Eva probably wouldn't forgive him, but she'd be alive. And safe.
Some things were worth the sacrifice. He'd take her alive and angry any day.
The mare didn't move for another moment. Her ears pinned against her head. Grudgingly, she backed down.
Caden won, and he hadn't even needed to resort to violence. How rare.
Jason's face was frantic as he intruded. "Are you going to explain? Why is Eva not moving?"
Caden handed Eva to Drake so he could mount Nell before reaching for her again. His Anateri was careful as he lifted her for Caden to take.
Fiona stopped beside Jason and patted him on the shoulder with a sympathetic look. "Now isn't the time for questions. Safety first."
Jason's struggle was brief before he snapped his mouth shut.
Caden allowed himself a moment of approval at the boy's growth.
The situation didn't always allow time for explanations. Sometimes you had to follow orders without knowing the how or why.
Warriors who demanded explanations in times of crises got themselves and others killed.
"You may make an Anateri yet, Jason." Caden touched his heels to Nell's side, sending the horse into a dead gallop.
Caden spared one hand and laid it on Eva, allowing the movement of her chest to act as a chain on his darker side.
She'd better survive this. The consequences if she didn't would make the cataclysm pale in comparison.
Camp wasn't far, but it felt like the entirety of the Highlands lay between it and them as Nell thundered through the valley. An eternity passing before the tents appeared in the distance.
For the first time, Caden wished for a Kyren. His fear of heights and his distrust of mythologicals unimportant in the face of Eva's life.
Caden would endure anything if it meant Eva would wake up one second sooner.
Flay his skin. Break his bones. Drop him from the highest point. He didn't care.
Caden had always been a man given to extremes. It was why he'd survived when others had fallen. Why he'd been so afraid to let others matter to him.
There was a monster housed within his skin. One who was obsessive. A vicious beast who wanted nothing more than to claim possession of this woman.
They'd made no formal promises to each other, but that didn't change the reality. He knew that truth in his bones. Eva was his, and he hers.
Eva knew it too, even if she'd never said anything. Never pushed for the ceremonies his people used to tie one life to another's.
He regretted that oversight now.
Caden bared his teeth and leaned forward, urging Nell to go ever faster. He tucked away thoughts of those he'd left behind. Right now, his focus was Eva—and only her.
It didn't make him a good person, but then, he'd never fooled himself about that. Eva was a good person. The people she called friends were mostly good people.
Somehow, good people were always the first to die. Eva needed someone as cold and ruthless as Caden to stand as protection against the rest.
A duty he'd failed.
Never again, he told himself. This would be the last time someone was injured under his watch.
Caden checked Eva's breathing again, feeling something in him unclench at the steady movement of her chest.
That's it,alea na. Keep breathing. We're almost there.
