Valavik hadn’t seen her. Only I had. She’d been…
Vok. Even I’d felt the extent of her pain. The moment I touched her, it had flowed into me like a current. And I had felt her panic. I had felt her immense fear. Like the thing she’d wielded and coaxed to life was now in control of her and she knew that what she’d done was a terrible thing.
Her eyes had been bloodshot. Vessels broken in the whites of them. Red had poured from her nose. Her skin had been leached of color and her hair had floated out around her head, like the air was charged with electricity. Like a violent storm was approaching.
It made me wonder, for the first time, if she’d felt similar pain leading me through the fog. If she’d sacrificed anything seeking out Valavik while I was still under the Dead Mountain.
Or had she pushed herself too far this time?
“We need to show the otherVorakkarswhat she can do,” Valavik said quietly.
“Nik,” I growled. When I met his eyes, I saw he was incredulous about my protest. “Tonight cost her. A lot. I do not want her doing that again unless absolutely necessary. And only to save the horde if need be.”
“It cost her?” Valavik asked. “How?”
Smoothing back a strand that had drifted onto her cheek, I rose from my crouched position and faced mypujerak. He was still lingering near the entrance, as if he knew his presence might stir unease.
“She was in pain,” I informed her. “I…I felt it.”
His brow furrowed but he said nothing. He was merely observing me, processing the words. And I was thankful he didn’t askhowbecause I didn’t know if I could give him an answer. Even I didn’t knowhow.
“Have you told her yet?” Valavik wanted to know, gesturing his head towards the sleeping female.
Already, I’d made the announcement to my horde. And after what they had just witnessed, though they had not witnessed the price Mina had paid for the performance, they had been joyous. Just as I’d wanted.
Some were wary, however. I’d spied wariness just as I’d spied relief.
With time, I thought.With time, they will accept her wholeheartedly. They must.
“Nik,” I said, feeling a ripple of unease go through me at the confession. I had not asked her to be my queen. I would demand it of her. There was no choice anymore. Not for either of us. “She will know soon enough.”
Valavik’s displeasure was evident but he knew better than to voice it. After a short silence, he inclined his head and left thevoliki. Leaving me alone with her.
I went to her again. Her bare foot stuck out from underneath the fur blanket I’d draped over her. Reaching out, I touched the side of her ankle, noticing a red scratch there. No doubt from the cuffs.
Frowning, I tucked her foot back underneath the furs, discomfort swelling in my chest at the sight of the small wound. Leaning back against the pole she’d been chained to, right next to her sleeping pallet, I examined her face. Warm skin and small, pursed lips. A smattering of dark freckles across her nose and cheekbones. A too-small nose and soft cheeks.
Calm. I felt so damncalmlooking at her. She wasn’t awake to weave her magic around me. For the first time, I forced myself to recall those fleeting moments when I’d first met her.
I forced myself to consider that perhaps it hadn’t beenmagicthat had drawn me to her. My first instinct—though I hadn’t wanted to believe it—was that Kakkari had brought us together for a reason. That she was my gift, my purpose. Mykassikari. A mate, taken in the old tradition. One based on instinct and knowing.
That fated morning, I’d felt Kakkari’s guiding light deep within me and it had shaken me ever since.
I brought a hand down the length of my face.
Everything had begun to feel…fated. The humans, the Ghertun, the heartstone, the fog. Now, humans and Dakkari alike were given Kakkari’s gifts, gifts they’d most likely had since birth. As if Kakkari was preparing us all for what was to come.
Or giving us the weapons needed to fight it.
Reaching forward, I traced Mina’s cheek. Her lips were parted and even breaths made her chest rise and fall.
She’s not a weapon, I thought. No one in their right mind could ever think that this soft little creature was a weapon.
She might have to be, I thought next, the realization making dread swim in my belly.
A moment later, she stirred under my touch and I realized my fingers had brushed her lips.
When her eyes opened, they were heavy at first, closing immediately. When she tried again, her gaze fastened on me.
