face, the uncertainty. The risk he knew he’d be taking if he left, the damage he wouldn’t be able to undo if he deserted.
“If Braxius can get a message to Rahana before the month’s end, maybe I come back here…”
“Like hell you will.” He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had.
Inhaling a steady breath, I allowed my fair fingers to trace the rich brown tone of his cheekbone. “You’re helping me keep my people safe, and I should do the same for you.”
He squeezed my hand. “The second you can leave this place, you do it. Do you hear me?” His breathing deepened, and I saw the doubt skirt across his eyes. He didn’t know if he could actually make himself leave.
My heart twisted uncomfortably at the thought of separating. A physical pain. “Well maybe if we find a way out on this trip, we get a group from Rahana and head to Basemount and bring everyone back.”
He brought his forehead down to mine. “Let’s pray the gods are on our side for that.”
Reluctance. Fear. The pain of hope. He carried it all, exuding it all with his firm hold around the back of my neck and my hip. I couldn’t help but feel the same.
53
Dante
The Argora Vale citizens were in danger in Solei, and now anyone Jasper led to Rahana would be brought to a graveyard and potential war zone. I’d departed Highcrest before the convoys had readied, unable to shake the unnerving beat in my chest over it all. My beast form travelled faster than they would have, anyway.
The destruction was greater than I could have imagined as I took in the massacred scene. Though my beastly instincts roared at me to remain with Mira, I felt reassured of my decision to leave her within the confines of a protected castle seeing the destruction Windguard had left behind.
Besides, Mira had readily agreed after spending a night in one of the castle’s guest beds. Her body had grown sore and worn out after weeks of travel. Out of the two of us, I’d been the hesitant one over her return to the last place she’d been held captive for her magic. She’d swiftly delivered the reminder that technically Jasper’s manor had been the last place, and at least Nicholas had never kept bars on her room.
I’d effectively shut up after that. That regret stayed with me to this day, but anytime despair over our pasts threatened to swallow me whole, she pulled me out. My chest currently ached having her so far away, but I pressed on, tracking down Ravinder by the trail of his scent nearly buried by blood and decay and loose soil.
“Ravinder,” I called, finding him crouched before a freshly upheaved mound of dirt. My nostrils flared, and I understood what lay before him. A mass grave. I shifted into my human form then.
He rose, turning to face me. “Dante. I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.” Exhaustion shadowed his face. That, and something heavier in his countenance.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” I paid a moment of respect to the pile of dirt, knowing he’d buried his brother somewhere beneath the land they’d cultivated with peace. Radhak had been a good man. He’d accepted me and my people when I first proposed establishing a partnership during the height of our famine, and continued aiding us by giving them safe harbor and escort to Solei. This world needed more men like him, not less.
Ravinder glanced at the still pile and whispered, “Me too.” With all the strength he could muster, he worked his shoulders into an upright pose, no doubt physically strained from days of digging graves, and cleared his throat, returning his attention to me. “What can I help you with? If you’re here to ask for supplies…” He motioned to the starkly barren land devoid of wielders.
“No, it’s not that. There’s been an attack.”
“On Solei?” If it were possible, his face became even more grim.
“No, on King Nicholas. He traveled with a convoy and on his final stop in Point Hollow he and his men were ambushed. I found him half dead in a supply shed. We tracked down the manwho did it and apprehended him. They’re interrogating him for information at the castle.”
“Gods above, give us strength,” Ravinder muttered, shaking his head toward the ground. “Do we know the motivation?”
I bristled. “Magic wielders and the king’s acceptance of them.”
Ravinder gave a harsh sniff of derision, his body tense. “What the fuck is wrong with the world?” He stared out over the sprawling camp that was hauntingly quiet compared to the last time I’d seen it.
“How many?” I asked lightly.
“More than half.” His dark eyes took on a glossy sheen. “Gardens have been destroyed. Tents burned. Rebuilding seems…”
The hollow edge in his voice struck my heart. I’d carried around that same hopelessness for a long time. “There’s a convoy on the way. Wagons of supplies and two battalions of the king’s army. One to be stationed along the Splits.”
Ravinder couldn’t bring himself to look at me. He nodded repeatedly, a tear skimming his cheek. “Melody and Tio arrived at the castle?”
“Yeah.”
