“No.” She jolted away from him, shaking herself from his trance as her earlier wrath rushed back, replacing the intimacy between them. “You don’t get to do this. You ran away from me, Rynn! How could you do that, and then come back here like nothing is wrong?” she shouted, her chest aching. She was feeling too many things all at once, and this rage was easy. It was safe.
He closed his eyes and rubbed his jaw. “Isla, I’m sorry. I should not have left you. But I was scared—”
“Youwere scared? How do you thinkIfelt? But I’m not the one that walked away! After everything I’ve been through, everything we talked about—you said you were going to do better. You said you were going to support my decisions, even if you didn’t agree with them. What happened to all of that?” Her voice broke, a fresh wave of emotion clawing at her throat and eyes. Was she overreacting? She didn’t know. But the last weeks of her life culminated in this moment, everything building and aching and yearning to be set free.
“I have been saying all of this to myself for hours.” He blew out a hard rush of air, shaking. She had never seen him this visibly undone. She subconsciously moved closer to him, her body wanting to comfort him even in her fury.
“Isla, please, I need you to understand. I need to explain why I reacted this way—it’s not an excuse,” he rushed out when disbelief sparked across her face. “There are things about me, my past, that you do not yet know.” He took a step toward her. “And if you get mixed up in this, if we fail to stop him—”
She scoffed and threw her hands up, cutting him off. “I know what’ll happen, Rynn. I’ve heard the prophecy. Coming storm, end of reign, Iknow. That’s why I want to help you!”
He growled in frustration. “Why can you not see?” They were inches apart, and his heaving breaths matched her own. “If you involve yourself with this, if you try to face him, and we fail…it’s not only the prophecy I care about, Isla.” She lifted her head to meet his gray eyes, which were darkened and swimming with longing. “It’s you.”
He closed the gap between them, his lips crashing into hers.
She felt everything all at once. His lips were a plea for forgiveness, a prayer of silent desire. Gasping against him, she brushed her fingers through his hair, pressing closer. His hands found her hips and pulled her in, and everywhere their bodies touched was set ablaze. She wanted to lose herself in his arms, in his strength and power and desire. He pushed her against the hard wall as his hands moved down her sides and onto the small of her back. They were in the middle of the frozen night, but he was fire in her veins.
His lips moved from her mouth to her neck, kissing and softly biting along the sensitive skin. Wind whipped across the cave, her crimson hair floating around them in the shadows.
Her hands explored his shoulders and arms, down to his chest and chiseled stomach. With his sharp intake of breath, she bit down on his lower lip as he lifted her legs to wrap around his waist.
A loud cough sounded from the entrance.
Isla broke away, glancing down at her body intertwined with his, her hands still on his chest. Aidan leaned against the stone wall several feet from them, smirking so hard, Isla was sure his mouth would get stuck that way. Behind him, Kai smiled and wiggled her eyebrows, while Jade rolled her eyes.
“I guess you found him,” Jade said.
“As much as I hate to break up this lovely reunion,” Aidan drawled, “would you like to tell us where you’ve been, Rynn?”
Isla's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. Rynn didn’t look the least bit inclined to put her down, so she patted him on the shoulder and cleared her throat. He growled and gripped her hips a little tighter before putting her back on her feet.
“Impeccable timing as always, you three,” Rynn muttered. He turned and walked further into their cave, grabbing some logs to throw into their small fire pit. With a snap of Aidan’s fingers, a warm fire blazed through the cold air.
“Well?” Jade asked expectantly, glaring at Rynn.
“I took some time to calm down. I’m sorry if I alarmed any of you,” he responded.
Jade made a scornful noise in the back of her throat. “While you were off licking your wounds, the dark god visited Celesine and me right before she left.”
Rynn’s eyes snapped to Jade’s. “What happened?”
She recounted the full story, starting with what they had discussed in Rynn’s absence and ending with the attack.
Rynn looked murderous. He turned to Isla and grabbed her hands. “I should not have left. He could have found you.” Isla could see him working to control the storm in his eyes. He was angry with their unwanted visitor, yes, but Isla was pretty sure he was more furious at himself.
“He’s been watching us. How else could he have knownexactlywhere to appear? It’s safe to say he probably saw the prophecy and knows we’re after the dagger,” Kai spoke up. “If he can appear at will, both physicallyandinside our heads, I doubt there’s anything we could do that’s hidden from him at this point.”
They stood in silence at that revelation. Isla couldn’t wrap her head around it. Was he really able to be everywhere, all at once? Was he watching themnow? The idea sent chills down her spine.
The dark god had to have some limitations. Therehadto be a way to keep him out of their plans.
“Well, with that lovely thought,” Aidan rolled his neck back and forth, “I think it’s time for bed.”
“Aidan’s right—it’s late. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow, we need to get ready to leave for Iona,” Kai said.
Iona.They were going to the lost kingdom of the gods, in search of a mystical dagger to defeat a powerful villain.
Isla closed her eyes.Was this really her life now?
