I stalked toward the mess I’d made. What I saw confirmed my fears. My blade had entered through his mouth and burst from the crown of his skull, silencing him forever in a spray of blood and bone. A single blow had prevented our secrets from being revealed, but that same blow had also silenced him.
Cursed gods.The monster had ruined yet another chance of gaining much-needed information.
Trembling with the monster’s desire for more violence, always more destruction, I barely restrained myself from hacking the Gelidian scout’s body into tiny pieces right there in front of her. I flicked the blood off my sword and re-sheathed it.
Five stormy steps later, I was picking Isca up. I was so crazed with worry that I didn’t pause or stop to ask permission. I lifted her into the air and threw her over my shoulder. The camp was silent except for the rustling of canvas and the small, startled squeak that escaped her lips. She offered no resistance as she relaxed over my shoulder.
“Search the body!” I roared. A crack spread through the earth five paces from where I stood. I had to channel the magic overwhelming me somewhere.
Only the sound of booted feet running to do my bidding kept me from more bloodshed.
With Isca still sedately slung over one shoulder, I strode into my tent. The moment we were out of sight, two small fists connected with my back.
“Put me down, Prince Emrys!”
I was still trembling, but something about crossing that threshold had restored a degree of clarity to my thoughts. Some of the dark magic brimming within me dissipated into the air as I summoned a ward of silence around our tent. After my senseless display—throwing her over my shoulder and walking her through the camp—there would be more than enough rumors flying around.
I gently leaned forward, letting her weight shift down my body until she found her feet. The horror of what I’d done struck me when I saw her disarray. Her pristine dress was now marred by crimson stains and flecks of fatty brain tissue.
“You left without a guard,” I said, my voice harsher than I’d intended, mouth moving without an ounce of thought. “Where was Catrin?”
“Preparing things in our tent!” Isca turned on me, angrier than I’d ever seen her. “I went to relieve myself. The guards were hovering like nursemaids.”
“They weremeantto hover.”
“Well, they hovered right into the woods with me all day yesterday. I wanted five minutes of peace. Gods,you’re—”
That snarl I’d heard for the first time amongst the reeds was back in her voice. It made me want to bend, but in this, I couldn’t.
“You can’t just disappear,” I snapped. But my voice cracked under the strain, hating that I’d startled her. “Not out here. I don’t do this to be cruel, Isca.”
“I understand now. Onlyyoucan disappear!”
“Yes!” My fingertips tingled with barely restrained destruction triggered by the enemy’s incursion, by my swelling guilt. I fought it, but the curse was rising like a tide, wild and ready to feed. Even my vision swam with blue lights. “I know it’s not fair, Isca.”
In my pique, I accidentally lowered my mental walls, leaving me exposed. She sensed it immediately. Her face shifted. I expected her to back away, to recoil from the overwhelming torrent that was crushing me, but instead, shereachedfor me.
Soft, warm hands reached for my scarred flesh. Her magic flowed over mine like cool water cascading over a bed of glowing red embers. And I…I pulled her into me.
It wasn’t thought. Wasn’t choice. My body moved before my mind could argue to keep her away. My arms wrapped around her tightly, with all the desperation that being faced with her loss had wrought. I needed her warmth to fight the icy dread that threatened to consume me.
Her breath caught then she melted into me.
Isca’s hair had half fallen out of its braid, waves cascading loose over her shoulders and down her back. I buried my face in it and breathed deeply. Lavender. That damned scent. I wanted to crush her closer.
I wanted to drop to my knees and beg her never to leave my side.
“I’m sorry for leaving before,” I choked out, breaths puffing as I spoke into her soft hair.
I sensed the monster’s relaxation, almost heard its purr, as it settled comfortably in its lair of human flesh. And I surrendered, body and soul, to this small woman who was somehow large enough to conquer everyone who met her.
“I don’t understand this. It’s been terrified of you since we met. But now…”
Now I feared losing her more than losing control. A beast with something to lose was too dangerous.
“Now, it wants you close. Too close.” I pulled back slightly, just enough to see her eyes. Trying to make her understand that I still wasn’t safe.
“Good thing I don’t mind being close,” she whispered, cleanly slicing away another argument I’d concoct later to convince myself I should put more distance between us. “And I don’t mind the curse either.”
