“Of course. Why would you want to be bonded with a stupid human?” She couldn’t mask the hurt in her voice.
A tear escaped, and he watched it fall down her cheek. “Dyna—”
“No.” She rose to her feet, too embarrassed, confused, and angry. Her voice fought to remain steady. “I cannot speak to you right now. I—”
His guilt hit her next, and her eyes welled further as anger grew into a tangled mass of frustration that she couldn’t give words to. She couldn’t make sense of all the emotions roiling inside of her. Some were hers, but others were his, tangled too tightly to understand every single one. She couldn’t put her thoughts into words when she didn’t know what to say to him.
Would they always feel each other now?
She needed a moment to process this. There was a deafening quiet in her mind, and it let nothing else in. She turned away and headed for the forest. Cassiel’s emotions catapulted into her like a storm. Each raging and twisting, bombarding her too rapidly. Then there was nothing, as if he had snipped them away.
Dyna halted before the tree line. It reminded her of the first time they had met in Hilos when he warned her not to go into the dangerous woods. Those steps had led to a series of events that brought her here.
“Allow me some time to think,” she said without turning around. “It’s a lot to take to mind. I’ll warn you. Say nothing of this to Zev, or he will surely kill you.”
Cassiel didn’t answer. All she heard was the soft rustle of his wings. When she turned around, he was gone.
* * *
Dyna would have preferred to stay on the cliff a bit longer to watch the rising sun bathe the Kingdom of Azure in daylight. She needed more time to herself. More time to untangle her thoughts, but all she could do was stare at a pebble by her foot. A rustling in the trees made her tense with immediate alarm, but it faded when a large black wolf slinked out.
Dyna attempted a smile. “Good morrow, Zev.”
Her werewolf cousin cocked his head, studying her intently with those yellow eyes. She held her breath, fearing he’d discovered the new secret she learned. Zev had heightened senses. He saw things differently when he was a wolf.
He huffed, tail lowering as his ears folded on his head. At the mild but familiar annoyance on his face, she relaxed. He must disapprove of her leaving the safety of the camp. Zev was overprotective at times, not that he didn’t have a reason for it these days.
“Yes, I know. I shouldn’t wander off, but I wasn’t alone. I was with …” Dyna paused, taken aback by the tightness in her throat at the thought of Cassiel. “Sorry to worry you.” She held out a hand to Zev. “Did you come searching for me?”
The wolf sauntered over and pressed his forehead against her palm. His fur was coarse and thick, carrying the scents of pine and earth after a rainfall. Beneath it hovered the musk of something wild and dangerous. Something inhuman and vicious that thirsted to kill. But Zev would never hurt her—save for one day of the month. If she wasn’t careful.
The wolf circled her, standing about as tall as she was. She could feel the heat coming off him, muscles shifting with a strength carefully contained. He nudged her toward the trees gently, indicating they should return.
“Must we?” Dyna asked uneasily. She wasn’t quite ready to face Cassiel yet. Or anytime soon.
Zev bumped her elbow with his wet nose, chuffing. With a sigh, Dyna limped after him into the trees. Her ankle had nearly healed since she sprained it on the hills of Corron. The pain was mostly gone and would be completely well within a day or two.
Zev walked ahead of her, constantly sniffing the air, furry ears twitching as he listened beyond the natural chatter of the forest. Since the kidnapping attempt, he always remained on alert. They had stayed off the main road, traveling along the western slopes of the Zafiro Mountains into the wilderness to avoid Tarn. It was unfathomable that a man she had never met hunted her.
“Tarn will not find us here,” Dyna said.
Zev growled at the mention of the infamous leader of the Raiders. He had sent Commander Von to capture her, and he had almost succeeded. She shuddered, recalling how close it had come to her capture. If Rawn hadn’t aided Cassiel in the alley... The Celestial prince had no choice but to cut down as many men as he could with his flaming sword. The act of killing humans had taken away his divinity, and he could no longer slay demons because of it.
But why her? Why did all of this need to happen to her now?
So much had happened since she left the protection of North Star. Her secluded village was nestled deep within the mountains,peaceful and hidden from the outside world. She missed her home. She missed Lyra and her grandmother. What must they be doing now? Did her little sister resent her for leaving? Was her grandmother fraught with concern?
Dyna wrestled with her own worry. She had too much to accomplish in such little time. This matter of the Blood Bond was trivial compared to this new enemy she had to defeat.
“I won’t let Tarn stand in my way,” she told Zev. “It doesn’t matter who he is. My only priority is the medallion. I need to find it before …”
An icy chill sunk through her spine. Memories of the night the Shadow came flooded her thoughts. Echoes of her father screaming for her to run haunted her. She’d woken in the morning to that awful dream, and the remnants of terror still clung to her skin. Dyna clenched her fists, squeezing her eyes shut.
Tarn may be a notorious raider—a dangerous man with a frightening reputation—but he paled in comparison to the Shadow Demon. If she failed to reach Mount Ida and return home with the Sol Medallion before the Winter Solstice next year, there would be no hope for her village at all.
But there were so many obstacles in her way. There was the risk of mages finding her, and now a man she didn’t know hunted her. She couldn’t afford this silly distraction with Cassiel. No matter the Blood Bond. All of it left her mind in knots. She didn’t know what to do about that any more than she knew what to do about Tarn. Why had she ever thought she could defeat a Shadow Demon?
Dyna crouched and wrapped her arms tightly around her knees. Leaving her home was the most frightening thing she had ever done, but failing her mission terrorized her beyond the red eyes that followed her in the dark and her dreams. Next year’s impending winter hovered over her with the promise of what would happen to her little sister if she didn’t reach Mount Ida.
