She glared at him. “You said I didn’t hurt you.”
He shrugged. “I had better things to concentrate on.”
Her jaw dropped. She snapped it shut. “You’ve been marked. Bythreegods.”
“Great.” His expression soured. “They’re here on our wedding night.”
Bellanca snorted, half laughing despite herself. “That’s not even remotely funny.”
“I didn’t think it was.”
“You don’t understand. This is a great gift. It means something.”
“Let’s see what it means.” He shifted, sitting up. “Burn me.”
“What? No.” She sat up, too, pulling her legs under her as she darted a look left, then right. She didn’t see any lurking gods, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. Shuddering, she drew some of their discarded clothing over them.
“Burn me, because I think I know what it means.” Carver reached out, gripped her hand, and placed it flat on his chest. Her fingers covered the mark of the amulet. “You flamed up, and it didn’t hurt me. I thought it wasn’t enough to do any real damage, but now I realize I didn’t even feel it. The only slight pain I felt was right here.” He pressed both their hands to the tattoo. “Now burn me.”
She grimaced, still hesitant. “All right. A little.” She let her hand heat, calling a flicker of magic to it. Carver still held her palm to his chest. He didn’t move, didn’t flinch, didn’t react at all, and her lips parted in shock. She increased the magic. “Nothing?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Not a thing.” He released her hand, and she lowered it, snuffing out the magic. Between the moonlight filtering through the trees and the Shard of Olympus, they could both see his unburned skin.
“You’re immune to magic.” She could hardly believe it.
“Tofiremagic,” he cautioned. “We don’t know about anything else.”
Their eyes met. “Still, this is a reward—a reward forbothof us.” Her brows rose at the significance.
A smug grin spread across his handsome face. “No holding back now. You can burn all you want.”
“Well, maybe not the house down…”
“Don’t worry. Castles are made of stone. Harder to damage.” Carver lay back on their improvised wedding bed and reached for her.
“Us in the castle…” She sank down beside him, curling her body into his. “I appreciate your optimism.”
“You should. It’s rare.”
Her smile only lasted a second. Life outside this forest awaited them. A goddess to thwart. A villain to conquer. An island to raise from the bottom of the ocean. She sighed. “We have to cross the river, you know. Those soldiers are waiting for us.”
“They can wait.” He tugged, rolling her on top of him. “Right now, I’m going to hold my wife and tell her how much her flaming-hot body excites me.”
She flushed with pleasure. “They can wait,” she agreed wholeheartedly. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and with it, the beginning or the end of everything.
Chapter 30
Carver couldn’t wait to get home. If all went well, their lodgings wouldn’t be home for much longer, and while that was the plan, something about leaving the place where he and Bel had truly connected made his sentimental heart pang.
He glanced over at her as they crossed the valley that would bring them back to the northern outskirts of Atlantapol. They still had a final hill to climb and had decided to return in small groups so as not to attract attention. The injured would go first, and it would take the rest of the day to discreetly get everyone back into the city.
After the centaur attack, a small group of soldiers had found their horses and brought them back to the temporary camp. They’d set off the next morning, traveling south as fast as they could. Zeph and Arete carried the worst of the injured, and Bel and he walked.
He shot a look over his shoulder at their small army and their unit leaders. Pav hadn’t been hurt, and Silas walked on his own two feet without even showing a grimace. The stubborn goat had flat out refused to ride Zeph. The four soldiers who rode—two on each horse—hadn’t been in any shape to argue. Carver feared one of them wouldn’t make it back. Or if he did, they’d better restore magic to the island fast and put him straight into the hands of a Magoi healer.
“Almost there.” Bel nodded toward the big, rolling hill ahead of them.
“It feels like just hours ago that we were walking across this valley in the other direction, heading toward Athena’s cavern and trying to figure out how to animate the horses.”
