A forgotten temple.
“Whose?” Jano, the only god worshipped in Legacia, had no use for magical creatures like those carved into the walls.
A temple that honors the old ways.
The shiver that ran down my spine had nothing to do with the lingering cold.
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
FLYNN
We rode in the direction we thought the basajaun had taken. If we were wrong, Haven was as good as dead. My hands tightened on the reins, and I spurred my mount to a faster trot.
My horse’s breath came in harsh puffs, and I could feel him laboring beneath me as we climbed higher into the thin mountain air. Ice crystals formed on his whiskers, and his hooves slipped occasionally on the treacherous ground hidden beneath the snow.
The weather didn’t matter. Not when ice-cold fury tensed my shoulders and sent shooting pains down my spine.
The savage rage incinerating my veins was foreign. Of the four of us, I was the easygoing one—the one who’d rather fuck than fight, the one who kept his anger in check, the one who dispelled tension. Strange behavior for someone trained to lead, but it worked for me. Until it didn’t. Like now.
I’d wanted women before—wanted them desperately, hungrily, completely. But this was different. The thought ofHaven being hurt, frightened, or worse … I barely refrained from tilting my head toward the heavens and howling.
I battled the urge to knock Grayson’s thick head off his shoulders. It wasn’t his fault she’d been taken, but he’d hesitated to follow. If we didn’t find her, my anger toward him might consume me.
Fire flickered at my fingertips, the flames blue with heat. Where was she? Was she hurt? Frightened? Alive? My fire turned white-hot. She was mine—ours—and no beast had the right to take what was ours. The flames danced higher, and I forced myself to calm down. Burning every tree in the forest wouldn’t make us find her faster.
The snow swirled in a blinding curtain of white, and a cruel wind whipped shards of ice at my exposed cheeks. My eyes watered and froze at the corners, making it nearly impossible for me to see more than a few feet ahead.
Was she cold? Shivering?
We rode higher up the mountain.
“We’re wasting time,” Grayson shouted over the wind. “We’re risking our lives for a shield. We’ll never find her.”
“Don’t.” My voice came out deadly quiet. “Don’t call her that again.”
“It’s what she is, Flynn. Face reality.”
My fire blazed even hotter, and I lifted my hands, ready to burn him to a crisp.
“Flynn.” Teal’s voice was calm but firm—a tone I recognized, one that demanded obedience. “Focus.”
I took a shuddering breath, forcing the flames down. He was right. He was always right. It was annoying. “Thanks,” I muttered. I settled for scowling at Grayson’s back. He needed to keep his fucking mouth shut. If he didn’t, I wouldn’t be responsible for what happened.
“Where would it take her? Do basajaunshave lairs?” Pierce’s face was even stonier than Teal’s. It made sense. Pierce, the man who ignored women, had fallen. Hard. “There was more than one. Where did the others go?”
I scanned the frozen forest, but the vicious wind had long since obliterated any tracks.
“We have to find her.” Frustration laced Pierce’s voice—an emotion he rarely showed.
He was absolutely right. I wanted her back. Now. This minute. I’d barely gotten a hint of what she might be to me, and some furry bastard was going to steal that away? Not happening.
Grayson twisted in his saddle and opened his mouth as if he might speak, but something in my expression stilled his words. He simply shrugged.
The fire at my fingertips begged to burn him. I knocked my knuckles together, forcing the flames to recede.
Pierce was right. We had to find her. And soon.
