I smiled and nodded, and we both ducked from the tent.
“Oh,” I whispered, stunned. The first thing that hit me was the cold. How much colder it felt outside than it had that morning, on account of being inside the sweltering heat of thevolikifor the majority of the morning. The cold began to seep into my clothes, beginning from my boots, threading its fingers underneath my pelt and tunic. My sweat did nothing to deter it—it only made the cold worse.
The second thing I noticed was that the warriors were training. I hadn’t heard the sounds of blades and grunts above the roaring forge and my own concentration, but now the sounds hit me square in the chest. And it answered one of my earlier questions…that theydidtrain even during the cold season.
Seerin was among them. My gaze zeroed in on him, another shiver going down my spine that had nothing to do with the icy chill. He was taking on two opponents, his brow furrowed in intensity, his lips turned down with concentration and focus.
His head jerked when he spotted me with the Dakkari boy at my side. I probably looked like a wild mess, flushed and shivering, but I felt his hot gaze seep into me, banishing the tendrils of cold that crawled over my flesh.
He’d been gone that morning when I woke, but my new bed still smelled like him. Now, his scent would be all over my furs and, thus, all over my skin until I washed him away.
It only took that small moment of distraction on his part and I gasped when one of the warriors leveled his sword at his throat, nicking the strong column of his neck.
Seerin froze, a strange expression whipping across his features. His eyes left mine and went to the warrior, who lowered his sword. But even from a distance, I could see that the demon king was…disturbed.
He didn’t meet my eyes again. In fact, it seemed like he did everything in his powernotto look my way again.
Throat tight, I said to the boy, “Let’s go find your mother.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Come,” I rasped to Nelle when I ducked my head inside hervoliki, seeing her sitting at the low table, though it was clear she was finished eating her meal.
Her eyes turned to me and she rose. I waited outside in the night air as she dressed for the short walk to my ownvoliki.
I was irritated and on edge and conflicted about this night.
After the distraction in the training grounds that day, after another mind-numbing and frustrating meeting with the council, Vodan had once again confronted me about Nelle, telling me I’d been seen leaving hervolikiin the early morning hours.
I’d told him tovokoff, which I only marginally regretted and which shocked him greatly. But I was growing impatient with the constant speculation and pressure from mypujerak. Sometimes, he seemed to forgetIwasVorakkarof the horde, not him.
Not only that, but being in Nelle’s bed the night before, taking her mouth when I pleased, feeling her wrap her body around me in sleep, had left me aching and needful.
AsVorakkar, it was easy for me to seek out sex. There were dozens of unmated females within my horde who had made their interest clear. And Ihadfucked a few of them throughout the years when the needs of my body grew too great.
Otherwise, I’d learned to abstain. I didn’t believe in using my horde as a harem, which had been the case in the ancient years of theVorakkars. Sex blurred lines better not crossed…and like I’d always known, females were dangerous.
But now, with the maddeningthissiesleeping in my arms, which was of my own doing, I was growing hungry. All I needed to do was think of her, of her wide eyes and her pink lips, and I needed herdesperately.
Nelle emerged from the tent just then, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Did she sense the blackened waves of my mood? She looked at me evenly, without fear, but watchful.
I turned and made the quick stride up the incline to myvoliki. I heard the soft crunch of her footsteps behind me, over the forming ice.
I held the entrance flap open for her and then followed her inside. One of the horde females must’ve delivered my meal earlier because it was perched on the low table. A bath, still warm, was in the corner and a low fire flickered in the basin.
Approaching, I threw more fuel onto it, letting it roar.
“Time is strange,” she said softly behind me. “I was just here and yet it feels like it’s been weeks.”
“Time seems slower in the cold,” I murmured, staring at the flames.
“I have something for you.”
I blinked and then turned to look at her, frowning. “Neffar?”
She approached, a hint of a smile on her lips. Her cheeks were red even from the brief moment outside. She pulled something from her waistband and thrust it towards me.
I took the slim shaft of metal from her grip, my chest tightening when I saw athissiefeather tied to the end, and I realized what it was.
