One by one, I lift a finger off of his face and bring that same hand against my jaw. Rubbing the stubble there harshly, I suck in a sharp breath. “There’s only one outcome of this I am willing to accept.”
“Okay.”
Surprised, my head slowly tilts towards him, “okay?”
Bennett nods, “but you’ve got to go easier on Will.” My lips part to argue, and he gives me a withering look, warning me not to. “He’s just looking out for you, Ror. Like he’s always done – a lot has changed for him, too.”
“He needs to stop challenging my every decision.”
“Can you really blame him?”
The question spears right through me –because, no, I can’t.If he were acting the way I am now? I’m sure I would be concerned.But it would be because I didn’t understand, just as he isn’t understanding me now.
“She’s been through enough,” I answer gruffly.
He takes a deep breath and sits on his next words for a few extra moments before asking, “and she’s worth all of this? All of the carnage?”
“Carnage? This is child’s play,” I scoff, “I’d do much worse for her, Bennett. Much worse.”
The two of us must not have had anything left to say after my admission, because the next thing I knew, we were being woken by the bright stream of light pouring into the cave.
Once fully awake, the five of us wasted no time cleaning up camp and mounting our horses again. Another long and arduous travel day ahead of us.
Much to Will’s pleasure, most of the journey outside of the mountains has been nothing but open stretches of sand. Meaning no civilization for miles, and at one point I could have sworn I heard him mutter, “thank the gods there’s no one unfortunate enough to cross our path.”
What he really meant was – thank the gods there’s no one unfortunate enough to crossmypath.
At least so far.
For the duration of our ride, I’ve stayed at the back of the group with Millie and Max. The two of them are a nauseating view.
After the second Battle of Vellar, they have remained inseparable. Even now, sharing a horse – their bodies connected by Max’s arm as he holds her tight against him. After that fateful day, his already dark nature shifted, and now it’s as if Millie andthe search for Eveera are the only two things tethering him to this realm.
I pull my attention away from them, gut twinging in unwelcome envy as the pull to reach for Eveera grows tighter.
“Bennett, how long did you say the ride would take today?” Will shouts, disrupting the group’s silence.
“I didn’t.”
Will grumbles, swiping the sweat from his brow as he squints against the sun. There’s a wide expanse of nothingness ahead of us, and while our seal remains cold to the touch, all I can think is –please be where I think you are.
The plea is desperate-sounding, even inside the walls of my mind. But that’s what she’s made me.Desperate.
After my last display of desperation, we were quick to realize there was no more place for us in Sorrel. Lucky for me, Millie overheard one of Max’s family members mention they’d heard rumors of aunique-lookingman, looking for tonics in the markets a few days prior. Magic binding tonics.
She’d rushed to tell Max, and the two of them went to the markets alone the next day. While they came up empty on a dealer of magic binding tonics, they struck gold on where there is a place theycouldfind such things.
It’s no secret that magic binding is considered taboo outside of military or royal use, and based on Millie’s retelling of their conversation with the tradeswoman, she wasn’t too thrilled that word had gotten out about her private conversation.
As sick as it made me to think of Eveera’s magic being snuffed out, it’s the only thing that makes sense. There’s no other way Ezra could contain her without something assisting him.
So here we were.
In the desert, on horseback, in the fucking bloody heat.
A high-pitched whistle rings through the air, sending all of our animals to a sharp halt. Millie straightens in her saddle, a hand coming back to grip Max’s chin, urging his face to look forward.
All of our stares follow hers to where, on the horizon, is a dark blob blurred by the heat waves rising from the sand. Another high-pitched whistle rings out, and their horse backs up nervously.
