CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
DORIAN, CORBIN, AND Reverie left the Bryn mere minutes after the Infi encounter. Desperate to get out of there before the creatures realized they had taken the Scrolls. Dorian wasn't sure what any of it meant. Whether the Infi would somehow find a way to betray him. Whether they had another reason for wanting Magnice. But Dorian couldn't think about it.
All he could see was his sister's glowing amber eyes when he would close his own. His stomach was in knots that she was a prisoner somewhere, and he had left her to deal with the war without him.
They didn't stop at the first cavern.
The only time they stopped that first night was a few hours in, when the cold picked up so much that Dorian insisted Reverie get on his horse with him so she didn't freeze. She gave Corbin the furs she'd been using and didn't protest as she settled in front of the Prince.
It was dawn when the snows let up. Dorian couldn't feel his face. Reverie had fallen asleep in his arms some time in the night. The horses slowed, and Dorian asked how long it would be until they made it to the next cavern. Corbin assured him they would get there by sunset, but he refused to stop.
By the time they made it to the cavern, Dorian nearly fell off the horse. He carried Reverie in despite her protests while Corbin took care of the exhausted steeds. The fire was quickly lit, and Dorian started stripping himself of his wet clothes. He hadn't even noticed Reverie doing the same until he turned and caught a glimpse of her. His eyes wandering over her hourglass curves, making his throat dry. The faint sculpt of her shoulders, the squeezable flesh around her ribs to her waist, the dimples at her hips, the ass he wanted backward on his lap and moving up and down his length—
And the gash on her neck.
"Whoa—“ Dorian bounded to her just as she wavered off balance.
He cursed himself for not noticing something was wrong. "Rev—“ He caught her in his arms as she stumbled, but she quickly balanced herself in his grasp.
"I'm fine," she said quickly.
Red blood stained her hair. He clung to her as she steadied. "Corbin, do you know how to do stitches?" Dorian asked.
Corbin stared at him with narrowed eyes. "Why would I? Your injuries were always healed by your mother's waters, and my insides are made of fire."
"I'm fine," Reverie assured them. "They can patch me up at Dahrkenhill when we get there." She sank back down on the ground then, eyes fluttering. "Just let me sleep."
They managed to convince her to let them clean it. She hardly spoke. Dorian could tell the day had been draining on her. He remembered how she'd flinched when the creature had grabbed her. How she'd had to hold herself together all afternoon while sneaking around a bunch of Infi—creatures she'd grown up being punished by her father with.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Reverie stilled, eyes rising to his. "Yeah," she said, voice barely a whisper. "Yeah, I'm fine."
But he could see the emotion she was trying to hide. He paused and turned her chin to face him. "I'm not asking for you to tell me that you're fine. I want to know if you're okay. I know today can't have been easy for you."
"It wasn't easy for any of us," she countered.
"I don't care about myself or Corbin right now," Dorian countered. "I'm asking about you."
Reverie's hands sank into her lap. "Honestly? No. I'm not okay. But we accomplished what we set to do, and I cannot be upset about that. I can work through whatever horrors come to me when I close my eyes."
His heart hurt at her words. He wanted to protect her from those horrors. Hold her while she slept and assure her she would be okay. But he knew her well enough to know she would only accept it when she couldn't stand it any longer. So he leaned forward and kissed her cheek, his hand landing softly against her neck.
"We'll be here," he assured her.
A glisten rested in her bright yet tired gaze. "If I wasn't so exhausted, I'd kiss you," she managed.
A half-smile quirked on his lips, and he tried to ignore the fluttering of his stomach. "I'll make sure it's worth waiting for," he promised.
She fell asleep just as he finished cleaning her wound, and he picked her up to take her by the fire, covering her in furs while Corbin helped him redress his own wounds on his arm, sharing the blanket beside where Reverie was curled up.
The sting of the water made him wince. Black ooze continued to seep slowly from the streaks wrapping his forearm and the one cutting through the side of his face. Dorian gritted his teeth and pressed his head into the wall, shuddering with every stroke of the cloth on him. And when he began to clean the dried blood on his cheek, Dorian had to bite down on the leather sheath of his knife to keep from shouting.
But despite the pain, the one thing he couldn't get out of his head was Nyssa's blazing amber eyes.
"I saw her," Dorian managed after a while. "I saw my sister. When I made the deal."
Corbin paused. "Could you see where she was?"
