A rippling murmur started throughout the crowd before us. They’d created a half-circle around us. Many carried torches, which brightened that dark night almost as much as the sun.
It took me a moment to realize that Rowin was looking at me. Drawn, my face tipped up towards him. Our eyes connected and held.
I felt it again.Right then.
His gaze wasn’t angry or cold. Not like it’d been in thevoliki. It was something different. Something that made me shiver and…soften.
Looking at him, the world began to hush. I could hear my heart begin to slow and the rushing in my ears begin to calm.
His touch came next. His fingers dragged up my inner wrist. Even now, it always surprised me how gentle he was. For such a terrifying and intimidating male, he had never hurt me. Not like Benn.
The strands in his eyes began to swirl. Mesmerizing. Almost as mesmerizing as his voice. My lips parted.
“Leika,” he whispered, almost to himself, staring down at me. His brow furrowed. He lookedbewildered.
Then he seemed to shake himself. I watched as he cast a gaze towards the crowd of his horde. Breath returned to me and I was shaken to realize that I’d all but forgotten them…in that single, brief moment.
His touch left me. Cool air rushed in where his warmth had been.
“Show them,” he murmured gruffly, gesturing with a sharp nod towards the fog, that wall between us returning. “Show them they have nothing to fear now.”
Now that he’s claimed me, I realized, finishing the sentence for him silently in my mind.
All at once, my heart tripled its speed. I swallowed hard, casting the horde another look. That feeling of exposure—especially in this damn dress—returned to me. I was vulnerable. What if I failed? What if—
It didn’t matter. What did it matter? Maybe if I failed, Rowin would let me go. If I embarrassed him in front of his horde, maybe…
I caught sight of a young Dakkari child. A girl. Though she looked half the age of Hassan, her black hair was long, brushing her waist. All silk and smoothness, surrounding her dark, beautiful face. Chubby cheeks and wide eyes, she didn’t look much different than how I remembered Hassan at that age.Innocent. Her eyes were yellow and she peered at me in curious hesitation.
My eyes lifted to the female whose legs she was peering out from behind…only to be greeted by the sight of thelirilla,that endlessly patient female who’d spent the better part of the day with me. She was standing beside a bare-chested warrior, a glint of a sword at his hip, and his six-fingered hand was wrapped around his female’s waist, holding her close.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know why the sight of the family formed a knot in my throat but one thing was certain. Ilongedfor that. Their eyes were not desperate with hunger. They were only desperate with trepidation whenever they looked towards the fog. It took me a long moment to realize that the Dakkari child wasn’t hiding behind her mother, but rather thelirillawas keeping her there. As if the fog would swarm towards them at any moment.
I wanted to assure them that it wouldn’t. That wasn’t how it acted, how it behaved. But they wouldn’t believe me until I showed them.
“Mina,” came his voice.
I licked my lips, tearing my gaze from the small family to regard the horde king, standing tall next to me.
His jaw was set. A strand of hair fell into his eyes. That little tendril seemed to soften the severity of his face until he raked it back with annoyance.
“Show them that you can protect them.”
Protect.
Such a simple word.
I might not be a fighter but that word seemed to seep into my skin and infuse my very blood.Thatwas what I wanted to be. A protector. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help.
I stepped towards the fog, breaking his gaze before he saw the tears that had pooled there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw warrior guards shift forward, their hands flashing to their swords. They were wary I would run. But with a subtle slash of his hand, Rowin had them backing away.
Heseemed confident I wouldn’t run, at least.
This was my chance. Tess was so close. I could reach her tonight. I could sneak into the Dead Mountain and take her from there before Benn even woke.
I only needed to outrun the Dakkari, outrunhim, for a brief while. They wouldn’t be able to follow me beyond a certain point or else they wouldn’t be able to turn back.
So why was I building that little circle between my palms?
